It's July, the hottest time of the year, and the heat is unbearable, let alone the flowers and plants. Extreme heat and strong sunlight can cause damage to many flowers and plants, including camellia, but summer is also the season of camellia differentiation flower buds, if not properly treated, it is likely to cause a decrease in winter flowering. To raise camellia in summer, you must do 3 things well, let it safely spend the summer, and bloom more in winter.
1. Avoid strong light exposure
Summer sunlight ultraviolet rays are the strongest in the year, camellia leaves are delicate, if the camellia is placed in the sun to dry, the leaves are easy to be sunburned, sunspots, dry tips and other problems. It not only affects the aesthetics, but also weakens the photosynthetic ability of the leaves, making the plant weaker.
When the temperature rises above 30 degrees in summer, we need to provide a shaded environment for the camellia flowers to avoid the direct sun. Of course, it cannot be placed in a place where there is no light at all, after all, the plant still needs to absorb some sunlight into energy. It is recommended to place the pot in a place where direct sunlight cannot be reached, such as the north balcony and the north window sill, but the scattered light is sufficient and relatively bright. If it is an outdoor camellia, it is recommended to build a shade or shade net for it, and if it is an outdoor potted plant, you can move the pot to the shade of the tree to avoid sunburn of the leaves.
2. Promote flower bud differentiation
Although camellia flowers bloom in winter and the following spring, bud differentiation on branches takes place in summer, and buds gradually grow in autumn and winter after bud differentiation in summer. If maintenance is not done well during this time, it is likely to cause a significant reduction in flowers. In order to promote the differentiation of flower buds on branches, we need to do the following two things in terms of maintenance:
Water properly
In summer, the temperature is relatively high, and watering is a problem. On the one hand, camellia leaves evaporate quickly under high temperature, and it is necessary to appropriately increase the frequency of watering to maintain sufficient water supply; On the other hand, the root system of camellia is not very strong, and if too much watering causes water in the pot, it is easy to cause root rot.
To water potted camellias in summer, you need to wait until the potting soil is six or seven percent dry before watering. Some novice florists may not be able to grasp the degree, here is a recommended method: find a bamboo stick or long bamboo stick, insert the stick along the edge of the pot into the soil, all the way to the bottom of the pot. When you don't know if you should water it, pull the stick out and look at the dirt on the stick. If 60%~70% of the soil is dry, it is 6~7 dry, and the camellia can be watered at this time.
Replenish nutrients
The flower buds of camellia in summer are differentiating, and we need to appropriately apply some pro-flower fertilizers with high phosphorus and potassium elements, such as potassium dihydrogen phosphate, Huaduoduo No. 2, etc., to promote flower bud differentiation. However, in summer, the weather is hot, pay attention to the amount of fertilizer, and must not apply excessive fertilizer.
In strict accordance with the proportion of the instructions, mix the fertilizer into clean water, stir well and evenly make fertilizer liquid. Water the roots of camellia with fertilizer solution, use it once every 10 days or so, and after about 2~3 times of use, you can effectively promote flower bud differentiation and stop fertilizing.
3. Prevent high temperature root damage
Camellia belongs to shallow root plants, the root system is not strong, and it can even be said to be relatively fragile. The root system of camellia is most afraid of high temperature and high humidity environment in summer, and if it is in a high temperature and high humidity environment for a long time, it is easy for the root system to rot. In order to prevent root rot, the environment ventilation must be done:
Keep the environment ventilated
Every time the camellia is watered, the moisture of the soil will suddenly rise, so in order to avoid the formation of a high temperature and humidity environment, it is necessary to ensure good ventilation. It is best for flowers with conditions to put the pot outdoors or on the terrace to keep the environment ventilated so that the water evaporated by the soil can be quickly dispersed by the wind.
If the conditions are limited and can only be raised indoors, then after watering, the window must be opened for ventilation for more than half a day to avoid excessive humidity. The watering time should be as low as possible after the sun goes down in the evening, which is more conducive to the absorption of water by the roots. The midday temperature is too high for watering.
In summer, we should usually maintain camellia, but also pay attention to maintaining ventilation, outdoor maintenance as much as possible outdoors, only indoor maintenance, to open the window frequently.