What's wrong with my rhododendron?

[POL2277]

It's done okay since I planted it months back. It's growing, recently flowers have bloomed. But it has gray around the edges of the leaves. Recently it has been looking pretty thin. It still puts out new leaves, but... It just looks like it might be struggling a little. Some of the leaves have been turning yellow. It's one of my favorite things in my tiny garden, and I'd like to fix this problem if possible.

I'm guessing it's a fungus or a disease, but how do you know what it is? Any help or advice is appreciated.

 

[Chuck]

Looks like a too often watering problem to me

 

[Sheal]

I'm thinking perhaps it's the soil that's at fault. Rhodo's need an acidic soil and if that can't be provided would be better in a large pot grown in ericaceous compost which is peat based.

 

[Becky]

Welcome to the forum! Sorry to hear about your rhododendron, Sheal's point would be easy to test using a soil kit. Where abouts are you in the US? What have your weather conditions been like recently?

 

[POL2277]

Thanks all. I'm in Illinois. We've had our fair share of rain recently. I haven't actually done any watering in several weeks because of it. This is my first garden, so I'm new to everything. So far everything I've planted has done super well. I don't know if you can see in the background, but some of my flowers have completely exploded with growth. I've been really lucky to not lose anything yet. My last attempt at a garden failed miserably so I've been really tickled to see things growing so well.

The area seems to have decent drainage. There is a tree stump in the center from a large oak that was cut down before I moved here. I was tired of looking at an ugly stump in the middle of a boring lawn, which is how the surrounding garden came to be. Anyway, the area around the stump was slightly elevated. The spot doesn't flood.

The rhododendron seemed a little limp earlier in the summer (but I believe it was a lack of shade - it's simultaneously perked up with cooler weather whilst still thinning on the one side). Hopefully next year (assuming the bush makes it over winter) the nearby plum tree will have grown enough to give some relief.

Soil kits I know nothing about. Can you buy them at a nursery? Or just places like Walmart? Can I do something to make the soil more acidic? I'm wary of using pots (everything I've ever had in one has died).

 

[Chuck]

You can get soil Ph test kits at just about any real nursery. I don't know about the big box stores as I never set feet inside their "garden departments". If you do need to acidify your soil I would incorporate a lot of peat moss, in and on the surface of the soil. There are other things you can use to acidify the soil with but peat moss is less expensive and lasts longer.

 

[Fernsdaddy]

Mine get like that when the soil is not acidic enough, I just give them some tomato food and the start to look happy again.

 

[Becky]

You can get cheap soil test kits online too - Amazon will probably be a good source

 

[Sheal]

We've had our fair share of rain recently.

This could be to blame although not from an overwatering point of view. When plants are overwatered it tends to wash nutrients out of the soil, so giving it some food will help.

 

[POL2277]

thanks a lot for the help everyone! I'll head to the local nursery. This is one of my favorite plants.