My camellia started of in a pot, and flowered for a couple of years , then
on the third year it produced a mass of really big buds which all fell off before they had the chance to flower, i did read that if they are not watered enough throughout the summer months that this could happen , so i thought it would be best to plant it in the ground which i did , it was about 3 feet high by then ,
so i planted it in a really big hole and watered it well for weeks afterwards, and also gave it camellia food. but now it has black stuff like soot on its leaves and it has not produced one bud this year. and the leaves are not as green as they used to be. my roderdendron seems to do ok in my soil so i am not sure what is wrong, do you think i should just dig it up and try a new one?

On 30/3/09 10:05, in article , "may"
wrote:

My camellia started of in a pot, and flowered for a couple of years ,
then
on the third year it produced a mass of really big buds which all
fell off before they had the chance to flower, i did read that if they
are not watered enough throughout the summer months that this could
happen , so i thought it would be best to plant it in the ground which
i did , it was about 3 feet high by then ,
so i planted it in a really big hole and watered it well for weeks
afterwards, and also gave it camellia food. but now it has black
stuff like soot on its leaves and it has not produced one bud this
year. and the leaves are not as green as they used to be. my
roderdendron seems to do ok in my soil so i am not sure what is
wrong, do you think i should just dig it up and try a new one?




If you're growing Rhododendrons, you should be able to grow Camellias. They
need humus rich, well-drained acidic soil and are probably happiest in
dappled shade. It sounds as if your plant has sooty mould and this site
will give you some info on it:
http://www.dgsgardening.btinternet.co.uk/sootymould.htm
The lack of greening is possibly chlorosis and the plant needs a feed with
some potash now at roughly monthly intervals and then some nitrogen in July.
The other thing is that if you're using bark chippings as a mulch, as they
break down they take nutrients from the soil and this can affect your
Camellia, too.
I'd give it at least another year with the right treatment before giving up
on it. It sounds as if it's had a rather bumpy start in life!

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
Exotic plants, shrubs & perennials online

"may" wrote

My camellia started of in a pot, and flowered for a couple of years ,
then
on the third year it produced a mass of really big buds which all
fell off before they had the chance to flower, i did read that if they
are not watered enough throughout the summer months that this could
happen , so i thought it would be best to plant it in the ground which
i did , it was about 3 feet high by then ,
so i planted it in a really big hole and watered it well for weeks
afterwards, and also gave it camellia food. but now it has black
stuff like soot on its leaves and it has not produced one bud this
year. and the leaves are not as green as they used to be. my
roderdendron seems to do ok in my soil so i am not sure what is
wrong, do you think i should just dig it up and try a new one?


The "Sooty Mould" is growing on the honeydew (nicer than pee) secreted by
Scale Insect. Camellias are prone to scale insect infestation (just like
Citrus). To cure the sooty mould you need to kill the scale insect, there
are some sprays available but they aren't that effective IME so you will
need to spray a number of times. The sooty mould will just wash off in time
unless you want to do it yourself.
Camellias with non green leaves are suffering from chlorosis so a good
watering (2 gals or more) or two of Sequestered Iron now and another every
year in the spring should cure the problem.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden

In article ,
says...

My camellia started of in a pot, and flowered for a couple of years ,
then
on the third year it produced a mass of really big buds which all
fell off before they had the chance to flower, i did read that if they
are not watered enough throughout the summer months that this could
happen , so i thought it would be best to plant it in the ground which
i did , it was about 3 feet high by then ,
so i planted it in a really big hole and watered it well for weeks
afterwards, and also gave it camellia food. but now it has black
stuff like soot on its leaves and it has not produced one bud this
year. and the leaves are not as green as they used to be. my
roderdendron seems to do ok in my soil so i am not sure what is
wrong, do you think i should just dig it up and try a new one?




--
may

I think others have already covered the fact that your camellia has scale
insects under the leaves, I live with mine on one bush, if you put a bird
feeder near it in the autumn the numbers of overwinter scale insects will
be a bit reduced by the blue tits who will spend their time waiting their
turn at the feeder foraging for them.

Buds falling off while it was still a pot plant is probably uneven
watering, I am surprised you should need to water a camellia in the
ground in anything other than very dry periods, but I would imagine as
pot plants they would be tricky to care for as they have big root systems
which would fill the pot making it hard to water it is worth noting that
frost overwinter can cause buds to drop as well. I certainly have never
fed or watered any of mine (not that we have a lot)

The reason it is not flowering now could be a combination of not enough
sun/warmth last year coupled with hard frost this winter, it is not
likely to have been drought given the summer we had last year!
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

On 31/3/09 09:41, in article ,
"Charlie Pridham" wrote:

In article ,
says...

My camellia started of in a pot, and flowered for a couple of years ,
then
on the third year it produced a mass of really big buds which all
fell off before they had the chance to flower, i did read that if they
are not watered enough throughout the summer months that this could
happen , so i thought it would be best to plant it in the ground which
i did , it was about 3 feet high by then ,
so i planted it in a really big hole and watered it well for weeks
afterwards, and also gave it camellia food. but now it has black
stuff like soot on its leaves and it has not produced one bud this
year. and the leaves are not as green as they used to be. my
roderdendron seems to do ok in my soil so i am not sure what is
wrong, do you think i should just dig it up and try a new one?




--
may

I think others have already covered the fact that your camellia has scale
insects under the leaves, I live with mine on one bush, if you put a bird
feeder near it in the autumn the numbers of overwinter scale insects will
be a bit reduced by the blue tits who will spend their time waiting their
turn at the feeder foraging for them.

Buds falling off while it was still a pot plant is probably uneven
watering, I am surprised you should need to water a camellia in the
ground in anything other than very dry periods, but I would imagine as
pot plants they would be tricky to care for as they have big root systems
which would fill the pot making it hard to water it is worth noting that
frost overwinter can cause buds to drop as well. I certainly have never
fed or watered any of mine (not that we have a lot)

The reason it is not flowering now could be a combination of not enough
sun/warmth last year coupled with hard frost this winter, it is not
likely to have been drought given the summer we had last year!

We don't water ours in any deliberate fashion. If the spray lines go on
during a hot spell (remember those?!) they'll get a dollop along with
everything else but that's it. I think May's just needs time to settle
into a new regime and will probably be much happier in the ground.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
Exotic plants, shrubs & perennials online

On Mar 30, 10:05*am, may wrote:
My camellia started of in a pot, and flowered *for a couple of years ,
then
on the third year it produced a mass of *really big *buds which all *
fell off before they had the chance to flower, i did read that *if they
are not watered enough throughout the summer months *that this could
happen , so i thought it would be best to plant it in the ground which
i did , it was about 3 feet *high by then , *
so i planted it in a really big hole and *watered it well for *weeks
afterwards, and also gave it *camellia *food. but *now it has black
stuff like soot on its leaves and it has not produced one bud *this
year. * *and the *leaves are not as green as they used to be. * *my
roderdendron seems to *do ok in my soil so *i *am not sure what is
wrong, do you think i should just dig it up and try a new one?

--
may

May, it sounds like scale insect, I too used to have this at times,in
my garden in the UK. I just washed the plant a couple of times, mind
you mine was not a big bush, if it were I would hope for a lot of
rain!

Judith

thanks everyone for your help, i think i will have a go at washing the soot off and give it some more tenderloving care , and see what next year brings.