I decided to start writing down all seedling evaluations – even for very poor seedlings. I think it will help me to develop successful evaluation criteria.
I got the seed for yuri_panchul_2003_024_oleifera not from a plant in my garden, but from Camellia Forest Nursery in 2003. The resulting seedling was blooming first time 2009.09.02. The flower is a typical wild-type C. oleifera flower, nothing special. The bush shape is spreading, branches are flexible and have long internodes – this is not practical unless you plant to grow an espalier. Leaves are not shiny and way too large for my taste – the largest leaves are approximately 110×60, 100×60 and 90×70 mm (4.3 x 2.4, 4.0 x 2.4, 3.5 x 2.8 inch). The root system is pretty strong.
The plant was grown in somewhat poor condition – it was too dry during one of the heat waves that coincidentally happened during the period of active growth back in April-May. As a result some leaves are deformed. The plant is also root bound but this can be easily corrected by proper root pruning. There are some slugs living at the bottom of the container – this is natural because the container was standing on a plastic shelf lying on the ground. The damage from these slugs appear to be very minor.
The conclusion. This plant should be used as a rootstock during next February. The root bound problem can be corrected after 1 year.
Continue reading ‘Seedling yuri_panchul_2003_024_oleifera evaluation – unsuccessful’
