[Flowertot]

I have a camellia ("Desire") which has been in a large pot on the patio since I bought it 8-10 years ago. It has not flowered well for the last couple of years and some of the leaves are yellowing so I figure it is pot bound and lacking in nutrients despite occasional feeding. We have recently moved house and now have a bigger garden with space to plant it in the soil. Am I right in thinking that I should wait until after it has flowered to plant it? Also, should I put some ericaceous compost in the planting hole with it? I really love the flowers and would like to give it the best chance to recover so any tips would be welcome.

[Kristen]

It needs an acid soil, if you don't have that in your garden (any Rhododendrons, Camellias, Azaleas growing in gardens near you?) I wouldn't plant it out - even with Ericaceous compost

Big pot, feed with Ericaceous liquid fertiliser, and put it on a West facing wall / hedge / fence so that it doesn't get any sun first thing in the morning (causes the buds to drop off if they are frosted and get sun on them)

[Flowertot]

That's helpful, thanks. I think it should be ok in the ground as people in our street have camellias in the ground and Richmond Park is around the corner and has lots of rhododendrons in it. I will put lots of ericaceous compost in too. I was thinking of putting it near an East facing wall though, so will rethink its position now.

[bendipa]

Camellias need an acidic soil (pH < 7). Suburban London is a hard water area which means plenty of lime in tap water, which is a problem when you water Camellias as it will turn the leaves yellow. The only way round is to use Sequestrene when watering from the tap, or collect rainwater in a butt and just use that

You can plant Camellias any time into the ground from a pot as long as the ground isn't frozen over or likely to be in the next few weeks. Mix plenty of ericaceous compost or moss peat with the soil  Also buy a packet of sulphur and chuck 2 or 3 handfuls of that into the soil mix. That should keep the soil acidic enough over the next year.

Here's my Camellia (now in bloom) which 2 years ago had severe chlorosis (yellow leaves) because it had been regularly watered from the tap. By digging in plenty of sulphur over the period, the problem was gradually resolved.

[Flowertot]

Thank you that is really helpful too.  Your camellia is beautiful.  Sulphur it is then