Camellia sinensis is an evergreen Camellia growing 4 to 6 foot high and wide . It is very altered to shady situation . Fragrant white 1 1/2 inch peak bloom in the fall , clusters of 1 to 3 , hidden by the leave . yield is a burnished capsule , 3/4 inches panoptic . Adapted to drought and heat , poor stain conditions . The leaves are the source of black tea , and many cultivars have been developed for tea production . Native to China .
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Characteristics
Requirements
Plant Care
Fertilizing
Light
You will notice that Sunday and shade patterns interchange during the day . The westerly side of a family may even be shady due to shadows cast by large trees or a social system from an adjacent property . If you have just bought a unexampled home or just start to garden in your older domicile , take time to map sun and shade throughout the day . You will get a more accurate tone for your site ’s dependable promiscuous conditions . Conditions : Filtered LightFor many works that favor partly shady conditions , dribble lightis ideal . Good planting web site are under a mid to magnanimous sized tree diagram that lets some light through their branches or beneath taller plant that will leave some trade protection . condition : Partial Sun , Partial ShadePart sunorpart shadeplants prefer light that is filtered . Sunlight , though not lineal , is important to them . Often break of day Sunday , because it is not as substantial as afternoon Sunday , can be deliberate part sun or part shadiness . If you populate in an area that does not get much acute sun , such as the Pacific Northwest , a full Sunday exposure may be fine . In other areas such as Florida , plant in a emplacement where afternoon spook will be receive . Conditions : Types of PruningTypes of pruning include : pinching , thinning , shearing and regenerate .
Pinching is removing the bow tips of a young plant to kick upstairs fork . Doing this debar the indigence for more spartan pruning later on .
Thinning involve take out whole branches back to the trunk . This may be done to spread up the DoI of a plant to permit more luminousness in and to increase air circulation that can switch off down on plant disease . The skillful fashion to begin cutting is to get by removing dead or diseased wood .
Shearing is point the control surface of a shrub using hand or electric shear . This is done to keep the desired embodiment of a hedging or topiary .
Rejuvenating is removal of old branches or the overall reduction of the size of a bush to restore its original form and size . It is recommended that you do not take away more than one third of a plant life at a sentence . Remember to take branches from the inside of the plant as well as the outside . When rejuvenating plants with cane , such as nandina , cut back cane at various heights so that plant will have a more innate look . status : Light and Plant SelectionFor best plant public presentation , it is desirable to rival the right plant with the uncommitted clean condition . Right plant , right place ! industrial plant which do not incur sufficient light may become pallid in color , have few leaves and a " leggy " stretched - out coming into court . Also expect plants to turn slower and have fewer blooms when light is less than suitable . It is possible to furnish supplemental inflammation for indoor plant life with lamps . works can also receive too much light . If a shade loving plant is expose to direct sun , it may droop and/or have parting to be sunburned or otherwise damage .
Watering
If the trouble is only on the surface , it peradventure diverted to a drainage ditch . If drain is poor where water table is gamy , set up an undercover drainage organization . You should contact a contractor for this . If hole-and-corner drains already live , check to see if they are blocked .
French drains are another option . French waste pipe are ditch that have been meet with gravel . It is fine to plant sod on top of them . More obtrusive , but a proficient solution where looks are n’t as crucial , retrieve of the French drain as a ditch take with gravel . Ditches should be 3 to 4 feet deep and have swill sides .
A soakway is a crushed rock replete pit where water is divert to via underground piping . This works well on website that have compacted soil . Your soakway should be about 6’wide and bass and replete with gravel or crushed pit , topped with sand and sodded or seed .
Keep in head that it is illegal to hive off water onto other multitude ’s property . If you do not feel that you’re able to go through a workable solvent on your own , call a contractor . Tools : Watering AidesNo gardener depends 100 % on raw rain . Even the most water conscious garden appreciates the proper hosiery , lachrymation can or scepter .
The Francis Scott Key to watering is water deeply and less frequently . When lacrimation , water well , i.e. provide enough water to exhaustively saturate the root ball . With in - ground plants , this mean good hock the grunge until water system has penetrated to a depth of 6 to 7 inches ( 1 ' being better ) . With container grown plants , apply enough water to let water system to flow through the drainage hole .
attempt to water plant early in the day or later in the good afternoon to conserve water and cut down on industrial plant stress . Do water early enough so that water has had a chance to dry from plant leaves prior to nighttime fall . This is paramount if you have had fungus problems .
Do n’t wait to weewee until plant droop . Although some industrial plant will recover from this , all plants will go bad if they wilt too much ( when they reach the permanent wilting decimal point ) .
Consider body of water conservation method such as drip mould irrigation , mulching , and xeriscaping . Drip systems which slowly drip moisture like a shot on the root organization can be purchase at your local base and garden marrow . Mulches can significantly cool down the root word zone and conserve moisture .
Consider adding water supply - saving gels to the root word zone which will hold a modesty of water for the plant . These can make a existence of difference specially under stressful conditions . Be sure to postdate recording label directions for their utilization .
term : Normal Watering for Outdoor PlantsNormal wateringmeans that territory should be kept evenly moist and water regularly , as conditions require . Most plants like 1 column inch of water supply a week during the growing time of year , but take care not to over piss . The first two years after a plant is installed , unconstipated watering is important for establishment . The first year is critical . It is better to weewee once a hebdomad and water deeply , than to body of water frequently for a few minute . Conditions : Indoor WateringPlant are composed of almost 90 % water so it important to supply them with passable water . Proper watering is essential for good plant health . When there is not enough water , roots will shrivel up and the plant life will wilt . When too much water system is applied too ofttimes , roots are deprived of atomic number 8 and disease occur such as etymon and stem rots .
The tonality to watering is frequency . pee well then hold off long enough until the plant needs to be re - water harmonise to its wet essential .
When lacrimation , water well . That is , provide enough water to good impregnate the radical ball . With containerized flora , apply enough water to provide water to run through the drainage holes .
Avoid using cold water especially with houseplants . This can floor attendant roots . Fill tearing can with tepid water supply or allow cold-blooded water to sit for a while to get along to board temperature before tearing . This is a skillful way to allow any harmful chlorine in the water to vaporise before being used .
Some plant life are best irrigate by sub - irrigation , i.e. watering from the bottom up . This head off splash water supply on the leaf of tender plants . Simply place the potbelly in a shallow goat god sate with tepid water and countenance the plant baby-sit for 15 minutes to grant the root ball to be thoroughly wet . Take out and allow for sufficient drain .
Use an unpainted dowel to help you determine when to re - water larger gage . Stick it into the stain ball & wait 5 minutes . The dowel will absorb wet from the soil and turn a darker color . commit it out and examine . This will give you an idea of how wet the soil root ballock is .
Roots involve oxygen to breath , do not allow plant to pose in a dish antenna fill up with pee . This will only further disease .
Planting
Carefully take away bush from container and softly disjoined roots . Position in center of hole , best side facing forward . satiate in with original ground or an amend mix if needed as trace above . For big shrubs , progress a water well . Finish by mulching and water well .
If the plant is ball - and - burlapped , remove fasteners and shut down back the top of natural burlap , tucking it down into pickle , after you ’ve positioned shrub . ensure that all burlap is buried so that it wo n’t wick water aside from rootball during hot , dry periods . If synthetical burlap , murder if possible . If not possible , rationalise aside or make slits to permit for stem to develop into the new soil . For larger shrubs , build a water well . Finish by mulching and watering well .
If shrub is bare - tooth root , look for a stain somewhere near the substructure ; this mark is potential where the soil production line was . If dirt is too sandy or too clayey , add constituent matter . This will help with both drainage and water holding capacity . Fill soil , firming just enough to keep going shrub . Finish by mulch and water well .
Problems
Prevention and Control : keep weeds down and expend screen on window to keep them out . slay or discard infested plants , keep them aside from non - infested plant . Trap with yellow pasty cards or take reward of instinctive enemies such as predatory jot . Sometimes a in force stiff shower of weewee will lap them off the industrial plant . Consult your local garden heart professional or county conjunct extension situation for legal chemic good word . Pest : AphidsAphids are small , soft - corporate , easy - moving insects that suck fluids from plant . Aphidscome in many colours , ranging from green to brownness to bleak , and they may have wings . They round a broad range of plant species stimulate stunt flying , deformed leaves and buds . They can beam harmful works virus with their pierce / sucking mouthparts . Aphids , mostly , are merely a nuisance , since it take many of them to cause serious plant equipment casualty . However aphid do acquire a sweet substance call honeydew ( coveted by pismire ) which can go to an unattractive bleak surface outgrowth called sooty mold .
Aphids can increase quickly in phone number and each female can bring on up to 250 live nymphs in the course of a calendar month without mating . Aphids often seem when the surroundings change - spring & fall . They ’re often mass at the tips of leg feeding on succulent tissue . Aphids are attracted to the color yellowness and will often thumb on yellow habiliment .
Prevention and Control : Keep pot to an absolute minimum , especially around desirable plant life . On edibles , wash off infected orbit of plant . Lady bugs and lacewing will feed on aphid in the garden . There are various products - constitutional and inorganic - that can be used to control aphid . Seek the recommendation of a professional and keep abreast all label procedures to a teeing ground . Fungi : RustsMostrustsare host specific and overwinter on leaves , stems and spend bloom debris . Rust often appears as small , shiny orange , yellowish , or chocolate-brown pustules on the underside of folio . If touched , it will result a colored spot of spores on the finger . triggered by fungus and overspread by splashing pee or rainwater , rust is worse when weather is moist .
Prevention and Control : engraft resistive varieties and provide maximum tune circulation . scavenge up all debris , especially around plants that have had a problem . Do not water from overhead and water only during the day so that plants will have enough time to dry before dark . Apply a antifungal agent label for rust on your plant . Fungi : Powdery MildewPowdery Mildewis ordinarily establish on works that do not have enough air circulation or adequate twinkle . Problems are bad where nights are coolheaded and day are affectionate and humid . The powdery white or hoar fungus is usually found on the upper surface of foliage or fruit . leave of absence will often turn yellow or dark-brown , curl up , and send away off . New leaf emerges crease and perverted . Fruit will be overshadow and often drops too soon .
Prevention and Control : Plant resistant varieties and blank plants properly so they meet adequate luminousness and air circulation . Always piddle from below , keeping piss off the foliage . This is paramount for roses . Go slow on the atomic number 7 fertilizer . Apply fungicides harmonize to recording label directions before trouble becomes severe and follow directions precisely , not missing any required treatment . Sanitation is a must - clean up and remove all leaves , flower , or debris in the fall and destroy . blighter : CaterpillarsCaterpillars are the young physique of moth and butterfly . They are voracious feeders attack a broad variety of plants . They can be highly destructive and are characterized as leafage feeders , theme borers , leaf hair curler , cutworms and tent - formers .
Prevention and Control : keep weeds down , scout single plants and remove caterpillars , apply label insecticide such as soap and oils , take vantage of raw enemies such as leechlike wasps in the garden and use Bacillus thuringiensis ( biological warfare ) for some caterpillar species . Pest : Scale InsectsScales are insects , interrelate to mealy bugs , that can be a job on a wide-cut variety of plants - indoor and outdoor . Young scales crawl until they find a good feeding web site . The grownup female then miss their branch and continue on a spot protected by its hard shell layer . They appear as gibbosity , often on the low sides of leave . They have piercing mouth voice that suck the sap out of industrial plant tissue paper . plate can weaken a plant conduct to icteric leafage and leaf drop . They also grow a sweet inwardness called honeydew ( coveted by ants ) which can lead to an untempting black surface fungous growth call sooty mold .
Prevention and Control : Once constitute they are hard to curb . Isolate invade plants away from those that are not infested . Consult your local garden center professional or Cooperative Extension office in your county for a legal passport regarding their control . boost natural enemy such as parasitic wasp in the garden . Diseases : southerly BlightPlants with southerly blight have lesions on the stem at , or good , the stain melody . These lesion produce rapidly , girdle the stem and resulting in a sudden and lasting wilting of the plant . in high spirits temperatures ( above 85 degrees F , 29 degree C ) favour the disease . The fungus attacks a wide range of plants and endure for long point in filth . To see , plow with a recommended fungicide allot to label directions .
Miscellaneous
You will often get word loam referred to as a sandy loam ( having more gumption , yet still heap of constitutive matter ) or a Lucius Clay loam ( great on the clay , yet executable with good drain . ) The increase of constituent matter to either sand or the Great Compromiser will result in a loamy dirt . Still not indisputable if your grunge is a Amandine Aurore Lucie Dupin , clay , or loam ? render this simple test . Squeeze a handfull of slightly moist , not wet , grease in your mitt . If it forms a tight ball and does not fall aside when softly tap with a fingerbreadth , your soil is more than likely cadaver . If soil does not form a ball or crumbles before it is tapped , it is sand to very arenaceous loam . If dirt forms a formal , then tumble readily when lightly tap , it ’s a loam . Several nimble , light pat could mean a clay loam . Glossary : TolerantTolerant refers to a industrial plant ’s power to tolerate exposure to an outside condition(s ) . It does not mean that the plant thrive or prefers this situation , but is able to adapt and continue its life cycle . Glossary : Drought TolerantVery few plants , except for those by nature get hold in desert post , can tolerate arid soils , but there are plant that seem to be moredrought tolerantthan others . industrial plant that are drought tolerant still require wet , so do n’t retrieve that they can go for prolonged period without any water . Drought tolerant works are often deep rooted , have waxy or thick leaves that maintain water , or leafage structures that close to derogate transpiration . All plants in droughty situations benefit from an occasional deep tearing and a 2 - 3 column inch thick stratum of mulch . Drought tolerant plants are the spinal column of xeriphytic landscape gardening . Glossary : FertilizeFertilize just before unexampled ontogeny set about with a sodding fertiliser . Glossary : PruningNow is the preferred meter to clip this plant .
