How to cultivate camellias
Comprehensive introduction on how to cultivate camellias and the methods and precautions for growing camellias, as well as knowledge about flowers. What follows is a detailed introduction.
Camellias are one of China's top ten famous flowers. How to grow camellias? Also known as the tea flower, it belongs to the Camellia genus of the Theaceae family, and is a type of evergreen shrub and small tree. Camellias have a full and graceful posture, dignified and elegant, and are one of China's traditional top ten famous flowers. They are also one of the world's famous flowers.
I. Propagation methods of camellias: divided into seed propagation, grafting, cutting propagation, and layering propagation.
1. Seed sowing
Suitable for single-petal or semi-double varieties. In mid to late October, place the harvested fruit in a well-ventilated indoor area to dry in the shade. After the fruit capsule opens, remove the seeds and sow them immediately. If sowing cannot be done immediately in autumn, the seeds should be stored in sand until February of the following year. Before sowing, seeds can be mixed with a new type of high-fat film, generally, autumn sowing has a higher germination rate than spring sowing.
2. Grafting
When asking how to grow camellias, grafting is an important step in the propagation method. It is necessary to choose healthy semi-woody branches, from bottom to top with one bud and one leaf, and cut one by one. The scion should be cut into a楔形 (wedge shape) and placed in a damp towel. Clean the mud and sand from the young seedlings of the rootstock, then cut off 1 to 1.5 cm above the cotyledon, split the stem lengthwise along the cotyledon joint line to the same depth as the diagonal surface of the scion; insert the cut scion into the split of the rootstock, aligning one side of the cambium, and tie it tightly with a plastic film strip.
3. Cutting
The cuttings should be selected from the external tissue of the crown, with complete leaves, full leaf buds, and no diseases or pests. The cutting length is generally 4 to 10 cm, with two leaves at the tip and a heel at the bottom. Maintain sufficient moisture during cutting, avoid direct sunlight, and pay attention to喷水 (spraying water) on the leaves to keep a thin film of water on the leaf surface to increase the survival rate.
How to cultivate camellias
4. Layering propagation
In the plum rain season, choose a strong one-year-old branch 20 cm from the top, perform a ring剥皮 (ring bark removal) 1 cm wide, tie it with decomposed leaf soil and cover it with plastic film. After about 60 days, roots will form, and it can be cut and directly planted in a pot with a high survival rate.
II. Growing environment
To know how to grow camellias, one must first understand the growing environment of camellias. Camellias prefer fertile, loose, slightly acidic soil, warm, humid, and semi-shaded environments. They dislike high temperatures, intense sunlight, and dryness. Temperature is one of the important conditions for the growth of camellias, with the optimal growth temperature being 18 to 25°C. They are slightly cold-tolerant, with most varieties able to withstand -10°C low temperatures and heat resistance, but growth is inhibited when temperatures exceed 36°C. High or low environmental temperatures are not conducive to the growth of camellias.
III. Cultivation management
How to grow camellias, camellias do not have high requirements, but some precautions should be taken. Soil is the fundamental condition for the growth of camellias and should be chosen with higher humus content, slightly acidic soil, and it is best to keep the soil not too dry or too wet.