A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Plants and Flowers Forum Shrubs and Trees Please save my poor Rhododenron!

What do I do? What is wrong??
Planted last year in manure, compost and peat moss. On east side of house. Fed w/specific food 2 weeks ago. Have fungaside-have not used it yet...need more info/input. Some more pics on my photobucket to look at. :/

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Bought last year at Home Depot.
I mixed manure & compost in Oklahoma clay since that's what mother nature delt me and added peat moss specifically around it and a couple other acid loving plants.
Drainage-not good yet. Have been advised to raise garden and I will be doing that. But I do have guttering on house now.
No fertilizer-just Rhodie/azaelea food aprox. 2 weeks ago.
(miracle grow).
Temps this spring=up and down. range from 30-75, that's OKlahoma for ya. But I covered it when freezing since it apppears to have blooms trying grow on it now. Although we had a semi-rough winter and I let it get snowed on and freeze in a ice storm and I have to admit I hate the cold so I did not water as well as I should have.
I have grubs and I have seen catapillars. Not spcifically on the Rhodie though. I raked around it to peek under it's soil to see if I saw any buggies there and all I found were termites!!! But that's a whole other issue.
The stems look ok-no orange.
The brand new, tiny leaves are healthy looking, the small leaves have some browning dead spots on edge and the mature leaves are pretty much all damaged.
Never walked on.
You can see more pics on my signature photobucket. I posted new pics today of surroundings and a side view of Rhodie.

looks sunburned. they like shade.

Hello, Johnna. Rhodies have several requirements that must be met or they will suffer. Since I live a few miles south of you in Dallas/Ft. Worth, let me tell you what I have learned from growing a few azaleas here...

Varieties - Many growers in Oklahoma have had good success with rhododendron iron-clads. Those are varieties planted in the Arnold Arboretum in Boston which survived many winters successfully and tolerated lots of sun. Examples of these are: Album Elegans; Album Grandiflorum; Atrosanguineum; Boule de Neige; Catawbiense Album;
Catawbiense Boursalt; Charles Dickens; English Roseum;
Everestianum; Henrietta Sargent; Ignatius Sargent; Ken Janeck; Lady Armstrong; Lee's Dark Purple; Minnetonka; Mrs. Charles S. Sargent; Nova Zembla; Olga Mezitt; PJM; Purpureum Elegans; Purpureum Grandiflorum; Roseum Elegans.

Soil - our soil is trash (clay). Good rhodie soil must be well-draining, acidic soil in the Ph Range 4.5 to 6; they can be grown is less acidic soil if you do not have trashy soil and if you use lots of organic compost. Because the roots of rhododendrons and azaleas are tiny & fibruous, they cannot dig through when they encounter heavy soil. Clay and part clay soils are heavy soils; they provide bad drainage (which can causes fungal infections) and are difficult for the roots to grow through. So, you need to concentrate on getting the raised beds up and running very soon.

Sun - In the summer (not now), azaleas and rhodies must start to get shade somewhere between 10am and 11am. Go past this and they will suffer from sunscald, moisture issues, etc. I planted mine on the east side of trees on spots that are shaded by 10-11am.

Planting - Must be planted 1/2" to 1" above the ground. Never add more soil on top of recently planted root balls. The roots are so tiny that adding soil on top of the root ball can kill the plant. Do not block airflow around the plant to reduce the possibility of fungal infections. Windy areas can dessicate these plants quickly in the summer so select locations that are not windy IF possible.

Mulch - no if or buts here! Add 3-4" of pine bark mulch. Most of the roots are in the top 4" of the soil. Unfortunately, this part of the top soil dries the fastest normally (and on windy summer days) so having mulch reeeeeally helps a lot.

Moisture - very picky creatures these rhodies... The best environment would have to have constant/even soil moisture but hey, what can we do in the southwest???? Some learned lessons: Never water the plant directly; instead water the soil under the plant. If you do not have an automatic sprinkler or drip irrigation, insert a finger 3" deep or so to see if it feels dry (add water), moist (take no action) or wet (reduce the amount of water).

Winter - Wind and cold damage is indicated when the edges of the leaves become distorted and turn brown. It is normal for the leaves to look wilted during the winter; that is the plant's response to the cold temps and to dry conditions as well.

Fertilizer - They need none. They feed off the decomposing mulch. Fertilize if growing in pots or if your soil lacks good nutrients. Holly-tone is better than Miracle Gro.

Fungus - I thought I noticed some white spots in your leaves but could not tell what they were for sure so, I decided to add this comment... If a leaf has brown areas with white spots, it probably has a local fungal infection of Pestalotia rhododendri. This is seldom controlled with fungicides and is best mitigated by good sanitation practices & avoiding excessive moisture above/below the ground. There are a number of these leaf spots or burns caused by fungi. Many are secondary infections happening as a result of environmental stress, such as sunburn, drought, winter damage or windburn. They generally occur during wet weather and many times are self limiting with drier summer weather. Since good sanitation is helpful, remove brown and fallen leaves/flowers and plant debris. Also provide good air circulation. Spraying with Benomyl or similar fungicide can be useful, but is frequently not necessary.

Sorry for the long dissertation and good luck with your plant. I hope some of this helped you.
Luis

Informative post - Will be researching cold climate varieties you listed. Don't think gardeners with clay soil will ever be able to provide an acceptable and long lasting soil ph that Rhodos require for health. Hooray for Tone fertilizers when compost isn't available.

I noticed it is getting new, beatidul healthy leaves since I moved it. I think I finally did the right thing. It is planted in compost and a raised bed.

Oh! You should see it now! How it's grown! I will post pics on photobuket tomarrow! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

[img][IMG]http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m220/Johnna81/plants%20march%2007/plantupdate5-19-07002.jpg[/img][/img]

Looks like a happy camper to me!