Camelia leaf curl.. and worse

We grow a medium-size camelia in a pot, and we have recently transferred it into a bigger pot full of ericacious compost/fertiliser (the previous pot did not have totally ericacious soil but I fertilised it regularly in season with ericacious fetiliser.) It has flowered OK every year until this year. It is watered when necessary with rain water from a water butt, not tap water.
All the leaves, including the new ones just growing, are curling up and turning brown or yellow. The plant flowered OK this year but was late and had only a few blooms.

What is wrong with it please?
Barry M

 

Hi

From reading your post I would say its not getting regular watering , as they need to be kept damp at all times and not allowed to dry out even for a few days , and the curling of the leaves is typical of that plus the browning and the lack of flowers can you think back to last July August if you let it dry out at all as this is the time they are developing flowers for the following year , re potting should help.

I would check even if it has rained as the leaves branches can have a "umbrella" effect and keep the soil dry, and the same if the pot is to close to the house as in under the eaves

What aspect do you have the pot ?


Spruce

 

Thanks for responding Spruce. The pot is on our patio, a few yards from the house and in an open position but with a small 1 foot brick wall behind it, which is well below the level of the top of the pot. We live just outside Bristol on the Somerset side, so we do get a fair amount of rain through the year generally so I'm surprised that dryness might be the underlying problem. I can't honestly remember what we did with it last year in terms of watering in July/August as you mentioned.
It's a relief to know from what you have said that it's not an infection or any cause like that. We will make sure the soil is kept damp and that it doesn't get dried out, in future, especially during the later Summer, and hope that does the trick. We had feared it might be dying or being attacked, so your comments are reassuring.
Thank you.
Barry