propagating camellias

[queen of the cobs]

A friend has offered me a cutting of a lovely Camellia bush he has in his back garden. It's in flower now, would love some advice on how much to take and how to get it to grow. Can I take a shooting piece and put it in water and see if it roots, and then pot it up?

thanks, have really only grown veg before, but now have garden as well as allotment!

[roitelet]

You need to take leaf bud cuttings but I don't know when is the best time to do it.

[Two_Sheds]

Camellias are lime-hating, so you can't root them in tap water. Try this:
Royal Horticultural Society - Gardening Advice

[queen of the cobs]

[QUOTE=Two_Sheds;198073]Camellias are lime-hating, so you can't root them in tap water.

thanks very much - that's useful to know.

[Alison]

In theory you can also take woody cuttings or whatever you call them but they didn't take when I tried. Re the plant, we have one that is about 8 foot tall and blooming enormous but I think it's about 30 years old. Our other one is about 2 foot tall and flowered for the first time this year - only 5 flowers but really pretty.

[BarleySugar]

My mother put some pieces in a pot last autumn and they have rooted over the winter in her unheated conservatory, so probably frost free but cold. She has tried spring and summer before without success.

[nick the grief]

Good gritty compost and around the edge of a clay pot ... never fails and put them in a cold frame. Or you could air layer them on his bush and sever the layer it 12 months time ( or there abouts)