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2 Japanese azalea red both planted in the same compost,any ideas please?

coppo02coppo02 Posts: 12
in Problem solving
Any hints or tips greatly appreciated 👍
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  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I'm not sure what it is you're asking?
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • coppo02coppo02 Posts: 12
    edited May 2023

    @Fairygirl ,sorry thought I'd uploaded the image☹️ Both planted in ericaceous compost. As you can see the one on the left looks to be dying. 
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Are they the same variety?
    They don't all flower at  the same time, regardless of how and where they're growing, even if they're the same variety.  :)
    The one on the left has flowered and those are just the spent flowerheads. It looks healthy enough. I'm not sure why you think it's dying. 
    If they're staying in pots, compost on it's own won't be enough - you need a soil based medium, which you can get at GCs. If they're staying on the grass, they'll need raised up off it too. They need good moisture, but they also need good drainage, so sitting on turf isn't ideal.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    The more you tell us, the better we can help.

    Fairy's advice is friendly, but she obviously knows little about azaleas.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    Stop it, @bede.

    @Fairygirl, knows plenty about Azaleas, and unlike you does not feel the need to be rude to everyone.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • coppo02coppo02 Posts: 12
    I was hoping to plant them in a border but the soil is showing as alkaline, so I've been digging in lots of ericaceous compost and iron sulfate, not sure if that's the right way to go about it though.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    As @Fairygirl says, they’ll need repotting more often if you’ve only used compost,  you could mix a bag of top soil with the compost to give a bit more nutrition.  You can also buy an ericaceous feed for them.
    You’ll need to put them on pot feet,  or a couple of bricks will do,  azaleas don’t like wet roots so make sure the pots can drain.
    With the one that’s already flowered, you can carefully pick the dead flowers off now,  the others for next year will start to form.


    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • Joyce GoldenlilyJoyce Goldenlily Posts: 2,933
    It is almost impossible to change the soil composition in open ground. If your soil is predominately alkaline you will need to change your choice of plants and grow alkaline lovers in the garden and try to keep acid loving plants going in containers. Azaleas like semi shade and moist roots.
  • coppo02coppo02 Posts: 12
    I've only had them a couple of months and repotted them shortly after I got them as the pots they came in were rather small. I also added some ericaceous feed when I repotted them and only planted them shallow.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    There’s a good article here about acidifying your ground,  you may like to read it,  tells you about what to use to prepare your ground for acid loving plants.
    https://www.rhs.org.uk/soil-composts-mulches/acidifying-soil
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

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