Indoor camellia – very beautiful, but not for everyone care

The era of growing camellias only in luxurious greenhouses is long gone. But with the receipt of the status of an indoor plant, the exclusive and legendary beauties did not lose their character. They are special in everything, even in terms of transplantation, for some they seem to be a model of perfection, others are sure that even the ideal of flowering is not worth such an effort. Camellias are really difficult to preserve and make to bloom. They are only suitable for those who can afford to keep the plant during winter flowering in low temperatures and with very careful care.

Indoor camellia – very beautiful, but not for everyone
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Description of the plant

Due to their non-standard nature, camellias cannot compete in prevalence with competitors – rhododendrons and gardenias. These are plants only for those who sensibly assess their capabilities. It is worth deciding to have a camellia if you can find a suitable place for it.

In indoor conditions, mainly hybrid varieties of excellent Japanese camellia (Camellia japonica), the most spectacular representative the Tea family and the closest relative of the tea leaf giver camellia chinese (Camellia sinensis).

Everything is unusual with camellias. It blooms during the dormant period, and the active growing season is divided into two periods. After flowering, in February, the growth phase of young shoots and leaves starts. After a short pause in summer, the second period of growth begins with the laying of vegetative buds for the next year and flowering buds.

Indoor camellias are flowering evergreen shrubs. The height barely exceeds 1 m, but with its spreading, the bush may surprise over time. Thin, naked, woody straight shoots are visible between the leaves – alternately arranged, short-petiolate, large, ovate-oval with a pointed tip.

The unique cold, almost bluish shades of greenery seem strikingly noble. You need to take a closer look at the transformation of the camellia bark: lilac-brown, it gradually becomes more and more light and gray.

The flowering of camellias is an example of perfection and elegance, albeit without a scent. As if silk, the petals grow together at the base in huge, up to 12 cm in diameter, flowers, adorned with numerous stamens. Soft pastel pinks or bright, but romantic and feminine dark pinks surprise with rare shades.

Hybrid camellias have varieties with two-color, watercolor color variations, simple, semi-double and double forms, an unexpectedly beautiful “spider” of stamens and even unusual peony, pink, clove-shaped cultivars.

Camellias usually bloom in the cold season. But new varieties adapt better and better to rooms, change, often surprise, blooming not from “typical” November-December to April, but only at the end of winter or with moving to fresh air in the garden. Flowering lasts 30-70 days, depending on conditions.

With buds, the plant can last longer than three months, and waiting for the first flower takes a lot of patience. But then each flower lasts for 10-12 days.

Japanese camellia (Camellia japonica)Japanese camellia (Camellia japonica). Farmer Burea-Uinsurance.com Trevallan Lifestyle Center

Growing conditions for room camellia

Temperature

Camellias are placed in interiors not so often and for a limited time. The location from mid-October to February is critical and needs to be thought out before buying. For the winter, camellias can be displayed:

  • to the insulated balcony or loggia,
  • special window sill with screen protection from warm air and with micro-ventilation,
  • to the winter garden,
  • cold lobby,
  • to the veranda,
  • in a glazed patio,
  • corridor,
  • northern cold room.

In any case, it should be a frost-free place with a temperature of 5 to 12 degrees.

In summer, camellias do best in the fresh air. They can be safely taken out not only to the balconies, but also to the garden, leaving as much as possible – until the first severe frost. If you leave them in a room, then with good lighting, moderate heat and very frequent ventilation. Plants are placed freely, singly, so that the air flows around the crown.

In summer, a temperature rise of 25 degrees Celsius is undesirable, the optimal mode is from +18 to +22 degrees (for laying flower buds in August, after stopping feeding, it is better to limit temperatures to 18-20 degrees altogether).

From autumn to spring, for a spectacular and long-lasting flowering, the air temperature for the dormant period is most conveniently controlled by the stage of bud development:

  • the plant prefers to form buds at a temperature not higher than 15 degrees;
  • Camellias can bloom fully only at 8-10 degrees of heat. At the same time, the permissible minimum is 3-5 degrees, provided that the containers are insulated and the roots are protected, it allows expanding the placement options. Even at +13 degrees, camellia can shed buds.

Fluctuations in night and day temperatures are not scary.

Lighting

Camellias need soft but bright lighting, preferably with several hours of morning sun. On the southern windowsill, the bushes will suffer from heat and direct sun. They are suitable for diffused light from the western and eastern sides of buildings, a similar place from among light locations or options with supplementary lighting. Camellias do not bloom in shade.

During the period of active vegetation and growth of shoots, the crown must be evenly turned in relation to the light source.

Camellias do best outdoors in summer.In summer, camellias do best in the fresh air. Farmer Burea-Uinsurance.com flowercouncil

Home care for camellia

It is easier to provide camellias with proper care than optimal conditions. Camellias just need regular monitoring and protection from excessive watering.

Watering and air humidity

Adoring abundant watering, camellias require careful control of the degree of soil drying. Stagnant water, as well as complete drying, are unacceptable, but a slight drought is tolerated easier than overflows. If the soil dries up only in the upper layer in the summer and up to half in the winter, and the water is immediately drained from the pallets, the camellias will be comfortable. The higher the temperature, the more often watering should be done (and vice versa). At the stage of bud development, any sudden change in humidity leads to their dropping.

The quality of water for this plant is more than important. Camellias need soft, rain or melt water, the temperature of which exceeds the air temperature by 4-5 degrees. In winter, it is better to water with warm “room” water. If the buds do not bloom for a very long time, then a reasonable increase in water temperature can stimulate the flowering process.

To maintain an average air humidity – from 50% (and not lower) to 65% – it is enough to protect the plant from dry air near heating systems and regularly spray on leaves and buds (but not on loose flowers). If you install pallets with damp pebbles or moss (or any other humidifier), maintenance will be greatly simplified.

The leaves must be kept clean. Camellias adore a warm shower, even when they are with buds.

Read also our article 5 houseplants with the largest flowers.

Top dressing and composition of fertilizers

For camellias, it is better to use fertilizing tactics as for garden plants. With the beginning of the growth of shoots and leaves (or 6 weeks after transplanting), 2 or 3 additional dressings are applied with complex or pure nitrogen fertilizers containing trace elements (for deciduous plants). And then they switch to special fertilizers for flowering plants or separately for camellias. The standard frequency is every 2 weeks, in liquid form. Top dressing is stopped in August.

To maintain an average air humidity, it is enough to protect the plant from dry air near heating systems and regularly spray on leaves and budsTo maintain an average air humidity, it is enough to protect the plant from dry air near heating systems and regularly spray on leaves and buds

Pruning and shaping camellia

Camellias are good in their natural form. They endure a strong haircut painfully, with damage for flowering, a light one – they are not afraid. Unproductive, thin, damaged shoots are removed to the base. Plants are formed by simply pinching or shortening the tops (up to โ…“ of the length). Sanitary cleaning and pruning is carried out on camellias after flowering, and you need to be in time before regrowth and active vegetation.

To obtain larger flowers, extra buds, especially on young plants, are best pinched off, leaving a couple of flowers at the ends of the branches.

Transplant, containers and substrate

Camellia is transplanted only as needed, when the roots become cramped in the pot. At the same time, the timing of transplantation is not quite usual: it is better to transfer the camellia carefully, keeping an earthen lump, during flowering or in the middle of summer – in a short pause after the first growth (June-July). When transplanting, it is important not to deepen the root collar, monitoring the level of its location.

It is very easy to choose a soil mixture for camellia: it loves loose, slightly acidic soils and a substrate for rhododendron is ideal for it.

The containers should be wide or of equal depth and diameter. Ceramic is preferred. Drainage layer – up to โ…“ of the height.

Diseases, pests and problems in growing camellia

When kept in dry air and at elevated temperatures, camellia is often attacked by spider mites, which fill the crown surprisingly quickly. Scales, thrips and aphids are less common. It is better to fight pests on this plant immediately with insecticides.

Camellias are prone to rot when kept in damp conditions. Often, leaf and flower spotting is also considered a disease, but it is worth carefully checking the characteristics of the variety for variegation before applying fungicides.

Cuttings are the only method of obtaining offspring from camelliasCutting is the only method of obtaining offspring from camellias. Farmer Burea-Uinsurance.com ๆ‰‹ๆœบ ๆ–ฐๆตช ็ฝ‘

Read also our article 7 of the best winter flowering indoor plants.

Reproduction of camellias

Cutting is the only method of obtaining offspring from camellias. The tops of young shoots, cut in July, are rooted in the soil under a hood, treating them with growth stimulants. Rooting is difficult, greenhouse conditions with bottom heating are needed.

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Anna Evans

Author โœ“ Farmer

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