In your case I'd separate the cuttings now and put them into individuals pots. They are not so sensitive and this allows to avoid their roots coming together.
Cuttings from camellia, if these have been outside until now, are used to be in fresh air and they can be still outside next to 0 degree C ( about 32 degrees F ), but then it is time to put them indoors. But this treatement hasn't any influence for their further hardiness. You have to look for the variety if this one is hardy or not.

Indoors any camellia doesn't like heating nor direct sun. They are always very flushy in shade or filtered light - this for camellia japonicas.

Could you show pictures from your newly rooted cuttings?

Hope this helped.

Tamararly

Thanks a lot for the advice, Tamararly. That is very helpful.
I will have to think about where to put them inside... away from the heat and direct sun.
Here are some images. I did not mention before that I have kept the cuttings in a home made mini-greenhouse of which I'm also including a photo.
In some images you can see that some are performing better than others. There is some yellowing of the leaves on some. And some have smaller buds, though I don't know if this really matters. These are my first cuttings of any kind. How do they look to you?

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The yellowing may be iron chlorosis. I would check the soil pH with a soil pH kit or meter; I would also check the amount of nitrogen in the soil as too little can cause the same chlorotic look (but this issue is more rare).

To me they are looking very fine. You seem to do them like me : I never can separate the flower-bud from my cuttings which is so recommanded! And as you see, sometimes they are doing well. :)
About the little yello colouring of the leaves, I think that this will be better next spring or even when you have repotted them in their new soil. The pH-value must be low, you can give pine needles to your mixt and a little of peat. Be careful with chemical feeders, a good leaf-compost will do it very well.

Your greenhouse is also very nice but without any isolation, I suppose?
Overwintering your camellias in a unheated room is always the best. Otherwise you have to mist them every day and several times, but unheated is really better.

For this is your first cutting experience you have a good success! Continue to inform us how they develop, will you?

Kind regards
Tamararly

I'll advise strongly that you dis-bud these very young cuttings so that all of their energy can be diverted to root development and survival. Reproductive buds on such young cuttings are not a good thing and are customarily removed until a young plant is well established. Your cuttings are entering a phase that may be stressful enough...you certainly don't want to add to that.

Do you know what the pH of your water is? That would be helpful information in terms of knowing if you have a pH issue. Using a little bit of vinegar in your water is a far superior way of dropping the pH than pine needles (which won't do anything) or peat (which your potting mix consists of, anyway). 1-2 Tablespoons per gallon of water is the typical recommendation. You ARE using a regular, peat-based potting medium, right? Be sure that any fertilizer you are using has micro-nutrients, along with the N-P-K.

Camellias aren't going to be happy inside. But if you can provide them with a very cool, very humid location they'll be fine. Misting only increases the humidity round the plant while the droplets are evaporating. A water-filled pebble tray, a bubbling fountain, or a small humidifier are all better methods.

I'd live to see pictures of the root system when you decide to separate your cuttings. You might want to locate some 4 inch plastic pots (or terra cotta) for their new homes.

Thank you both for the very helpful information and advice. I didn't know I was supposed to remove the flower buds. As you might have guessed, I'm a novice not only to camellia propagation but to gardening in general. I did dis-bud the cuttings yesterday. I used an exacto knife to separate the flower buds from the leaf buds as they were attached above their base.
Rhizo- I transplanted the cuttings to individual pots over the weekend, before your posting, and did not think to take pictures of the roots. Sorry. But all of them (I took 11 cuttings) did have roots. Some just a few wisps, others a good bit more.
I put them into a commercial potting mix (miracle grow). Should I add something to this?
As for the winter. I think I will try to make the greenhouse look more respectable with a new cover, suspend the cuttings over a tray of water, bring the whole thing inside and see how the cuttings (and my wife) respond.
I don't think I should leave them outside as it can get quite cold here and I sometimes have to travel for weeks at a time for work.

I think that you are doing pretty darned great for your first attempt. BETTER than many people who have over and over!

Unless your potting medium is one of those "fertilizer added" products, you really should locate a soluble fertilizer that you can mix up and apply in very dilute doses when you water your plants. There a zillions of them on the market, some come complete with minor elements.
This is where is might be helpful to add a little bit of white vinegar to the water when you mix the fertilizer.

I hope you don't have to peel your wife off the ceiling! Just wait until you start to ask questions about artificial plant lighting, lol!

Stephen,

I had a bed of cuttings over-winter outside last year, and ALL survived the winter. I am in the middle of zone 6, and we had a number of nights in the single digits last year. It was a small cutting bed (about 3' x 3') with a plastic sheet over a metal frame, located close to my house.

If you have not taken them inside yet (or if you have, and your marriage is at risk - lol)I would recommend leaving them outside. I was reading Ackerman's book over the weekend, and he recommends against bringing camellias in for the winter (too hot and too dry). Your greenhouse looks great - it should give the cuttings good winter protection. If you are so inclined, you can make your greenhouse as small as possible, seal it from outside air as best as possible, and locate it next to the house for additional protection. If you fill in all the air spaces around the bottom of the pots, that will give them more protection. Anything will work (soil, pine needles, even newspaper), the idea is limit airflow, and keep the roots warmer.

Let us know in the spring how it goes.

Ed

Stuckinthedirt, what a great experience, thank you very much for sharing! :)
Now, could you explain a little more what you are meaning with "seal it from outside air as best as possible"? Is this only to cover them all around?

In one winter, I took my rooted cuttings in a small trench with much mulch of pine needles, leaves and so on. Most of them lost their leaves but did news then in the spring and summer. Some died. So it will be useful to know the varieties which can overwinter in this mannor because all will not do so.
Another problem for me has been the mice ....

So please, Stuckinthedirt, show us how you did it. A photo may be very helpful, too.

Best greetings
Tamararly

What I meant by "seal from the outside" was, I noticed some tape on StepheninNYC's greenhouse. If these are seams where air can blow in, I was thinking that the camellias could be more likely to dry out.

Tamararly, Were your camellias covered, or just in a trench? I have found that for my camellias that are in the ground, all they need is to be covered with a cloth sheet to protect them from the winter. What are your winter temperatures like?

I will look for a photo of my cutting bed, to see what I have. As for a description, it is a raised bed made of cinder blocks and bricks, about 6" high; and about 3' x 3' Filled with a mixture sand, coarse peat, and pearlite. All the cuttings were in the bed, not in individual pots. I covered the bed with a plastic sheet supported by wires, and then secured the plastic to the ground by holding the edges down with bricks - very LOW tech! The whole thing sits in a sheltered corner just a few feet from my house. About 2/3 to 3/4 of my 30 cuttings, or so cuttings survived the winter.

I can't tell you the varieties. They are my mother-in-law's camellias. She doesn't know any of the names. She lives near Charlotte, NC so they may not be cold hardy, but I am trying them out just for fun. Here is a link of here camellias:

Here is a link that might be useful: mother-in-laws camellias

Hi, that's a good report! And as your cuttings-bed is near the wall of your house, that must be the best exposition for them.

For my cuttings in the trench, unfortunately I lost very much the next winter. As they did so well I let them in their place, but the following winter came so suddenly with 5�F or so and without any snow, and that was it what they killed. So, again, I took them inside, but the few which survived are very strong! They had a plastic tunnel but it wasn't enough.

In another trench I keep young camellias in their pot, also under the earth. The first winter they had only a double cover for winter protection and this did nice. Then, as the winter would be stronger I gave them on that another protection made with small branches. But there the mice have eaten all the leaves in the dark! So this year I want to cover these camellias only with a mass of leaf mulch and without any head protection..
In our winters we have easily between 2 and -4�F, sometimes for a day or so -13�F and even we had already lower. Not always but it can happen. If there is snow then the ground is protected and doesn't go under 23�F, but without snow it is very dangerous for mostly all camellias, so I think.

Your mother-in-law-camellias are very nice varieties, I hope you'll find their idenfication. :)
And yes, making cuttings from camellias is a great fun!

Hello All,
Sorry I haven't engaged in the conversation. I was out of the country for a month and now that I'm back I have the in-laws in town for the holidays... so, well, you know.
Thanks for all the great input. Ed- your sheltered bed sounds great. I considered putting the cuttings outside and may yet do so, so it's good to have an idea of what has worked for others. Since I knew I would be gone for a while I decided to bring them in. As I described in an earlier post, I suspended them over a big tray of water and covered them with the plastic green house to keep them humid. I guess this worked ok since they're all still alive and the leaf buds have grown a bit... though I have no idea whether they should have grown at all or more than they did. They yellowing which some of them had also seems to have gotten better...so Tamararly, I guess your advice to use vinegar helped, Thanks!
How do they look to you all? I guess if you think they're ok I'll just keep them inside until spring (or until the wife evicts them).
I would also be interested in hearing what you all would do with them come spring. Put them in the ground? Keep them in pots? I have heard that they will probably be vulnerable next winter too so I want to plan accordingly. I may try to implement Ed's idea for a sheltered bed outside for the second winter... but I need to think about this in advance especially since my outdoor space is very limited.
Ed- your Mother in Law's camellias look great and I look forward to hearing and seeing how yours do.

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The cuttings don't look bad at all. Since they have been growing under warm conditions, I would not at this point move them outside into the ground (as they have not "hardened off" to cold weather). Otherwise, Camelia japonica should be fully hardy in NYC--which is now considered a solid zone 7a or milder climate. Here's a pic of one of mine (normally in bloom in March, but mine started to bloom in mid December this year and I'm in the immediate NJ/NYC Metro Area.) Try to keep them very cool until the spring.

Here is a link that might be useful:

stepheninNYC,
When I worked in a small nursery,the manger rooted camelias.
He used one leaf cut in half.
He got 90-100% on most of the plants he rooted.
Is there a reason for using 3 leaves, instead of just one?

Hi,
I would say as njoasis, and not planting out them. That's not only a question of having not "hardened off" to cold weather, but because they are too young.
My young cuttings come outdoors in spring after the last frost in a warm but sheltered corner of my garden and they still keep in their pots. You could apply some very light liquid food, or other fertilizer or just leaf-mulch. They will do fine so.

I have much pleasure to see your nice and clean greenhouse! :), and the cuttings, too! :)

But the idea of vinegar was not the mine.

Hello All,
Thanks again for all the input... and sorry for my slow replies... just a busy time.
As a total novice the advice I've been given here has been extremely helpful.
jolj -On the question of how many leaves... When I started this I followed the instructions on the Propagation page of the American Camellia Society which says to leave 2-3 leaves and cut them back by half. My understanding is that the reason for minimizing the leaves is that moisture escapes through the leaves (transpiration?) and that the cuttings would otherwise be at risk of dehydrating. I haven't had a problem keeping them moist under the green house.
Tamaraly- Did you mean I should give the cuttings some liquid fertilizer NOW or when I put them out in spring? Looking around on the web there seems to be a lot of mixed information on fertilizing young camellia plants with some saying to do so regularly and others saying not to fertilize at all in the first year.
I would appreciate as much input on this point as I can get... as well as on more general advice on what exactly I should do with them come spring to maximize their growth in the first year. Leave in pots? Or create a raised bed for them? What kind of (if any) fertilizer?

Hi, StephenInNYC:
You over-estimate me ;), but when I have a look at your cuttings I'd say, let them growing up on their own energy. They are small and would they support fertilizer?
There could be a possibility to overspray them with very light leaf-fertilizer, but don't give the whole portion, divide in two or three times. And even I wouldn't change the substrat in this first year. For the next three winters I'd let them in your greenhouse, but now I ignore your garden conditions (climate, temperatures and so on), this depends from every area where the gardens are. Also it is not sure that your cuttings are from varieties which are very robust and hardy. To make your own experiences you could plant one of your cuttings and the others you'll keep them in your GH. Try it and you'll see next year.

So, as you understand, I am very cautious and careful for my first year cuttings.

It would be very helpful if others here give their experiences on this question, too.
And don't forget to give us news from your cuttings! ;)

Hat's off! You did a great job in growing the cuttings--much better than my own first try. I propagate a few camellias every year to distribute among friends/family, although I tend to use air layering. Once I pot them up in media, I like to hold on to them for a year or two as a "safety net", since not all of my friends & family are avid gardeners and I'd like the clones to be big enough to have a fair shot at surviving in to their new homes.

I use a mixture of seedling medium and Miracle Grow--so there's already a bit of fertilizer in with my cuttings/air layerings when I've potted them up. So far, it hasn't seemed to be a problem, but other than an occasional feeding (once in the spring right before the leaves start extending and once in the middle of summer when they're setting buds) of kelp extract liquid fertilizer, I don't feed the potted camellia clones. I also grow a couple of reticulatas in pots (they won't survive my winters) and those also receive the kelp extract at the same time as the clones do but I also supplement them with an annual feeding of an organic fertilizer.

I hope that helps you.

-eric