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Rhododendron dead ...or not?

ViragoVirago Posts: 14
in Problem solving

Is my Rhododendron dead ...or not?

It has lost all but perhaps 10 leaves which are producing flowers.

I have had it for about 7 years in a pot on my patio. Last year it had a lot of cabbage catepillars on it.

Help! It's my favourite, a beautiful lilac colour.

What can I do?

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Posts

  • Gold1locksGold1locks Posts: 498

    Could it have suffered from lack of water? Might it have outgrown its pot and need new compost? Or did the leaves go yellowish last year, a sign of chlorosis? Give it a tonic such as sequestrene plus. 

  • ViragoVirago Posts: 14

    OK ta, I'll give that a go

    I water it religiously so I don't think it's that.

  • Woodgreen wonderboyWoodgreen wonderboy Posts: 2,322

    Rainwater?

  • BrummieBenBrummieBen Posts: 460

    sounds like a food problem.. buy an ericaecious feed, (bought from pound shops!) mix up in a watering can then water in. Having said that, you are watering with rainwater yes? Because these symptoms could be from using tap water over a prolonged period of time. Remember your chemistry, this plant loves acid conditions, most tap water is treated to slightly alkali, it is very slight, but enough to give trouble over time. Also remember that these plants can suffer from ph change from recent buildings due to the lime leeching from the mortar on walls etc recently built. good luck anyways, hope my advice helps.

  • BrummieBenBrummieBen Posts: 460

    just read in pots, so most defo from the tap water, if you have no water butts, store the water for a few weeks from the tap in an open container, ph should adjust naturally.

  • Gold1locksGold1locks Posts: 498

    If it is due to hard water then a quick soak with sequestrene + is your surest fast response. It will also deal with other nutrient problems. You can then leave it for a few months to recover before thinking about a bigger pot and new compost.

  • ViragoVirago Posts: 14

    Thank you so much for the advice!

    I will get sequestrene + today to start bringing my Rhododendron back.

    Thanks again.

  • steephillsteephill Posts: 2,764

    Could be vine weevil damage, rhodos suffer just as much as other plants from this pest. I would get some Provado into the pot ASAP.

  • Gold1locksGold1locks Posts: 498

    If you have Provado Vine Weevil Killer you could add some just to be sure. If not, it's expensive stuff, so you might be able to lift the plant out of the pot and have a look to see if you can see any vine weevil grubs and see if you can see any healthy root ends, which should be whitish.If so then it's probably not vine weevil. When I have had one of my potted camellias attacked by vine weevil, by the time it looked sickly on top the damage under the surface was terminal, so if your rhodie is showing signs of growth it's probably nutrients / chlorosis.

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