| Life form | Bush |
| Family | Theaceae |
| Origin | China, Japan, Taiwan, India, Indonesia |
| Ease of cultivation | Requires special care – high humidity, acidic soil and cool content. |
| The size | Usually from 50 cm to 1.5-3 m in height. |
| Growth rate | Average |
| Lifespan | With proper care for many years. |
| Temperature | In summer: 41-77 ° F, for the bookmarking of flower buds a temperature of 64,4-68 ° F is required; during flowering, to avoid premature falling of buds and flowers, a temperature of 46,4-53,6 ° F is desirable. |
| Humidity | High. Spray at least once a day from above with soft water so that large drops of water do not fall on the flowers. Put the pot in a tray with wet pebbles so that the bottom of the pot does not touch the water. |
| Lighting | A bright place, but not direct sunlight. Especially important is shading for young plants. Adult plants will prefer bright scattered light. |
| The soil | Suitable soil with acidity pH 4.5-5.5. Sour soil is the main condition for the cultivation of camellias. If the acidity of the soil is insufficient, peat should be added. For soil of own preparation it is possible to take on one part of peat, humus, turf and sand, 2 parts of leaf land. You can add one part of the land from under the coniferous forest. It is obligatory to use drainage, stagnation of water – a frequent cause of death of camellias. |
| Watering | During flowering in summer abundant regular watering, the soil should not dry out. Use only soft water. Twice a month, add lemon juice (several drops per 1 liter of water) to the water for irrigation. You can use rainwater and water from the refrigerator. In winter, watering is moderate. It is required not to fill the plant, but at the same time, the soil should never dry out, even in winter. From the stagnation of moisture, leaves grow brown, buds fall off. When there is insufficient watering, the leaves are scattered. If the soil is heavy, watering should be limited. It is better to use light soils, in this case watering should be frequent. |
| Fertilizer | From spring to autumn every two weeks with liquid fertilizer without lime. You can use fertilizer for orchids. Organic fertilizers are useful. |
| Reproduction | Half-extruded apical cuttings in length about 8-15 cm in length in January and July, cut off the apical stem at an angle, terminate the leaves, place it in a mixture of peat and perlite or peat with sand and root with heteroauxin in a greenhouse (or covered with polyethylene) at a temperature of 68- 75,2 ° F. Rooting lasts from 2 to 4 months. In the second year they transplanted into a larger pot. When transplanting, prick the top to stimulate branching. In young plants, in October-November, the apex is cut to stimulate the development of axillary kidneys. The bookmarking of flower stems occurs approximately on the 4th year of culture.Probably multiplication by seeds, which are sown in a mixture of peat and sand and germinated at a temperature of 68-75,2 ° F. Sprouted seedlings dive. Plants grown from seeds bloom for 6-7 years.Often, to accelerate flowering cuttings of varietal camellias are planted on plants obtained from seeds. Camellia is also propagated by air layers. |
| Bloom | Flowers of various colors. Abundant flowering from November to February. |
| Transfer | Young plants are transplanted annually, adults – as rarely as possible, every 2-3 years, only if the pot is small. Camellia can go without a transplant for a long time. Transplant the camellia before the beginning of its growth in winter – from November to February. When transplanting, you can not cover the root of the plant. |
| Features of care | In summer it is useful to keep the plant on the street: in the garden or on the balcony. However, plants should be protected from draft and wind. Do not put a pot of camellia in a tank of water. Immediately after flowering, it is necessary to remove the responding buds. If many buds are formed, it is useful to remove some of them, in order to improve the flowering of the rest. During budding, the plant should not be moved: this can cause the buds to fall off. It is useful to cut weak shoots in spring and pinch the tops of branches for better branching. |
| Difficulties | It is affected by spider mites, chervets, aphids, scutes, thrips, whitefly. When the moisture is excessive, the roots rot. Flowers and buds can fall due to sudden temperature changes, or, if you just turn the plant. Camellia suffers from fungal diseases (black-gray and brown spots on the leaves). |
| Air cleaning | – |
| Toxicity | The plant is poisonous |
