My Dwarf Azalea is wilting
Hello,
I've recently bought a white Dwarf Azalea as a decoration for my room. Please note that I had no experience with plants before, it just seemed like a nice idea to me. It has been growing, exposed to light sun through a sizeable window, and up until yesterday it was perfectly fine.
On that Sunday I realized that the plant started to wilt rapidly. I figured that it might be the cause of using a fertilizer that I had bought and used the day before - I might have used too much of it (about 20 grains, image attached). I might have also slightly overwatered the Azalea a few times, though it wasn't too dry even once. The plant is in situated in quite a small pot, and I suspect the problem might be that there isn't enough place for roots, although for me it fainted too fast...
As I had said before I am no expert, and I have no idea what to do, nor where to look for help. Since yesterday it's been only worse, and almost all the leaves have fallen down. They are also evenly, regularly covered with tiny, white spots. I've also noticed that two or three leafs have beginnings of small, black spots covering parts of their edges.
The plant isn't big with a size roughly of a cube with a side of a bigger A5 paper side. The fertilizer I used is said to be common Azalea fertilizer, and contains (citation): nitrogen in ammonium form (12%), P2O5 soluble in inert solution of ammonium citrate and water (5%), P2O5 soluble in water, K2O soluble in water (10%) and sulfur soluble in water.
I have no idea how to save the plant. Any help is appreciated.
Last edited: 10 April 2017 17:10:21
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Photos: http://m.imgur.com/a/gHoH2
Hello Keverman!
I'm not an expert on indoor azaleas, though I have grown them in the past. They need a bright position but don't like a hot, sunny spot; could yours have got too warm, perhaps? You're right not to let it dry out. My book says feed after it's flowered. I don't know what strength dilution was recommended for your feed, but it's always best to be cautious, especially with plants in pots - you can always feed again, but feed which is too concentrated can burn the roots.
Sorry to be a bit vague! It's difficult to know what's wrong sometimes. (A bit like working out why your baby is crying...) If you take it out of the pot, you'll be able to tell if the roots look healthy and vigorous, and also if there are any grubs living in the compost. I'd check that, then remove the wilted flowers (not the leaves), keep it moist and out of the sun, and hope.
Thank you for your answer, Liriodendron!
So, I've looked for a longer moment at my Azalea, and I saw a tiny, barely visible (probably around or less than 1 mm), brown cockchafer-like creature delving into the plant's soil. I can't really attach a photo as I could observe it for a brief moment, and it's really tiny... and I wouldn't mentally be able to search for it on the internet.
Also, I've fortunately (probably) found the cause of trouble. Well, I don't really know how the disease is called, but the description and attached photos of it look very alike. However, as it is in my language (not a native English speaker) I won't give you a link to the site - you probably wouldn't be able to decipher it. The article says I should spray the plant with a chemical agent called Rovral Aquaflo 500 SC. I will try doing that, as well as I will remove wilted flowers and situate the pot in a less sunny place. I will infrom you how it goes; thanks again!
Good luck, Keverman! I hope the fungicide works for you. Often these sprays work best as a preventive measure, but obviously we shouldn't be spraying all our plants "just in case" they get something wrong with them; the wilted leaves on your azalea may not recover, but hopefully the plant will produce new ones if that's the case.
It's possible the little insect you saw was a sciarid fly or fungus gnat - very common on houseplants, when the compost is moist. I doubt if that would be the cause of the wilting, though.