Rhododendron Buds

ben.foster

Hi there,

Around this time last year I bought a few 5L Rhododendrons, and at the time they had wonderful big buds ready to burst into colour in the spring. They were planted in a woodland setting within soil which is leaning towards ericaceous. This year, however, no juicy buds! The buds that are there are tiny. Where could I have gone wrong? I presume not enough watering/feeding during the dry summer, but I thought these would have been pretty low maintenance with that regard.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

Ben

Fairygirl

Hi Ben - vital that they don't go short of water in late summer when they form buds.
That's been the problem. They'll be fine next year as long as you can ensure enough water for them. If there are evergreen trees near them that won't help either. 
If you're not in an area of very high rainfall, it may be tricky.
After watering copiously it also helps to use a mulch - bark or similar - to help retain the moisture at that time.

Liriodendron

Rhododendrons don't need fertiliser - they are very efficient at using nutrients in poor soil, as long as the soil is sufficiently acid, otherwise their leaves will yellow.  As Fairygirl says, they almost certainly got too dry last summer.  Their roots are shallow - plus they were recently planted, so the roots wouldn't have established in the surrounding soil before the dry weather arrived.  Hopefully they will survive, though evergreens sometimes die very slowly...

ben.foster

Thanks for your help both! The woodland is on a slope too, so you've confirmed my suspicions that it was down to watering last summer - time to get a longer hose! 

Thanks,

Ben

Liriodendron

They'll prefer rainwater if you have a water butt - though in a drought, any water is better than none.