The spot I chose was not getting enough sun. It didn't grow well here. Shade from the fence began around 1:00. I started reading more about rhododendrons (azaleas, roses...all things plants!) in the spring of 2015 and realized my soil was also not acidic enough for a rhododendron (or azalea).
In either early spring of 2015, I moved this plant to an area of my yard that gets more sunshine, but also also gets shade from a large tree. From early afternoon until early evening (5:00 or 6:00ish) the spot receives only dappled sunshine. I also purchased Epsoma Organic Soil Acidifer and planted the rhododendron with it and plenty of compost. My plant seems very happy now! It's height was about one foot, give or take several inches, and very leggy when I moved it. It is now about 3 feet tall and bushy (June 2015) It is also setting flower buds for the first time. I hope to finally see some of the lovely flowers next spring! Here is my rhododendron today.
And here are the flower buds. They are on most of the new branches now.
I still watch my plant very closely. Some of the older leaves are brown and spotty. I used some Serenade Garden anti fungus concentrate on the plant too,but at this point, I don't think it is fungus. I think the plant suffered a lot of winter damage.
My rhododendron is just about dead. I noticed some wilting a couple weeks ago, so I first thought it needed water, but when that didn't fix the wilting, I did some research and discovered it probably had root rot ( Phytophthora cinnamomi fungus)
This is terribly sad. As you can see, most all of the branches have flower buds now, so I was looking forward to blooms next spring. I poured an anti fungal solution (Serenade Garden) into the ground hoping that would help. It didn't. I had read that once root rot sets in, there is little hope for the plant. I guess I could have tried transplanting. Anyway, the above pictures were taken a couple of weeks ago. The plant is now turning brown and is obviously about to die. :(
No comments:
Post a Comment