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Sad looking rhododendron

richjamesturnerrichjamesturner Posts: 70
in Problem solving
Hi, can anyone tell me what's wrong with my rhododendron? We have two identical plants - silver edge. They were planted at the same time in the same compost and in the same pots. They are about 2m apart in the shade of tall trees to the north of them. The only difference is that the happy one is under the trees whereas the sad one isn't. So maybe it's frost/snow damage? We've moved it into a sunny spot for the last couple of days but that might be making it worse.

This is the sad one:



The leaves are all pointing down and they've gone crispy. It's had loads of water.

This is the happy one:



Any help/advice would be gratefully received!

Thanks

Rich


Posts

  • luis_prluis_pr Posts: 123
    edited April 2021
    Late frosts tend to affect and kill the leaves. Sometimes they curl but other times they brown out when zapped by frost. Spotty frost occurs too, where one plant is hit and the next one besides it escapes unharmed. New foliage should develop a few weeks afterwards. Brown leaves can be disposed on the compost pile or in the trash if the rhododendron leaves have any fungal issues (I did not see any in the pics). Maintain the soil as evenly moist (water as soon as the soil feels dry but skip watering if the soil is still moist or is soggy) as you can. Mulch if you can. Check to make sure that the plant is not root bound (once a year or so). Give them extra water if the weather is going to be very windy (you can water the night before).
  • richjamesturnerrichjamesturner Posts: 70
    Thanks @luis_pr! So nothing to worry about hopefully. I've had quite a few plants damaged this year by the frost - several hebes were/are looking sad but I think they're recovering. Fingers crossed all look happier in a few weeks.

    R
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    Carefully lift it out make sure that there are no vine wevil grubs.It could be sun,wind combination of both,or early Frost then sun.The are Japanese woodland plants prefer light shade
  • richjamesturnerrichjamesturner Posts: 70
    Thanks @Nanny Beach. It's tricky to get out 'cos it's so heavy but I'll see what I can do. I did have a dig around a bit a couple of days ago and couldn't see any sign of grubs. I would have thought if this one had them the other would too wouldn't it? My guess is it's just a little more exposed than the other one and so suffered from the frost/late snow that we had the other week.
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    Am assuming it's in Ericacious compost,did you water them really well last year, and remove spent flowers, because you don't appear to have many flower buds
  • richjamesturnerrichjamesturner Posts: 70
    Yes it's ericasious compost. I can't remember if I deadheaded them or not but I did water them well.
  • luis_prluis_pr Posts: 123
    richjamesturner, I like the variegated foliage! I think I would grow it just for the leaves. I have been known to actually remove the blooms from some variegated hydrangeas because that one looked better without the blooms.
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