Grow Camellia Plant From Cuttings: How To Propagate Tea Plant from Cutting

Learn how to grow camellia or tea plant from cuttings in easy to follow steps. Camellia propagation or tea tree propagation is done using seeds, cuttings or layering, and grafting. Propagation of camellias from cuttings or layering is the easiest method. Do you know that all types of teas are made from camellia plant, Camellia Sasanquas (how to grow tea plant from seeds). You can grow camellia in containers.

Camellia Japonica Flower

While growing camellia cuttings will produce the exact clone of the parent plant, but if you propagate it from seeds, the new plant may be different. The Camellia Japonicas and Camellia Sasanquas propagate quite easily from cuttings.

Planting Camellia Cuttings

Things You Will Need

1. A healthy camellia bush you want to clone or duplicate
2. A sharp knife or pruning shears
3. Rooting medium
4. Rooting hormone
5. Plastic bag or Zip lock bag

Growing Camellia from Cuttings

When To Take Tea Cuttings To Propagate 

1. Camellia cuttings can be taken from mid Summer to early Autumn when the Spring growth hardens off. Take semi-hardwood cuttings from the current season’s growth from the stems that have turned from green to brown, generally in mid summer to early autumn (fall).
2. The all-green cuttings from freshly grown branches in spring will be too soft and may rot in the propagation process.
3. In Australia, I take cuttings in December to early February.
4. Do not take camellia cuttings in winter, they will not root.

How to Take Camellia Cuttings

1. Take a sharp knife or pruning shears and first disinfect it with dilute bleach or alcohol solution.
2. Cut about pencil thick, 4 to 6 inches long stems from a healthy semi-hardwood camellia branch.
3. You can cut just below a node (leaf joint) or cut at the point where the new growth joins the old wood of the last year.
4. Then remove all bottom leaves and cut the top two leaves into half to reduce water evaporation and the risk of any fungus when in pot.
5. You may lightly remove the bark at the bottom side of the cutting with a knife to expose the cells where the roots will emerge.

Prepared Camellia Cutting

Rooting Medium for Rooting Tea Cuttings

1. Take a small pot having several drainage holes and fill in it the rooting medium.
2. You can use a mixture of potting soil and washed coarse river sand or perlite in equal amount as the rooting soil. The sand or perlite makes the soil free-draining. if water stands in the pot, then the cuttings will rot and will not root.
3. Water well and place the pot in shade for half an hour to drain excess water.

1. Now apply rooting hormone on the cutting to encourage root formation. You may use commercial rooting hormone or can use a natural rooting hormone like aloe Vera gel.
2. Make a hole in the soil and insert into pot 2 inch in soil, do not push.  Firm the soil around the cutting.
3. You may similarly plant 4-5  cuttings in the same pot, at least a few will root, if not all.
4. Do not water again.

Create a Mini Greenhouse

1. Enclose the pot in a polythene bag and place it in shade at a warm place. The bag acts as a mini-greenhouse, creating high humidity inside.
2. If the temperature is below 21°C, then place the pot indoors, may be in an ac room, away from direct air current. You can place the pot on a heating pad to encourage rooting.

Every 10 days. open the bag and mist the cuttings using a spray bottle or add a few drops of water to the soil.

Rooted Camellia Cutting

When the Camellia Cuttings will root?

The camellia cuttings will take 1 to 3 months to root depending on the temperature and cuttings. Too old cuttings will take more time to root and grow seedlings.

Videos on how to grow camellias

How to grow camellia plant from cuttings youtube video
How to grow camellia in pots
How to grow camellia by air layering