Tis' Hunting Season

     I always look forward to the end of June and early July. Yes, it is hot as Hades here in Charleston, but it is also the start of hunting season. I don't need a gun, bow and arrow, or any other kind of weapon. My prey actually stands there and waits for me to come get it. I don't even have to worry about a messy cleanup after I find my target. No, it is not an animal I am hunting, it is Camellia Scion rooting season!
     Every year for the past 4 or 5 years, I have gone on an expedition in search of Camellias that I do not currently have in my collection, which is currently at 226. I know of a place that is prime hunting grounds and has hundreds of Camellias, some being planted as far back as the 1950's, possibly earlier.
It is a quite place and I love visiting it every year.
Want to see it?

Doesn't that look peaceful?
     Believe it or not, you are actually looking at some Camellias. I know what you are thinking, Camellias are shrubs, not trees.

Actually, as evidenced by this picture, they are small trees. Many of these have been planted for many, many years. 

     So, every year I trek into these peaceful surroundings, get my prey and bring it home to be processed. Yes, this type of hunting you have to process what you hunt too, it is just much neater.

     The trophies will look like this.

     You will want to take cuttings that are about 6-8 inches long, from healthy looking plants. The stem should be about 80% hardened off. Basically you can bend it, but it does not snap and has just starting turning brown. Tip cuttings are best, with buds at the base of most of the leaves. As you cut them, make SURE you write the name of the Camellia on the back of one of the leaves. A black sharpie permanent marker works best. You will NEVER be able to know which one is what, until they flower, if you don't mark them. Even then, it may not be as easy to ID as you think. If you carry them in a large Ziploc bag, with a few drops of water in there, it will keep the cuttings fresher. You will also want to do this in the morning, but is not an absolute necessity.

     So, you got your prey home. Ideally, you will already have the potting medium and propagation area ready. Pots, tags, water, soil, and pruners/scissors are all handy to have. After I get the cuttings home, I fill a bucket with a fungicide solution and let them soak, while I am prepping the others. 

     I start by having a small pot full of rooting medium which consists of 50% mesh pine bark mulch and 50% perlite. You can also use a 75% pine bark and 25% course builders sand. I then poke a hole in the center and place a label/tag in the pot so I know what it is. Trust me, even if you only stick ONE Camellia, you will forget what it is. Then I take one of the cuttings and make a 3-4 inch cutting of it, basically in half, so I now have two. Take all of the leaves off, except the top two, cut those two in half. Your cutting should now look like this.

Next, you will want to shave a small part of the bark off at the bottom, and cut the bottom at a slight angle.

This will allow more surface to be exposed and for the roots to come out.  Root hormone would be the next step. I prefer RootGel by Dyna-Grow, which you can find by clicking on the link at Amazon.

I prefer the gel over powder and even liquid, because it sticks to the cutting better than the liquid and does not have any drying properties of powder. Stick the cutting in the small hole you made, pack it in and water.

     The final product will look like this.

Now what?

Put the cuttings in a very high humidity environment. Keep the rooting bed in a shaded, wind protected area with good light intensity. Here is what I use. 

I keep the lights on a timer, they burn on and off for about 16 hours. The only moisture is the little bit that I put in when I watered the cutting in. Then, if they do happen to look a little dry, I will give it a few mists of water. You can also do this outdoors, I just prefer indoors because it is easier to control light and humidity and temperature.

     Under ideal, perfect conditions, rooting should take place in 1-1/2 to 2 months for most cultivars. Some may take longer, especially if your temperature is way above, or below, 70 degrees. See why I like doing mine inside?  A rooted cutting should start to bloom in one to two years, dependent upon the particular cultivar, and how good your horticultural practices are. 

     Does this seem like a lot of work? Yes, to some degree. However, the reasons you would want to do something like this are:

1) It is a heck of a lot cheaper to start your own plants than to buy them.

2) If you have a good source, you can find many more cultivars than are usually on the market.

3) The satisfaction of just doing it!

Besides, there is ALWAYS room for one more plant! Just look

See that spot over there by the green garden hose? LOTS of room! LOL     

     I hope you decide to try this very easy way to propagate Camellias. Even if you don't want to have a huge collection, but have a favorite one, you can multiply that one.....or sell them!!

I am always up for some Camellia cutting swapping, just touch base with me and we will see what we can work out. 

     As always, if you have any questions about this, or any of my other articles, please feel free to e-mail me at TheCitrusGuy@netzero.com. And don't forget to follow me on Facebook  

Happy Growing!

Darren

Take Root

Today's article is going to be a little off the beaten path for me. I don't usually recommend products here, other than some of the stuff put out by Espoma (i.e. Citrus Tone and Holly Tone), but I have come across a company and, so far, these couple of things that I will talk about, are showing some good promise.
As you all know, I like to experiment with growing different and unusual plants. Finding different, easy, cheap ways to grow them or propagate them. Things that the average poor homeowner might be able to pull off.
Camellias have become, for lack of better wording, an obsession. I am a competitive person and love to see how I stack up against other people and their ways of growing things. However, Camellia plants are VERY expensive to just go out and buy. If you have friends that grow them or maybe a nursery that you are in good with, today, I will show you an easy way to multiply your collection.
I will start with the basics.
The best time to root Camellia cuttings is Summer. The wood should be semi-ripe. Not hard and woody and not green and very pliable, a kind of in between.
To root the Camellias, or any other type of plant for that matter, you basically need a pot or container, a medium in which to stick the cutting into, light, humidity and of course, the cutting.
I have created a humidity chamber out of rubbermaid type containers. They look like this:

The thing with the tube going into the first picture is a reptile fogger. As you can see, I have three different container experiments going on here. Two large and one smaller. One of the large ones has the fogger going into it. The idea of the fogger is to provide humidity. I run it for 30 minutes, then off for 30 minutes while the lights are on. The lights are on for 18 hours and everything is on timer switches. You only want bright indirect light. Don't put the light directly on the plants, it will just fry them.
When the fogger is on it looks like this inside:

The temperature stays between 70 and 85 degrees.
Okay, that takes care of the light, warmth and humidity.
I use a 50/50 mix of fine pine bark and perlite as my soil medium. It is well draining, light, yet holds some moisture.
This is where the products I was telling you about come into play.
I take a Camellia cutting, about 6 inches long, cut all but the top two leaves off. I then cut those two leaves in half to help retain moisture. I scrape a little of the bark off at the cut end and dip it into Dyna-Gro Root Gel.
It looks like this:

I think there was a horror movie made with stuff that looked like this. LOL
Also possibly a Ghostbuster was hit with it.
I have used all kinds of rooting products before and got so-so results. This is so much easier to use. The theory behind the gel is it seals the cutting and functions as an artificial root system until the cutting develops its own roots.
You will want to have your pot filled with your medium of choice and, using a pencil, poke a hole into the center of the medium so you don't scrape the gel off.
The stem will look like this:

And the final product will look like this:

Always make sure you tag your cuttings, preferably with the botanical name of the plant, but at least the common name. I promise you, even if you stick only one cutting, you WILL forget the name of it. I like to put the date that they were stuck too. That gives me a better idea of when they might be ready to start checking for roots.
Usually I start checking 6-8 weeks after I stick them.
I mentioned that there where a couple of products I wanted to discuss. While the Root Gel seems to be working exactly as planned, Dyna-Gro has a couple of other things as added insurance to your success.
For all intents and purposes, I am using a mist system to propagate my Camellias. So, I am also using K-L-N Rooting Concentrate and Pro-Tekt Concentrate.
The directions are: Mix 1/2 teaspoon K-L-N and 1 teaspoon Pro-Tekt per gallon of water and add to the systems holding tank. Keep the cuttings moist. I have had to modify this slightly. I made the mixture and using a spray bottle, I spray the cuttings by hand a couple of times a day.
The K-L-N rooting concentrate is pretty self explanatory. It is just a little more of a kick to get roots to form.
The Pro-Tekt Concentrate I actually find fascinating. Reading directly off the bottle, "contains potassium and 7.8% silicon to reduce stress caused by heat, cold, drought, insects and disease".
This stuff is not just for rooting cuttings either. It has directions for maintaining your plants and hydroponic production. It can be applied with your irrigation and/or as a foliar spray.
This is what my cuttings look like after a month:

Not great pictures I know, but trust me when I tell you they look good. Like I said, I have tried other rooting agents and after a month I was losing them quickly. The leaves would start falling off and they would just up and die. These are not.
I am not one for pushing products just willy nilly. If I mention something here on my blog, I have actually used it and like what I see.
So far, I like the results.
If you would like to contact Dyna-Gro yourself and ask them any questions, their website is HERE
Or you can call 800-Dyna-Gro
Just as a side note, I have some WONDERFUL friends that have allowed me to come into their yard and take some cuttings or have sent me cuttings from their yard in other states. I also want to thank a local nursery that has basically a forest of old Camellias, some more than 50 years old, that allowed me to come acquire some cuttings. You ALL are great!!
As always, if you have any questions for me, I am only an E-mail away: TheCitrusGuy@netzero.com
Happy Growing!
Darren