Cultivation management and propagation of Camellia oleifera

Camellia oleifera, also known as small tea plum, is a small, evergreen shrub.

Because its flower pattern has the characteristics of both camellias and plum blossoms, it is called tea plum. Tea plum crown is nearly spherical, simple leaves alternate, leathery, smaller than camellia, oval-shaped, dark green glossy, leaf margin obtusely serrated. Semidouble or semidouble flower color in addition to red, white, pink and other colors, there are many strange discoloration and red, white edges and so on. The tea plum blossom is 3.5-6 cm in diameter, fragrant and with a long flowering period. it can bloom from late October to April next year. Tea plum is not only magnificent in color, elegant and elegant, but also most of the branches spread horizontally, full posture and beautiful tree shape. The fruit is spherical. There are many varieties of tea plum, most of which are white flowers and a few are red flowers.

Tea plum is mainly produced in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and other provinces along the Yangtze River and southern provinces. It is a suitable tree species in subtropics. Tea plum is fond of yin and dampness, and half yin and half yang is the most suitable. Strong sunlight burns its leaves and buds, causing the leaves to fall off. But it also needs proper light in order to bloom luxuriantly and brightly. Tea plum likes a warm and humid climate. It is suitable for growing in acid sandy soil with loose fertility and good drainage, while alkaline soil and clay are not suitable for planting tea plum.

The key to good tea plum cultivation is that the potted soil should be suitable, fertilization should be light, watering should be proper and shading should be appropriate. Watering is appropriate to keep the basin soil moist without stagnant water. Water should be irrigated once in the morning and evening in summer and once in several days in winter. Besides winter, water should be sprayed on the leaf surface every few days to keep the leaf surface clean. Watering must be thoroughly watered. Fertilization should be light, especially in the seedling stage. Generally, human urine can be applied once or twice from February to March to promote the growth of branches and leaves, cake fertilizer and water should be applied once in April-May to promote flower bud differentiation, and phosphate fertilizer should be applied again from September to October to promote its flowering, which is also beneficial to winter. Except that winter should be moved indoors, tea plums should be kept in the shade for maintenance. In winter, the room temperature should not exceed 7 ℃ after moving indoors, and 3-6 ℃ is suitable.

Camellia oleifera can be propagated by cutting, grafting, pressing and sowing, and it is generally multipurpose. The cuttings were carried out in May, and the cuttings selected the strong branches on the mother plant for more than 5 years, slept at the base, cut off the redundant leaves in the lower part, and retained 2-3 leaves. Short ears with single buds can also be cut as cuttings and cut as they are cut. Insert bed to shade, after about 20-30 days can take root, sooner or later gradually through the light. The seedlings can be transplanted or potted in the second year.