You can definitely grow camellias yourself, but it's not necessarily easy. Above all, it requires a lot of patience, because camellias often germinate and root much more slowly than many other plants. Caring for them is also quite demanding.
How can you grow camellias yourself?
To grow camellias yourself, you can cut cuttings from an existing plant and root them or use seeds. Young camellias require special care: partially shaded locations, low-lime water and frost-free overwintering in the first few years.
Growing camellia from cuttings
If you already have a camellia and would like to have an identical plant, we recommend cutting cuttings. Self-collected seeds are not of the same variety and are not often found either.
Growing cuttings in brief:
- results in young plants identical to the mother plant
- Cut head, leaf, shoot or node cuttings
- use young, not yet woody shoots
- remove lower leaves
- Dip the shoot in rooting powder (€8.00 on Amazon), then stick it in the substrate
- Pull the foil over the pot
- bright, partially shaded location
- if possible propagation box with floor heating
- long, at least 8 weeks, possibly several months until successful rooting
Growing camellia from seeds
You can buy seeds for propagating camellias, but unfortunately the seeds cannot germinate for very long. It is therefore questionable whether the cultivation will be successful. However, seed capsules rarely develop in the home garden. Many (hobby) gardeners wait for this for many years in vain. Maybe it's still worth a try.
To promote germination, you should place the seeds in warm water for about eight hours. The seedling also needs a humid climate later. The use of a mini or indoor greenhouse is therefore recommended. However, it shouldn't be too warm in there.
Caring for young camellias
Once your cutting has finally rooted or the seed has germinated, your young camellia is still quite sensitive. It can't tolerate the blazing sun or frost. For the first three to four years it should be kept frost-free in a pot or bucket.
In summer, the camellia can be left outside, preferably in a partially shaded place. It is best to use rainwater for watering, or alternatively low-lime tap water. Fertilizer should only be used very sparingly.
Tip
Camellias grown from cuttings are likely to bloom several years earlier than plants grown from seeds.