Peat for rhododendrons was used from near the very beginning of European-American rhododendron culture which was in the 1800's. During the 17th century in the Dutch Republic, peat bogs were drained to feed a burgeoning peat mining industry. The system of dikes and waterways existing today in the Netherlands was once a peat bog. The first nurseries were located in the drained peat bogs. Brun's Nursery, one of the largest rhododendron nurseries in the world, was founded in 1878 in the heart of the drained peat bog region of Northern Germany near Bad Zwischenahn.

The problem you describe is still with us. Most plants today are raised in bark dust. It sill has the same problem. If the roots aren't opened up, the roots stay in the media.

I'd be curious to know how many rhododendrons - and azaleas - sold in garden centers and big box stores actually make it and have a long and healthy life once planted in an amateur garden. 20% ? 10 % ? Maybe even less than that.

Many people think rhododendrons are difficult to grow, which is not completely untrue, but what most of them do not know is that these difficulties are for a important part due to the way there are cultivated before, in the nurseries.

I posted the same message on a French Rhododendron forum created and run by the former president of the Rhododendron Society of Brittany (Société Bretonne du Rhododendron) and he fears thing are only getting worse. No attention given to the root systems, peat, peat and more peat with loads of chemical fertilizers, mechanical repottings making perfectly girdled plants (invisible to the buyer because of the root flare beeing buried under 1 or 2" of potting media, sometimes more), etc.

- "Peat for rhododendrons was used from near the very beginning of European-American rhododendron culture which was in the 1800's."

But containers are more recent.

Another article (1971) published in an ARS Bulletin : Potting or No Potting.

3 pictures (probably taken in Germany) at the end of the thread on the French forum : [http://www.i-services.net/membres/forum/messages.php?uid=130960&sid=75712&idsujet=21438&pgi=0(http://www.i-services.net/membres/forum/messages.php?uid=130960&sid=75712&idsujet=21438&pgi=0). I know it's all about lowering the costs of production and I can understand that, but gardeners should be warned mass procuced rhododendrons have very little chance to live and prosper in their garden unless given extensive care they normally shouldn't require.

10 or 15 years ago, we still could find well grown and produced plants in some dedicated nurseries but these become rare, either die or are took over by big companies. In a matter of years, they'll probably completely disappear.

Are you suggesting that the potting medium should be removed before planting?

The problem is not the medium, it is the pot is causing them to be root-bound. The roots start circling inside the pot. When planting, it is necessary to rather savagely open up the root structure so the roots get out into the neighboring soil.

I used to pick up liners at wholesale nurseries and sell them to my colleagues where I worked. These were less than one year old and the roots had not filled the container. They were all planted in a peat mix, and out of hundreds of plants, I only heard of a couple that didn't make it. I know I have over a hundred of these plants and they are typically 40 years old and doing well except for deer damage. But I was always careful to open up the root structure when I planted.

The problem is much more severe with the size of container grown plants sold in nurseries, where the plants are severely pot bound.

I haven't planted more than a couple rhododendrons for about 20 years because of severe deer problems. This year I put in a deer fence and planted about 30 new rhododendrons, all grown in pots. I fully expect all to survive, but before planting I scored the side of every root ball (more accurately a root cylinder) with a small folding saw. I formerly used a utility knife, but find the saw actually both cuts and pulls the roots out of the ball. Then when I planted, I spread the roots out in a hole at least twice as wide as the pot with a mixture of native soil, peat moss and a small amount of slow release fertilizer called Magamp.

Many German and American nurseries are using bark dust now rather than peat. They get better results in the nursery, but their customers have exactly the same problem, they must open up the roots before planting.

Some people actually do remove all the media before planting. The problem with that is that you must be careful not to damage the small roots and to keep the roots moist. If they dry out, they die.

What makes the problem even worse is that many nurseries will repot their plants a few month before selling into larger pots so they can charge more. If they do not do this properly, the original root bound plant is still inside. If you get a plant that doesn't look root bound when you plant it, start removing the potting material until you get to the roots. You may find them all root-bound inside.

- "What makes the problem even worse is that many nurseries will repot their plants a few month before selling into larger pots so they can charge more. If they do not do this properly, the original root bound plant is still inside. If you get a plant that doesn't look root bound when you plant it, start removing the potting material until you get to the roots. You may find them all root-bound inside."

To put an image on it, I call this the Matryoshka or Russian nesting dolls phenomenon. The first stage of the life of a root ball is a tiny pot (is that what you name a liner ?), then it is repotted into a slightly bigger pot, then to a bigger one, then to a bigger one, etc. At each repotting, roots should be spread (/teased, /disentangled) but most of the time, they are not.

This gives a root-bound plant into a root-bound plant into a root-bound plant into . . . as many times as the plant has been repotted. Sometimes several repottings aren't needed, the fact to leave a plant unrepotted long enough in one container will lead to woody roots exactly shaped like the container. And once they become woody (ligneous), they can be very difficult if not impossible to correct.

Most of the time, it's the first tiny set of spiraled roots (at the very inside of the future root ball) which is the worse.

A - dead, of course - azalea I found laying in a flower bed a couple of years ago :

{{gwi:394003}}

Sometimes roots get to grow outside the original root ball, but this one is still there and will probably last forever :

{{gwi:394004}}

Perfectly spiraled roots are visible up to the stem where took place the first "Russian doll". Then came the second one, maybe a third one and finally some roots trying to escape this mess.

This kind of item is not rare at all, garden centers are filled with plants like this over here. Scoring the side of the root ball helps but doesn't allow to get very far inside it, the first and second sets of spiraled roots remain untouched.

Regarding peat, I see it differently. First because when it's gone dry, it's impossible to get it watered again (pine barks or bark dust don't have this problem). Then because roots used to grow in such a medium have a very hard time growing into someting else (soil). I mean yes, peat is a great medium if you garden in a peat bog.

- "Are you suggesting that the potting medium should be removed before planting?"

If, or when it can be done, I wonder if this wouldn't be a good solution. For a majority of other shrubs and trees, it's often quite easy to do (and I now do it almost systematically), the problem for rhododendrons and other members of the Ericaceae family beeing the fragility of their roots.