How to care for camellias: characteristics, watering and care

The camellia is a plant of oriental origin that came to Europe at the hands of the Jesuits; in fact, its name comes from a Jesuit father, Camellus (17th century). There are more than 80 different species of trees and shrubs and endless varieties of flowers; all of them of great beauty.

To know what its main characteristics and care are, we need to cover in detail all the particularities of a beautiful, elegant and decorative plant.

Camellia characteristics

The camellia flower is quite large, although its shape depends on the variety. It is classified within the outdoor plants, it is also characterized by being one of the most resistant indoor plants as long as a warm and tropical atmosphere is generated.

Flower colors range from white to purple, salmon, yellow, red, pink, or bicolor. The leaves are very consistent , oval, with jagged edges, ending in a point, of a very bright dark green color with a paler underside. After all, it is one of the ideal plants to put in beautiful and original pots to beautify the garden, terrace or balcony.

On a symbolic level, it represents longevity, fortune, happiness… In Galicia there is a great tradition in the cultivation of the camellia, so much so that it is said to be the flower of the Rías Bajas. In this area you can see beautiful specimens, being one of the seasonal plants to enjoy all year round. Since 1965, the International Camellia Exhibition has been organized, where spectacular specimens are exhibited.

Types of camellias

When it comes to knowing the types of camellias, it is important to point out that they all fall into the group of most resistant outdoor plants. They require a warm climate and also withstand cold days well. But what are the existing camellia varieties?

• Simple: it is made up of only 5 or 8 petals in a single crown.
• Double: the flowering of this camellia is made up of 8 petals in two crowns.
• Anemone: it has an appearance similar to the Anemone and has petals around the stamens.
• Peony: It has a great resemblance to the peony and its appearance is similar to a pompom.
• Japonica: the flowering of the camellia is large and very beautiful.

Camellia care

Regarding the care of the camellia, it is important to attend to factors such as flowering, the type of soil or pruning. In addition, it is worth maintaining constant supervision in the hottest season, as long as you want the plants to survive the summer. These are some of the issues to consider:

• What care does it need for it to flourish well? The camellia is very sensitive to heating, so it is recommended that they be in the coolest places in the house and in a fairly humid environment, in this way it will flourish without problems. If you have a terrace, take it outside, as it is very resistant to cold. Of course, protect the land with straw, bark…
• What type of land suits you best? The soil in which it grows best should have an acidic pH; You can achieve this by adding a layer of heather soil, chestnut soil or blond peat. Surely you will find them in nurseries without problems; some even come with convenient and easy-to-use self-watering pots.
• How to get bigger flowers? You can get more flowers. To do this, you will have to leave only one cocoon per branch or shoot, pulling out the others.
• When is the best time to prune camellia? The ideal time is after flowering. To do the pruning of the camellia, you have to cut the branches above the second or third bud, from the insertion of the bud. Thus, next year new shoots will emerge that will give more flowers. In the event that it becomes ill or lacks water, constant attention can be applied to it and the dried up plant can be revived.
• Light. For the plant to flower properly, it needs a lot of light, taking care that it is not directly hit by the sun’s rays. It is actually one of the most sun resistant plants.
• Temperature. The difficulty that camellia has when growing it indoors is that it cannot stand being in a closed place with heating; therefore, we must maintain the environment with a humidity greater than 60% and a temperature between 5-12ºC.
• Irrigation. During the summer you have to water the camellias constantly and during the winter the watering will be more moderate. It is important that during the three months of flowering it receives very little water, so that its peduncles become strong and support the weight of the flower bud. For the irrigation of camellias, good drainage is recommended and that we do it with lukewarm water and it can be rain or mineral, since they do not have lime. If it cannot be, we will add a little vinegar to the tap water.
• The camellia loses its buds before they open. This occurs due to excessive watering or a sudden change in temperature. To solve this, put the plant in a brighter and cooler place and always control excess water.
• The leaves of the plant turn yellow and the buds do not open. Chances are you don’t have the right soil and the soil isn’t acid enough.
• The leaves have many silver spots. This occurs when the plant has a fungus called pestalozzia guepini. To eliminate it, remove the affected leaves and apply a fungicide.
• Small bumps appear on the leaves. This is because the camellia has rust. To eliminate it, spray with a specific fungicide for it. You can buy it in specialized stores.