I live in Belgium and have had a camelia in a pot on my patio for the last two years (belongs to my landlord so I presume it has been there for 3-4 years before that). It is in the shade most of the day, with direct sun only a few hours in the early morning. It has been healthy (except a classic yellow leaves problem at one point), until this spring.

First a small camelia I bought last spring started drying up. The leaves started to curl up and became dry. I made a post-mortem: most of the branches are dry, and the roots are brown and look partially rotten.

Then the older big camelia started having the same problem. I first thought it may be linked to lack of water, but the soil is moist. I also replaced the soil on the top, as this has helped in the past (with the yellow leaves), but it just continues to dry up.

The only major difference with previous winters is that this year it was quite severe (with colder temperatures for longer periods and more snow). On the other hand, it seems that the camelia was ok when it came out of the winter.

May it be linked to some kind of cold burn? Could it be that the roots are rotting?

I was thinking of transplanting it in a new pot (the current one is broken, and I should have done this before anyway), and in the process remove some of the roots on the outside if they are rotten. And then wait and pray.

What do you think? Any other ideas? Maybe add some fertilizer (but which one?)?

I'm getting a bit desperate...

Thanks for your help in advance!!

* location and sunlight are adequate based on your description

* Winter protection requires knowing what variety the camellia is and whether it can withstand winters in your zone

* Potted plants tend to loose moisture more easily than plants in the ground so they require watering more often. You can manually check by inserting a finger into the ground and seeing if the potting medium feels almost dry or dry. If it does then water. If it feels wet, stop watering as often since too much water causes root rot. When a camellia gets root rot, it behaves just like when it does not get enough water.

* add some liquid seaweed, fish emulsion and liquid iron chelated products that add minerals normally not supplied by most fertilizers.

* Potted plants may need fertilizer applied more often if the potting medium is sterile so you or the landlord need to research this. Some people apply liquid fertilizer after watering; make sure it is good for acidic plants since you want the pH to be acidic and most potting medium are not acidic. Do not add garden soil.

* Even though they are in a pot, you should still mulch as this minimizes water evaporation due to windy conditions and heat.

* Potted plants need to moved to bigger pots every ow and then. Their roots need to be pruned also.

* Consider winter protection if the weather is unusually cold. If they are small enough and do not weigh much then you could bring them inside during the worst of the winter. The plants should go dormant in the Fall but continue watering if the temperatures are above freezing.