Potawatomi13
Imperial Masterpiece
Brilliant
!
Camellia Japonica overwintering ideas
- Thread starter Cambob
- Start date
-
- Tags
- camellia overwintering
!
Deep Sea Diver
Imperial Masterpiece
Quite the audible!
Just for future reference,
In the bonsai world one of our bonsai professionals, Ryan Neal, sums up when to repot by describing three general situations that trigger a repot.
1, Media doesnāt drain properly.
2. Particle size decomposition.
3. Change of style. As this is an aesthetically driven event, itās usually done at a time that is considered to be the best time in the year of a treeās growth cycle.
There is another, final point to remember, made by @BillV, another well respected bonsai professional. Bill has said, āOne can do anything to a bonsai tree as long as the tree can be given proper care afterwards.ā This implies the practitioner is aware of the horticultural needs of the tree and is ready to provide for these needs.
Yet we all make mistakes, especially when new, and no one ever envisioned COVID and itās far ranging implications on behavior towards bonsai treesā¦.
Hopefully youāve enough root thermal protection for the tree throughout the rest of the winter. Keep the tree on its natural cycle and do not try to break dormancy. This will only further tax the tree. Thus it doesnāt need a lot of light. Try to match the natural day/night cycle timing.
Sorry about the COVID, hope you get better soon.
cheers
DSD sends
Just for future reference,
In the bonsai world one of our bonsai professionals, Ryan Neal, sums up when to repot by describing three general situations that trigger a repot.
1, Media doesnāt drain properly.
2. Particle size decomposition.
3. Change of style. As this is an aesthetically driven event, itās usually done at a time that is considered to be the best time in the year of a treeās growth cycle.
There is another, final point to remember, made by @BillV, another well respected bonsai professional. Bill has said, āOne can do anything to a bonsai tree as long as the tree can be given proper care afterwards.ā This implies the practitioner is aware of the horticultural needs of the tree and is ready to provide for these needs.
Yet we all make mistakes, especially when new, and no one ever envisioned COVID and itās far ranging implications on behavior towards bonsai treesā¦.
Hopefully youāve enough root thermal protection for the tree throughout the rest of the winter. Keep the tree on its natural cycle and do not try to break dormancy. This will only further tax the tree. Thus it doesnāt need a lot of light. Try to match the natural day/night cycle timing.
Sorry about the COVID, hope you get better soon.
cheers
DSD sends
Do you have any pictures? Just wondering where the tree came from and did it already bloom or does it have flower buds yet? I repotted mine in late spring/summer with no issues. I wouldn't have done it the winter, myself. Wishing you a quick recovery!
Cambob
Seedling
Here are all the pictures Iāve taken of the tree thus far.
it was basically 100% roots in the pot. How it was still managing to drain is beyond me. I was able to chopstick out the drainage screens it had totally consumed, and a handful of the aeration layer particles. Everything else was just solid root mass.
it was basically 100% roots in the pot. How it was still managing to drain is beyond me. I was able to chopstick out the drainage screens it had totally consumed, and a handful of the aeration layer particles. Everything else was just solid root mass.
Cambob
Seedling
I really like that quote from Bill. now I face the consequences of my own restlessness and Impatience. Thanks, Covid. Though after getting a look at that root ball, I do think it fit the bill for Ryanās particle decomposition criteria. I love his work. I just recently became a Mirai live subscriber. Though, as I dive more and more into his library, I feel like the more I learn about bonsai, the less I know about bonsai. And I barely knew anything in the first place.
To be fair, I also have Covid to thank for getting into this hobby at all. I had a Podocarpus in college. Left it to my dad to care for when I bailed on college to join the military. It obviously died, and I never thought about bonsai again until the pandemic happened. Pre-pandemic, my deck had a few sad vegetable plants in containers and one small blue point juniperānow itās covered entirely in trees during the growing season. I like it much better this way.
thanks for the well wishes. Iām feeling markedly better today, finally. Ready to get back to work soon so I can stop tormenting my trees haha
Last edited:
River's Edge
Imperial Masterpiece
The recent root work is the deciding factor. If you can accommodate indoors do so. Normally I would advise healing it in beside a foundation or fence line for the winter. My three do fine beside the house. At times we see minus 10-15 celsius and a foot of snow. The snow just makes a great insulator for ground warmth though.
Cambob
Seedling
I just realized I posted pictures but didnāt answer your questions.
The tree came from Superfly in Harrisburg. It was kept on an outdoor patio, surrounded by clear plastic curtains. They said the tree needed repotted soon, to the point where they threw a discounted pot and bag of soil at her to help it get done. There are a few buds that have opened. There are more buds that have just fallen off. It still has a good amount of buds on it.
Cambob
Seedling
I can accommodate indoors, will do!
I will be sure to update everyone once itās recovered and growing strongly again.
Or Iāll post a dead stick in a pot so we can all laugh and shake our heads at the mistakes of a newbie. I dunno. Weāll see!
Deep Sea Diver
Imperial Masterpiece
Yepw, the roots still look good. A heathy, azalea or camellia can look like this at the point a repot is made.
Breaking dormancy is the issue you face now. It would be wise to avoid this unless you are set up for itā¦. proper lights, thermostatically controlled heat mat etcā¦ and a transition over a couple weeks.
Keep the roots moist, not wet. Camellias do not like wet feetā¦.
Best
DSD sends
Breaking dormancy is the issue you face now. It would be wise to avoid this unless you are set up for itā¦. proper lights, thermostatically controlled heat mat etcā¦ and a transition over a couple weeks.
Keep the roots moist, not wet. Camellias do not like wet feetā¦.
Best
DSD sends
Perrywinkle
Mame
I keep my camellias outside in their bonsai medium for the winter. Temperatures sometimes drop to 30 or even 28 around 4am and quickly rise up above freezing once the sun comes up. They donāt seem to mind quick freezes but I wouldnāt expose them unprotected to anything colder or longer than that.
That's where one of mine came from also, Christmas present too. It came in bloom in January, so I kept inside under the lights until spring.
Cambob
Seedling
Breaking dormancy early didnāt harm it the following growing season? Keeping it inside would certainly be a lot easier than doing this inside/outside dance Iāve got going right now.
No, it was blooming, so it wasn't really dormant. It put on new leaves inside after blooming. In the spring it went outside, grew well and set flower buds for the next winter.
Deep Sea Diver
Imperial Masterpiece
One can break dormancy on a healthy treeā¦ sometimes the plant just sits there for a couple three of four weeks though. Sometimes it pushes, sometimes not. Btw my experience is mostly on azaleas as I have a unconscionable amount of theseā¦ Camellies are closely related.
Hereās my experience on doing this. Iām actually doing this to two sets of 60 1st winter azalea cuttings I brought in from the greenhouse before the big freeze came and after. Maybe someone else who has done this differently can chime inā¦.
In the case youād want to try to break dormancy and the temperature of your storage is cold, youād put the camellia on a heat mat with a light and turn up the mat temp slowly to about 72F over perhaps 3 weeks while increasing the day length slowly as well to the length of early spring by you.
I have to askā¦. what would be the goal you are trying to attain by forcing the plant out of its annual rhythm?
Cheers
DSD sends
Hereās my experience on doing this. Iām actually doing this to two sets of 60 1st winter azalea cuttings I brought in from the greenhouse before the big freeze came and after. Maybe someone else who has done this differently can chime inā¦.
In the case youād want to try to break dormancy and the temperature of your storage is cold, youād put the camellia on a heat mat with a light and turn up the mat temp slowly to about 72F over perhaps 3 weeks while increasing the day length slowly as well to the length of early spring by you.
I have to askā¦. what would be the goal you are trying to attain by forcing the plant out of its annual rhythm?
Cheers
DSD sends
Cambob
Seedling
If itās already flowering, itās already done that on its own, hasnt it ?
Deep Sea Diver
Imperial Masterpiece
Again, your tree your choice!
Good luck on this project.
DSD sends
Good luck on this project.
DSD sends
River's Edge
Imperial Masterpiece
Just some thoughts regarding breaking dormancy! The tree will normally be healthier if left to follow its natural rhythm. Keeping in doors does not require breaking dormancy if a cold room or unheated area can be maintained at a lower temperature.
The observation that one year did not seem to make a difference can be misleading, trees will gradually weaken over time if their needs are not met. flowering during dormancy or state of reduced activity does not indicate that it has broken dormancy or is fine to bring ups to normal spring or summer temperatures. This weakened condition will appear within three or four years if dormancy requirements are not met for the species.
In your case extra protection is best due to the timing of the extensive root work recently done. indoors will provide more protection and temperatures that will favour the root repair. For the long term I would try to provide a more suitable over wintering program that will keep the plant at the temperatures it would experience in its proper climatic range.
just some additional thoughts, not being critical of your choice, trying to provide some background perspective.
Leo in N E Illinois
The Professor
- Messages
- 11,448
- Reaction score
- 23,685
- USDA Zone
- 5b
Don't PM the photos, post them here !!!! or PM them, and then post them here, please. Or better yet, start the 'Flowers 2022" thread
I did at 1am January 1st.
I received it today and I guess I'm a little disappointed. It's a long straight stick and the leaves are really large. Not sure it's bonsaiable if that's a word. It's supposed to bloom in March, but I think the buds on it are leaf buds, not flowers. No fault of theirs, it arrived in perfect shape and I'm sure they expect people will be planting them in the ground. I bought a Camellia from Nuccios last year and when I asked him if it would be OK to repot, he said sure, you can put it in a bigger pot anytime. When I explained I wanted to put it in a smaller pot, he laughed and said "you bonsai people are a strange bunch."
