Why are the leaves on your camillia turning brown?

Answer 1

According to the Sunset Garden Book "Scorched or yellowed aread on the center of leaves are usually due to sunburn. Burned leaf edges, excessive leaf drop or corky spots usually indicate over fertilizing Yellow leaves with green veins are a sign of chlorosis. Check drainage, leach, treat with iron or iron chelates. " ----------------- CW: Without a description of the distribution of the yellow on the leaves, it becomes tricky to name the cause. If you can take a picture, upload it, and post a url, it will be easier to ID the cause. Considerations include: 1) Overexposure to sun; 2) Chlorosis; 3) Camellia leaf yellow mottle virus. There's a kind of "answer tree" to go through. Is the yellowing new (i.e., have you seen it before, and under what circumstances)? If it's new, on an established plant that did not have yellowing before, it logically will be sunburn only if something has changed in its environment so that now it receives more bright sun (and heat) than it did before. Usually the yellowing will be accompanied by bronzing of the leaves, as well, if it's sunburn..but chlorosis can show bronze leaves too. It depends on the distribution of the bronzing. If that is the case, then your options are: 1) Move the plant to where it is shaded like it was before; 2) Build a lattice or other structure to provide the shade it had before without moving the plant, or; 3) Live with the yellowing. The latter choice is not so good because a camellia can get stressed enough so that it can become susceptible to diseases. Ultimate worst-case scenario: it dies, after you've worked your heart out trying to make it live. If the yellowing is not new, and the shade situation has not changed, then it may be chlorosis, but it depends on what the yellowing looks like. You didn't say what region of the country you live in. Some soils naturally have less available iron. If it is chlorosis (interveinal yellowing), then there can be a few causes: 1) Soil that doesn't have a lot of available iron natively and supplemental iron hasn't been applied in awhile; 2) Soil pH out of whack (usually pH is too high); 3) Saturated soils. If you are watering too much, the iron in the soil is turned into a form that can't be accessed by plants. As soon as the soil dries out, it will become available again. If you don't have one, buy a hand-held soil-moisture meter (don't get the digital ones, they are a waste of money and the first time you drop it in a bucket or on the ground, it's kaput). Take four readings from around the plant. Push the probe down at least 5". It should not read more than mid-midrange (they usually have three zones: dry, moist, wet, but they call them different names on different meters. So I'm talking about the mid-zone, mid-way). If it is too wet, back off on the watering. DON'T ADD EXTRA IRON UNTIL YOU MAKE SURE IT ISN'T BECAUSE OF SATURATED SOIL. If your soil isn't saturated, then it could be pH. Camellias like soil in the more acidic range---but don't go crazy dropping the pH because too low of a pH can also interfere with iron uptake. You can contact a soil lab that does homeowners' soil testing, and make arrangements to send soil to them for testing. That is the #1 sure way to find out what the deal is. You can buy a kit from a home-gardening store that tests pH and give it your best shot. Some kits are more accurate than others. You can think back to the last time hydrangeas bloomed, and if the majority of them were blue, you live in acidic soil, so the pH isn't the issue. If it's chlorosis and it's not due to saturated soils or high pH, then the third possible cause may be the culprit: camellia leaf yellow mottled virus. If you're lucky, it will look like mine does, which is something like this: http:/www.rhs.org.uk/Advice/camellias/camellia_images/yellow_mottle.jpg I love the variegation, and if my camellias didn't have it, I'd try to inoculate it. The mottling can become overwhelming, however, so that most of the leaf is yellow, and if that is the case, those leaves aren't making energy for the plant because all of the chlorophyll is gone from the leaf. If it is chlorosis, and it's not because the soil is too saturated, it may be iron deficiency (if you get a soil lab test, you will know for sure, but most people want to go through the hassle). If you add iron to the soil, use a naturally long-term (slow-release) type, such as blood meal. Because it's not just straight iron, and is part of dried blood, it is somewhat buffered from being made inactive by oversaturated soil. I hope this helped and didn't overwhelm you. If you post a picture of the chlorosis, I can probably be more specific in the answer.

Answer 2

Most likely your chrysanthemums need water.