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Watering Rhododendron's / Azalea's

mawallace44mawallace44 Posts: 60
in Problem solving
What do you do about water for Rhododendron's? My wife has bought a Rhododendron's and an Azalea's, and I notice that they don't like tap water? We have no way of collecting rain water - no water butt etc - wondered what other people do to get water sufficient for watering an outdoor container with an Rhododendron. Also, how much water will one need?
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  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Where do you live? Many places have perfectly adequate tap water. We do here.
    They aren't great shrubs for containers, long term  though. They need to be a decent size and with a loam based medium, not just compost.

    It's impossible to say how much water. That depends on many factors such as  general day to day climate, volume of soil, type of container, and variety etc. It's something you learn by experience.
    They need good drainage too. Rhodos and Azaleas are quite shallow rooting. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • BijdezeeBijdezee Posts: 1,484
    edited August 2020
    A brita filter? It might remove the limescale that they don't like. I also heard, I think on a radio phone in that you can acidify tapwater with a little vinegar. Not sure how much though. I wonder if anyone else has heard of this?

    I'm lucky enough to have plenty of rainwater storage but I know it's not the same for every one. Despite this I always pour left over cold tea and coffee grains around my azalea, they're on the acidic side too. Maybe that might be of use to you.

    * looked it up: about 1 tablespoon vinegar to  gallon of water it says. I would recommend keeping it off the foliage though, just water around the roots. 
  • mawallace44mawallace44 Posts: 60
    Live in East Anglia - we have very hard water - water comes from under ground
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    In that case, if you can't collect rainwater for them, it would be better to choose different shrubs that will suit your conditions.
    They don't like alkalinity. It's a huge effort to keep them thriving if you have to resort to all sorts of processes. Depends on how keen you are to have them.  :)
    They also need a lot of water at this time of year as this is when they form next year's flower buds. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    You can buy products with sequestered or chelated iron in them which will help but growing those plants in an area with either alkaline soil or alkaline water is asking for trouble.   Ask at your local GC for feeds for ericaceous plants.

    Calcium locks up certain nutrients such as iron and magnesium so ericaceous plants like azaleas, rhodos, skimmias, pieris become anaemic and sickly and cannot photosynthesise properly so they get sicker.   You would have to correct this every time you water them.

    As @Fairgirl says, they need lots of water to maintain their flowers in spring and monsoon levels of water in ate summer and autumn - like they'd get i their native habitat - as this is when they are forming the flower buds for next spring's show.   Too little water or poor nutrition will make them drop their buds to conserve energy.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • mawallace44mawallace44 Posts: 60
    what about water from the tumble dyer- 

    or water from my Di vessel?
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I've no idea what a Di vessel is, but I wouldn't use tumble drier water, as I can't see how having it through a washing machine and then a drier would alter it. Someone might be able to correct me if I'm wrong. In any case, you'd need a helluva lot of washing being done for it to be worthwhile, and you'd need to store it, so a waterbutt would be easier and more suitable.

    I'm not sure I can put any more input into this thread. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    No idea.   How hard would it be to install a water butt on a downpipe?
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    It isn't. I've done it a few times, as I'm sure you have @Obelixx   :)
    You don't even need a waterbutt - a cheap plastic bin would do, as long as there's an outlet to cope with overflow. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • rwest78rwrwest78rw Posts: 24
    Just personal experience here... Over the past eight years I've only lost maybe four plants/shrubs. Three of them were ericaceous and two were rhododendrons in containers. They both got root rot over two separate winters.

     Never had issues with my azaleas as they are in the ground. 

    Honestly, if you can't put them in the ground and you don't have rain water available, I'd take them back and get something more suitable. Otherwise you'll be forever filtering water and adding specialist feed. Is it worth it? 


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