Why Is Your Camellia Dropping Leaves? Latest Cause Analysis
Camellia is the general term for many plants and horticultural cultivars of the genus Camellia in the family Theaceae. It ranks eighth among the “Ten Famous Flowers” and is also one of the world's precious ornamental trees and shrubs. Because of its graceful plant form, glossy dark green leaves, and brilliantly colorful blooms, it is treasured by the world's horticultural circles. However, leaf drop often occurs during cultivation. Let's take a look below at what's going on when a camellia drops its leaves!
Overwatering causes leaf drop
When growing camellias, some flower lovers water heavily in hopes of fast growth and early blooming, not realizing this is a mistake. Although camellias need water to grow well, too much water causes waterlogging in the pot. Waterlogging prevents the camellia's roots from breathing properly, makes the soil overly wet, and leads to root rot, causing leaf drop. So when watering a camellia, you must pay attention to the amount; watering in moderation is what actually benefits its growth.
Pests and diseases cause leaf drop
Many pests and diseases have a harmful effect on plant growth. For example, anthracnose can make a camellia drop its leaves. Anthracnose is a fairly common disease that mainly occurs on the leaf areas of the camellia, producing lesions on the leaves. As the condition worsens, the lesions gradually expand, and in severe cases cause leaf drop and affect the entire plant, killing it. Therefore, when growing camellias, you must take good pest and disease prevention measures, strengthen routine management, boost the plant's disease resistance, spray pesticide promptly for treatment at the early stage of pest or disease outbreak, and in winter carefully clear away the camellia's dead branches and diseased leaves to reduce sources of infection.
Poor ventilation causes leaf drop
Sometimes poor ventilation can also cause a camellia to drop leaves, especially in winter. Leaving the camellia indoors for a long time, with poor ventilation or poor air quality, will cause it to drop buds and leaves. So when growing camellias, especially indoors, be sure to pay attention to ventilation and keep the air fresh.
Sudden environmental change causes leaf drop
When growing a camellia, suddenly changing its environment will cause it to fail to adapt to the sudden change. Because the camellia has already adapted to indoor conditions such as light, suddenly moving it outdoors changes the light and temperature, and some older leaves will drop. When this happens, you should quickly move the camellia to a semi-shaded spot outdoors, spray water more often, and stop fertilizing; it can gradually recover. If you want to change a camellia's growing environment, it is best to do so step by step so it can adapt gradually.
Extra: How to grow camellias
1. Soil: Camellias have fairly high soil requirements. Generally the soil should be relatively high in humus, with a pH between 5 and 6.5, slightly acidic. The best soil mix is 50% mountain soil, 40% wood shavings or spent mushroom substrate, and 10% cake fertilizer powder or livestock manure plus phosphate fertilizer powder.
2. Light: Camellias dislike strong light, so you must pay attention to sunlight when planting. In spring and autumn they need plenty of light, but in summer they must be kept out of direct sunlight; too long under strong light can easily kill them.
3. Temperature: Camellias are neither cold-tolerant nor heat-tolerant. Their most suitable temperature is 18 to 25 degrees, so the ambient temperature must not be too high or too low, or it will affect their growth. In winter the indoor temperature must be above 3 degrees; if it drops below 0 degrees, they will suffer frost damage.
4. Watering: Camellias like a moist environment; they cannot be too dry, too wet, or alternately dry and wet. In spring you can water more, in summer water twice a day, morning and evening, in autumn the same as spring, and in winter it is best to water before and after the plant.
5. Fertilizing: Camellias are fairly fond of fertilizer, but there is a limit to fertilizing; never use too much. Generally, fertilize about 3 times over the nearly half year after flowering, and once in winter is enough. To make the flowers more beautiful, it is best to include more phosphate fertilizer in the mix.
6. Pruning: Pruning camellias is very important. Generally you cut off branches that affect the tree's shape and diseased or weak branches, and also tidy up the flower buds. Once the buds are too dense, they must be thinned out, and after the flowers fade they should be picked off promptly to reduce nutrient consumption.
7. Repotting: Camellias generally need repotting once every two years; changing to a larger pot is what benefits their growth. The best time to repot is in April. Do not remove all the old soil; also add a small amount of base fertilizer, then water.
8. Pests and diseases: Camellias get sick easily. The common ones are mainly sooty mold and anthracnose; for these you only need to spray 0.5-degree Bordeaux mixture. The main pest is the tea shoot borer; for this you just cut off the infested shoots.