What are the cultivation methods and precautions for the four-season camellia

The four-season camellia is currently one of the most precious camellia varieties in the world that blooms in all four seasons, with only 840 plants remaining in the wild worldwide. It is also known as the azalea red camellia, four-season azalea camellia, etc. Its flowers are large, and when in full bloom they are bright and fiery red, much like azalea flowers. Its leaves are dark green and glossy, with the graceful appearance of azalea leaves. It grows vigorously and blooms throughout the year. Now let us take a look at the cultivation methods and precautions for the four-season camellia!

Growth Habits of the Four-Season Camellia

The four-season camellia grows along small streams in dense forests with few people around. The annual average temperature in its growing area is 22.1°C, the highest temperature is 38.4°C, the lowest temperature is -1.8°C, the average temperature in July is 28.2°C, and the average temperature in January is 14.3°C. The annual sunshine hours are 1200 hours, and the frost-free period is 350 days. The annual average rainfall is 3428.9 mm, and the relative humidity is 85%. The soil parent material is granite, red soil, with a soil pH of 5.5 to 6. It is generally distributed in the lower layer of the forest canopy. It is a semi-sun-loving tree species and is relatively shade-tolerant.

Propagation Methods of the Four-Season Camellia

1. Cuttage: Mostly carried out in May to June. It is best to choose robust current-year branches as cuttings, cut them into 10 to 12 cm lengths, keep 2 to 3 leaves at the upper part, and remove the lower leaves. Insert them into a plain sand seedbed or flower pot. River sand or loose mountain soil can both be used as potting soil. After insertion, water thoroughly, then spray water appropriately afterward, keep the soil moist, and provide shade. Roots can form in about 60 to 70 days.

2. Air layering: Mostly carried out in April to May. The method is to select branches from the previous year, make a ring cut at the layering site with a ring width of 0.5 cm, wrap the ring-cut part with plastic film of an appropriate size, with a wrapping length of 10 to 15 cm. First tie the lower opening tightly, fill it with moist cultivation soil, keep the soil moist regularly, then tie the upper opening tightly. After roots develop, it can be cut off and planted separately.

Cultivation Methods of the Four-Season Camellia

1. Soil: The four-season camellia has high soil requirements. Generally, its soil should contain relatively high humus, with a pH between 5 and 6.5, slightly acidic. Its optimal soil mix is 50% mountain soil, 40% sawdust or edible mushroom residue, and 10% cake fertilizer powder or livestock manure and phosphate fertilizer powder.

2. Light: The four-season camellia avoids strong light. When planting, special attention must be paid to sunlight. In spring and autumn, sufficient light is required, but in summer it must avoid direct sunlight. If exposed to strong light for too long, it can easily die.

3. Temperature: The four-season camellia is neither cold-tolerant nor heat-tolerant. Its most suitable temperature is 18 to 25°C, so the environmental temperature must not be too high or too low, otherwise both will affect its growth. In winter, the indoor temperature must be above 3°C. If it is below 0°C, it will be frostbitten.

4. Watering: The four-season camellia likes a moist environment. It cannot be too dry, too wet, or alternately dry and wet. In spring, it can be watered more. In summer, it should be watered twice, in the morning and evening. In autumn, it is the same as in spring. In winter, it is best to water before and after the plant.

5. Fertilizing: The four-season camellia prefers fertilizer, but fertilizing also has a limit and must not be excessive. Generally, fertilize about 3 times during the nearly half year after flowering, and once in winter. In order to make the flowers more beautiful, it is best to add more phosphate fertilizer to the fertilizer.

6. Pruning: Pruning the four-season camellia is very important. Generally, branches that affect the tree shape and diseased or weak branches are cut off, and flower buds are also sorted out. Once the flower buds are too dense, they should also be thinned. After the flowers wither, they should also be removed promptly to reduce nutrient consumption.

7. Repotting: The four-season camellia generally needs to be repotted once every two years. Changing to a larger pot is beneficial to its growth. The best time for repotting is in April. Do not remove all the old soil, and add a small amount of base fertilizer to it, then water.

8. Pests and diseases: The four-season camellia is very prone to illness. The common main diseases are black mold and anthracnose. At this time, it is only necessary to spray 0.5-degree Bordeaux mixture. The main pest is the tea shoot moth. At this time, it is mainly enough to cut off the infested shoots.

Precautions for the Four-Season Camellia

1. The four-season camellia should not be heavily pruned. The development time of flowers, leaves, and buds is relatively long, and the crown forms relatively evenly. Basically, no special pruning is needed. It is enough to cut off diseased and pest-infested branches, overly dense branches, weak branches, and shorten excessively long branches.

2. The four-season camellia is a multi-flowered tree species, especially on weak-growing plants. If the flower buds are dense, they will consume too many nutrients, which is unfavorable to plant growth, so bud thinning is an important part of cultivation and management.

3. The flowering period of the four-season camellia is relatively long, with the entire flowering period lasting up to one year, so promptly removing flowers that are near withering is greatly beneficial for reducing nutrient consumption and strengthening the tree vigor.

4. In spring and the plum rain season, the four-season camellia should be given sufficient sunlight. Otherwise, the branches will develop thinly and weakly, and it will easily suffer from sooty mold and scale insect damage or epiphytic moss, leading to dead branches, aging, or death.

5. In the high-temperature seasons of summer and autumn, the four-season camellia should be shaded and cooled in time. In winter, when the temperature drops below zero, it will cause flower buds to fall off or flower centers to freeze. Potted seedlings overwintering indoors should preferably be kept at around 3 to 4°C.

6. The fertilization amount for the four-season camellia should follow the principle of applying more to strong seedlings and less or none to weak seedlings. For seedlings that are too weak, replacing the potting soil instead of fertilizing also has a very good effect.

7. The four-season camellia has extremely high requirements for air circulation and is best grown in a gentle breeze, but it fears northwest winds and strong winds, because northwest winds and strong winds easily cause water to evaporate too quickly, throwing supply and demand out of balance, which is unfavorable to growth.