I love my camellias, but we have a big deer problem, so to protect them I spray about every week or so. I use a rotation to keep the deer off kilter (or just to have more spray bottles in my garage): rotten eggs with garlic, a store-bought blood mixture, and a store-bought mint-oil mixture.

It's worked, but, over the course of the winter, the leaves seem to have built up a coating, especially on my Pink Perfections. They're not solid deep green any more, they're kind of filmy.

I'll stop spraying now that other plants are available as deer food, but does anyone know if spraying is harmful to the plants?

Does the film reduce photosynthesis?

Does it wash off naturally from rain?

Thanks for your insights!