With their deep green glossy leaves and blooms that resemble cotton candy , rhododendrons never fail to add a expert dose of check solicitation to garden and public spaces likewise . So much so that a popular patch of advice circulating in realtor circles in the 90s articulate that you should plant rhododendron in your own front yard as soon as you move in . That way , when you ’re quick to sell your firm , the rhody would do the operose lifting in terms of landscaping .
The belief was that rhododendron would make your belongings count more desirable to possible vendee , especially if you were lucky enough to have some bush in bloom at the time your house hit the market place .
Let ’s confront it , nobody plants rhododendron for their foliage . We all desire that cock-a-hoop display of blooms that make our neighbors stop over to admire our gardening chops . But what happens if the rhododendron are n’t bloom ?
Here are the most vernacular reason why your rhododendron conk out to flower , and how to set up these issues so that you get more season of bloom in the future .
1.Your rhododendron isn’t getting enough sun.
One of the most common misconceptions about rhododendrons is that they do well in shade gardens . Some rhododendrons can take a good amount of shade , but that often comes at the disbursal of blooms . Most rhodys will digest shade , but necessitate at least five to six hr of sunshine for fertile blooming .
As a rule , the hotter your weather gets , the more shade your bush needs . So in region with very live and dry summers , this shrub will necessitate more dappled spook .
If you plant your rhododendron in too much ghost , not only will it lack bloom , but it will also mature tall and spindly , as opposed to rich and riotous .
Keep in judgement that your rhododendron may have been getting enough sun when it was initially found , but over fourth dimension surrounding Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree may have started to vomit up too much shade on your plant . If you ’ve eradicate or repair all the other agent on this list , and your rhododendron is still not blossom , go back and reconsider whether they ’re miss sunlight .
2.Your rhododendron hasn’t been getting enough water in the spring and summer.
Not get enough water , especially in the natural spring , is the most common cause why rhododendrons do n’t blossom .
In spite of their robust appearing , rhododendrons have a fibrous root social organization that does n’t grow too deep below soil grade . When the weather condition catch too dry for too long during spring and summer , the drought emphasis subdue the industrial plant ’s power to produce peak bud ( during the summertime ) and to open say flush buds ( during the following give ) .
Most of the rhododendron that we get in our gardens were in the beginning aboriginal to parts of China , India , Japan and Nepal , where they were used to growing on moist but well - drained side . This is why rhododendrons must have enough wet in the soil in June and July when they start assign put out flower buds for the following fountain .
Even if you believe your rhododendrons are amaze enough water , check that they ’re not under thick tree canopies , overhang branches or other structures that do n’t allow rainwater to soak the soil around the plant soundly .
A beneficial way to make certain the soil stay moist on juiceless 24-hour interval is by mulch around your rhododendron bush . This will slow down evaporation and keep the underground temperature even throughout the 24-hour interval and night . Over prison term , the mulch will also demote down and ply nutrients to the roots .
It ’s also deserving mentioning that rhododendrons do n’t like get too much water . However , the sign of too much water will first show up in the leaves , not in the blooms . It ’s important that your grunge has good drain that allows the roots to get to the body of water , but does n’t keep too much moisture around the root word structure . Waterlogged roots are susceptible to source rot , which will kill your total plant life in a matter of months by stamp down the power of the root to take up body of water .
You need to pay special tending to newly - planted rhododendrons that are just getting found . These younglings require unconstipated watering in spring and summertime ( at least two times a calendar week if you ’re not get enough rainfall ) . When you irrigate a rhododendron , you should verify you do n’t get its canopy wet ; you should water it to about ten inches deeply using a soaker hose or a bucketful .
We mentioned that the rhododendron should be go along well - watered in the spring and summer , but here ’s another trick . In order for the rhody to harden off for the upcoming winter , you should reduce the extra watering starting in October .
Obviously , if it rains , that ’s out of your hands . But if it ’s up to you to ply the good mixture for your rhododendron , you should water it periodically in the fall and water more thoroughly once the first frost has expire .
It ’s normal for a rhododendron to look wilted during periods of extreme hotness , so how do you make out whether you should water it or not ? The trick is to check it in the daybreak before the industrial plant get too many 60 minutes of direct sun . If the rhody looks wilt and the edges of the leaf are curl underneath , then you should definitely irrigate it .
The hard part about figuring out whether a rhododendron is stomach from drought stress is that it can take months for the true symptoms to appear . So a plant that does n’t blossom in fountain may have suffer from drouth stress the old summer without you even noticing it . Ironically , the lack of rosiness may seem like it ’s come out of nowhere , but somewhere along the way the plant ’s eating and growth hertz have been disrupted .
The best way of life to persist forward of it is to keep an eye on your weather and regularly inspect the wet level at the base of your plant life . If it ’s dry four to six inch bass , keep watering it .
3. You’ve pruned your rhododendron too late or too much.
Rhododendrons are relatively slow - grow shrub , so they often do n’t need to be pruned every yr ; at least not for the primary reason why we prune garden plant – to help them find vigor and military strength for the following growing time of year . In general , rhododendron are not deciduous . That stand for they do n’t lose their leaves in the off - season . So there ’s no demand to prune back its foliation .
The main reason why you should prune your bush is if it is overgrown ( this take year of disregard ) and you want to revitalize it and give it a more cohesive shape .
Another reason to prune it is if there are any dead or diseased offset or leaves . In this case , just cut these offshoot off with astute gardening shears . you could do this at any time during the year .
However , if you do require to cut your rhododendron , remember that the bud for the following yr are limit from mid - summertime to later fall , depending on what rhody you ’re grow and what sort of clime you ’re gardening in . If you prune after the bud are gear up ( but barely visible ) , you campaign the peril of inadvertently rationalize off next class ’s bloom .
If you really need to shape your rhododendron , you should prune it as presently as the previous blooms have pass off , but the right way before new blooms are set . It ’s tricky to get the timing powerful , so you ’ll ask to keep an centre out weekly to take advantage of this very short window .
One agency to get around it is to only cut just a fiddling bit at a time every year if you desire to better this shrub ’s curb appeal factor . This way of life , even if you incidentally lop off next class ’s buds , you wo n’t be leaving your rhododendron entirely flowerless .
However , one important maintenance undertaking you should be doing for your rhododendron is deadheading them .
Deadheadingrefers to the process of remove spend peak to allow the plant to redirect its energy to growing ( new bloom bud and foliage bud ) rather than to setting seeds .
Do n’t worry , you ’re not miss out on much . It takes veridical luck , the correct circumstance and years of hold back to grow a new rhododendron from ejaculate anyway .
To properly deadhead the rhododendron , you have to remove their flower clusters ( also called trusses ) once the bloom have shriveled up and died . you could bump off the corbel by rotating them softly until they collapse off . It ’s a job that ’s well done manually to be able-bodied to really find for the right patch where the corbel will come off .
Do remember to jade gardening gloves though , as the sap leave behind once the clusters derive off gets really sticky and it acquire a lot of handwashing to get it off . ( I ’m speaking from experience here . )
right deadheading will not intervene with blooming production and should n’t cause your rhododendron to bar flower the following season .
4. Your rhododendron shrub is too young to bloom.
It takes about two to three years for a rhododendron that has been propagated from a cutting off to bloom . So if you ’ve just bought and plant your bush , patience is the name of the game . This also apply if the industrial plant already had blooms when you bought it , although in this case , it may only take it one year to settle into its new localisation .
If you ’ve make out to propagate your rhododendron from seeds , then vigorous blooming may never pass for that particular plant , or it may take a few years for it to set out buds . This does n’t signify that you ca n’t enjoy the foliage , but it just means that you may not get blooms true to the mother - plant life .
Along the same lines , if you ’ve just transplanted your rhododendron , even if you ’ve done so during their sleeping season , you ’ll have to bend your patience muscles again . It may take a yr for a new - relocated bush to decently take hold in its Modern location . That ’s a good thing though , as the works is more likely to fare well in the long full term if it uses its energy to position out a strong root organisation rather than new blooms .
As a world-wide rule of pollex for gardening , treating a recently transplanted industrial plant as a new industrial plant can serve us set realistic expected value and avoid disappointment .
5. Your rhododendron had frost or winter damage.
Rhododendron bush are generally springy in moth-eaten temperatures , especially if they are hardened off increasingly before the onset of the cold-blooded season . So early fall frost , when the plant has n’t had the chance to harden off for the winter , is often one of the main cause of failure to bloom for rhododendron .
One thing you’re able to do for permit the plant life to harden off is to reject fertilizing starting in mid - July . Fertilizing encourages fresh growth , and this new fragile gain will not have enough time to harden off before the temperatures drop .
We do not endorse the often - quoted piece of advice that says you should withhold water as the summer is come to an conclusion in rescript to promote harden off the plant . The contrary is true – a dried-out rhododendron is more likely to be damaged by cold weather than a decently watered one .
Another agent that plays a role in this shrub ’s ability to hold up inhuman atmospheric condition is its exposure , so verify you plant it in a sheltered locating that does n’t get too much steer . Also , avoid place a rhododendron under a direct flood light in your yard that stays on throughout the Nox .
However , most of the cases of rhododendrons not bloom due to cold temperatures happen due to them breaking their period of dormancy early . This happens if you ’re getting a mild winter followed by a hard frost in late springiness .
rhododendron that bloom ahead of time ( or too early for the mood that you ’re gardening in ) will often be affected by this problem . For example , if your rhody swells the buds in planning for blooming in February or March , and you ’re bugger off a hard frost before the blooms spread out , your flora will abort blooming and the buds will change by reversal chocolate-brown and die . Unfortunately , that ’s it for this season . The viable buds have been used up , albeit at the haywire time , so you ’ll have to wait for the following twelvemonth for more flowers .
There ’s not much you’re able to do to shelter your plant if the temperatures immerse below suspend for elongated periods of time . However , you could try protecting the shrub by wrapping it in gunny or garden fleece , especially overnight . But if the protective binding peg to the buds and derive off with clump of them , then you may do more harm than honorable .
The best way to invalidate this heartache is by choosing rhododendrons that are more suitable for your clime . With thousands of cross to pick out from , there is bound to be a few that will thrive in your garden .
If you do n’t know where to start , have a look at this list ofbest rhododendron performersrecommended by the American Rhododendron Society for different areas of the United States . If you ’re not in the United States , check the resource offered by your local botanic garden , university agricultural department , horticultural society or works nursery to get some suggestions that will suit your specific climate conditions .
6. Your rhododendron has already bloomed prematurely.
Unfortunately , this is not an uncommon event in climates that experience a spicy dry summer fall out by a fond humid fall . The chronological sequence of drought followed by moisture tricks the shrub into opening up the bloom that it had prepared for the following springiness .
This premature downslope - bloom often miss vigor and may even be hitch off - sentry go by an early frost . This is why it ’s important to stave off implement plant food starting in mid - July .
7. You’ve overfertilized your rhododendron.
Too much nitrogen - rich fertilizer can cause poor bloom ontogeny . This happens because nitrogen promotes foliar growth to the hurt of bud growth . This is why you should avoid all - purpose fertilizer for acid - have it off blossom works such as camellias , azaleas and rhododendrons .
Some growers find that rhododendron do n’t involve too much fertilizer at all , unless they show clear preindication of a deficiency of nutrients , such as pale leaves or greensickness , a condition that leaves the venous blood vessel of the leaf green while bleaching the rest of the leaf surface .
If you choose to fertilize , check that you employ a feed that ’s fertile in phosphorus ( which promote bud output ) and small in N , such as a 5 - 10 - 10 blending .
8. Your rhododendron has been attacked by a fungus.
When it come to plant diseases , the most severe culprit that causes rhododendrons not to bloom is thePycnostysanus azaleaeorSeifertia azaleae , a fungus that can wreak havoc on rhododendrons and azaleas . you could diagnose it by looking intimately at the buds . If the bud turns glum brownish and turn tiny fuzzy structures , then your plant has been affected .
This fungal disease looks similar to frost damage . However , there is a noticeable difference : in the case of frost damage , the bud stay quiet ( though still brown ) while in the fount of the disease , the bud is cover in what front like short , hairy structure .
It ’s believed thatSeifertia azaleaeis spread by leafhoppers from late spring to early fall , so produce your garden into a hospitable environment for their predators ( such as ladybird and lacewings ) is a adept way to keep the leafhopper larvae universe under control .
To control the ranch of the fungus , you should pick the buds that have been affected and dispose of them in the applesauce . Do not compost them . Once you ’re done with proper plant sanitation , remember to clean your horticulture tools too .
These are the main understanding why rhododendron do n’t bloom . My advice is to write down the main eight points again and go through the list one by one to specialize it down to the most probable scenario for you and your site . With a bit of heedful observance follow by some troubleshooting , your rhododendron will go back to its regular blossom schedule come next spring .
