A Detailed Guide to Camellia Planting Techniques and How Many Years Until Fruiting

When it comes to the camellia, you are surely already familiar with it, right? The camellia is native to China and is a pure natural premium oil crop unique to China. Camellia oil is extremely rich in nutrients, and its market prospects are currently very promising, which has also driven the large-scale planting of camellias. However, there are still great doubts about how to plant camellias.

Camellia Planting Techniques

1. Environment

Camellias should be placed in a warm, humid, ventilated and well-lit place. In spring they need sufficient light; in summer pay attention to shading, avoiding direct sunlight and western exposure. If placed on a balcony, they are often accidentally sunburned to death. In winter they should be placed indoors where the room temperature is above 3°C.

2. Watering

The growing medium of a potted camellia should be kept moist, but not overly wet, to prevent alternating dry and wet conditions. Generally, water a little more in spring to encourage budding and new shoots; in summer, water in the morning and evening, preferably spraying water on the leaves so they are thoroughly wet. Do not water with a strong direct stream or flood the pot, do not water with hot water, and avoid watering around midday when temperatures are high; in autumn water moderately; in winter water around midday and spray water once every two or three days.

3. Fertilizing

Camellias like fertilizer. When potting, be sure to put base fertilizer in the potting soil, mainly phosphorus and potassium fertilizer. Fertilizers applied include decomposed bone meal, hair, chicken feathers, rice husk ash, poultry manure and superphosphate and other substances. Normally, do not fertilize too much. Generally, apply 2-3 times of dilute fertilizer water between April and May after flowering, and apply one application of slightly more concentrated liquid fertilizer in November in autumn. When fertilizing, note that the proportion of phosphorus fertilizer should be slightly larger to promote abundant flowers and vivid colors.

4. Pruning

Camellias grow relatively slowly, so excessive pruning is not advisable. Generally, just cut off the leggy branches that affect the tree shape, as well as diseased, pest-infested and weak branches. If there are too many flower buds on each branch, thin them so only 1-2 remain, keeping a certain distance, and remove the rest early to avoid consuming nutrients. In addition, promptly remove flowers that are close to fading, which can also reduce nutrient consumption, helping the plant grow vigorously and form new flower buds.

How Many Years Until a Camellia Fruits

For a camellia from seedling to fruiting: seedling trees take seven or eight years, cuttings take two or three years to first flower, and grafted plants take two years to first flower. The camellia is one of the world's four major woody oil crops and is a pure natural premium oil crop unique to China.

The flower buds of the camellia begin to form each year in April-May, and it flowers in October-November. At the same time, the tea fruits from the previous year are also nearly ripe, with flowers and fruits on the same branch, which is why people have praised the camellia as “bearing offspring while pregnant”. Camellia fruits have a long maturation cycle. From flowering to fruit maturity they go through nearly seven seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter, nourished by mist and clouds, absorbing all natural essence, truly a rare treasure of the world. Camellia fruit, commonly known as oil tea seed, is spherical or peach-shaped and can be refined into an important natural green organic health-care edible oil——camellia oil.

Camellia Propagation Methods

1. Cuttings

Camellia stems and branches have strong regenerative ability, so both cuttings and grafting have high survival rates, and propagation is fast, easy to operate and economically efficient, making them widely used in production. Under good growing conditions, camellias can be propagated by cuttings all year round, generally mostly in summer and autumn. Cuttings taken around June during the plum rain season have an even higher survival rate, because the high temperature and high humidity at that time favor rooting of the cuttings and sprouting and growth.

2. Grafting

Often used for varieties that are difficult to root from cuttings or have few propagation materials. Grafting in May-June, when new shoots have become semi-lignified, gives the highest survival rate, and after successful grafting, buds sprout and shoots grow quickly. The rootstock is mainly oil tea. Seeds are collected in October, stored in sand over winter, sown in early April the following year, and when the seedlings grow to 4-5 cm they can be used for grafting.

3. Layering

In the plum rain season, select robust one-year-old branches, make a ring of bark removal 20 cm from the tip, 1 cm wide, bind with leaf mold soil, then wrap with plastic film. Roots form after about 60 days, and the cutting can be cut off and directly potted, with a high survival rate.

Camellia Place of Origin and Distribution

It is mainly distributed in Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Chongqing and Shandong in China, and is also distributed in Japan and the Korean Peninsula. Wild species occur in Sichuan, Taiwan, China, Shandong, Jiangxi and other places, and it is widely cultivated throughout China. The camellia is a semi-shade plant, suitable for growing under scattered light, and afraid of direct sun exposure; seedlings need shading. However, long-term excessive shade is unfavorable to camellia growth, resulting in thin leaves and few flowers, affecting ornamental value. Mature plants need more light to favor flower bud formation and flowering.

In fact, camellia planting methods are not very difficult, and its own ability to adapt to the environment is also relatively strong. But if you want the camellia's fruiting rate to reach a satisfactory level, this is inseparable from the care and management during planting.