The fertilizer being used is way too high in nitrogen. This tends to promote vegetative growth at the expense of bud set. Rhododendrons are not heavy feeders and a 30-10-10 fertilizer is excessive. I have used Hollytone fertilizer in very small quantities in the early spring for more than 25 years with excellent results. Any fertiizer used should be formulated for acid soil plants. A small rhododendron in only its second year is probably too young to bloom yet in any case.

I have more questions:

What is Hollytone? Can I use Miracle Gro general flowering perennial, shrub, and vegetable water soluable fertilizer instead that I can spray in a bottle from my garden hose?

Does the fact that the rhodo grew leaves instead of flowers make it less cold hardy (read that somewhere in rhodo forum on Gardenweb)? I read that this cultivar of rhodo is quite hardy. I protected it in its first year with a styrofoam rose cone put in place with planks of wood and mounded dirt around its base to keep the rhodo's roots warm. I had an even hardier PJM rhodo (purple flowers) back in 2003 in the backyard hedge but it got blown away in late September of that year by Hurricane Juan in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and it was 40 Canadian dollars (2 gallon pot, expensive). The marjatta hellikki rhodo was only 20 dollars Canadian (1 gallon pot). It will be 3 years old next year and will hopefully have ruby red flowers. Will it flower with that general Miracle Gro plant food? Will I have to protect it this year for the winter around December 2006?

Hello, eric30s. Hollytone is
a slow-release fertilizer, NPK Ratio 4-6-4, sold by a company called Espoma. Compare that with the NPK Ratio of the Miracle Gro products that you are using now.

I have not seen Holly-tone for sale at stores like HD and Lowes but I have seen it for sale at selected local nurseries. Their website can probably help you find a local dealer (you should call the nursery to confirm though). If you cannot find it, you can use cottonseed meal or another brand of fertilizer with similar NPK Ratio & minerals. You can also check with the local rhodie society in your area.

Rhodies and azaleas need no fertilizer unless your soil lacks nutrients. They basically feed of the decomposing mulch that you have already under them. For example, one application of Hollytone in Spring is the only thing I would use on rhodies/azaleas grown in the ground. Holly-tone adds other useful minerals such as magnesium, phosphorus, etc.

Mainegrower was trying to tell you that a two-year old plant (from seed) is too young to reliably produce flowers so therefore, do not panic or expect much bloomage yet.

Mainegrower also hinted that too much nitrogen in the soil causes plants to grow nice green leaves at the expense of flowers. For example, the NPK Ratio of your Miracle Gro was 30-10-10, which means 30% of it is nitrogen! Compare that to one application of 4-6-4 Hollytone a year!

In a slow growing and not-very-hungry plant (like rhodies and azaleas), a lot of the nitrogen is going to accumulate somewhat and make the plant concentrate on growing leaves; worse, it can also reduce cold hardiness (too much new tender growth grown in the Fall) and can cause Bark Split in early Fall. So, do not feed it anything else; you are actually done fertilizing it until next Spring. Keep it well mulched though....

Now, mainegrower's comments do not imply that the rhodie is not hardy though. Marjatta Hellikki is extremely hardy as it comes from Finland and is rated for Zone 4. You do need to winter protect it from winter winds/sun with such things as wind screens or wrap them in burlap. Hopefully, some Zone5'ers will chime in and list additional methods that they use to winter protect. Your local rhodie society (link given above) can also suggest other things.

You should also have in mind other things that can result in no blooms:

1. Incorrect pruning method.... If you ever have to prune, do so a few weeks after the flower production has ended. New flower buds begin to form around now, more or less. So for example, if you were to prune in October then you would be cutting off flowers for Spring 2006.

2. Planted out of zone... this is the case when you plant in Zone 4 a rhodie that is good only thru Zone 5. The plant usually thrives but the blooms freeze in the winter and die. The result is you get no flowers year after year.

3. Lack of moisture during the summer... since bloomage (flower buds) is being created starting around mid-summer, now is a particularly bad time for the plant to have lots of dry spells.

4. Protect from too much sun and wind. Windy conditions as well as hot temperatures can produce wilting. So give a little extra water when there are wind advisories. Wilting is ok as long as the plant recovers by next morning. In the Fall, remember to cut back on watering. But water the day prior to a freeze.

5. Unusually cold weather can kill the flower buds. Not too common here; however, if this happens, you should signs in the Spring in the form of browned out flower buds.

6. Rhodies and azaleas need at least a few hours of morning sun in order to have good flower production. Dense shade will reduce their bloomage. Bright shade will be fine (my azaleas, for example, get no direct sun but are planted 6-12 inches away from the sun rays).

I hope you get enjoy some of those magenta/purplish/reddish flowers next year!
Luis

Hi eric30s, Just to add in some tips - I'm from NS, too. I have the same rhododendron, plus a Haaga and Helsinki University. All of these are extremely cold hardy (from Finland, as previously mentioned), so I don't think that's the problem. I do agree that the fertilizer is too much. I've never used fertilizers on any of my rhododendrons (for the above-mentioned reasons). I use pine needles, too, and occasionally some compost. Hollytone is an organic fertilizer - I don't believe it's available in Canada (but there are other organic fertilizers available). I've seen people use the Miracle Gro that you mentioned on their rhododendrons. If you do use this, I would probably only use it in late spring/early, early summer (I wouldn't be fertilizing after June, for sure - but don't quote me on that since I'm not very experienced with synthetic fertilizers). Any later, and new growth might not be completely winter hardy (which is why I just use natural soil amendments). I let my rhodos grow at their own pace.

None of these 3 rhododendrons have bloomed for me yet. My Haaga is the oldest - about 4 years now, but I bought it as a very small plant (it's now only 30cms tall), and I'm hoping for some bloom buds to form this year. (You have to give the plant time to 'settle' in and work on growing roots before they will 'decide' it's time to bloom.) I have mine in quite a bit of shade, so once they start blooming, I'll be able to determine whether or not they are in too much shade.

I don't winter protect any of my rhododendrons. The only thing I do is loosely wrap twine around some of the ones that seem to get flattened and splayed out by the snow. The only mulch I use is bark mulch all year 'round. I don't mulch especially for winter. If you do mulch, it isn't to keep the roots 'warm' - it's to keep the soil temperature from fluctuating during freeze/thaw cycles. I hate to say it, but I don't think it's a good idea to 'baby' your plants too much. Although, ample watering during the spring and summer is important. Let them grow at their own natural (slow) pace. I'm definitely not an expert, but these are just things I've learned from experience.

A comment re my rhodo: these bloomed in the first year at the garden centre but these were kept in the full sun. My concern: weather forecasters are predicting for Atlantic Canada an active hurricane season as the waters are supposed to be warm in the Atlantic. My rhodo is a 2 year plant and is planted next to the porch as a sort of a windbreak. I lost a $40 CDN PJM rhodo in 2003's Hurricane Juan that was planted in our backyard hedge. What do you suggest to protect it from being blown away? These are expensive shrubs and I wouldn't want to lose another nice rhodo.

Interesting question. (1) You really cannot put something heavy around it, to hold it in place, because the heavier object could damage the roots. (2) You could tie it to another object, let the wind blow it away and then you replant it. But then you would have to hurry when replanting because you do not want the roots exposed to the air for too long. Not practical either since, you probably do not want to be re-planting a rhodo after the hurricane has moved away (you will be busy cking for other types of damages). Hmmmmm

Have you thought about replanting it so a large structure such as house will shield it from the winds?

However, be aware that if a hurricane should actually go inland and thru your neighborhood, you would have winds coming from the path of the hurricane and then again, from the opposite direction.

I emailed someone in Louisiana to see if they have any other suggestions.

Luis

It's sort of near the house, just look down from the back porch. It's as close as I can plant it without it being under the porch in the gravel. Planting rhodos in a hedge I learned was a bad idea as that's in an open area in the middle of strong winds. I couldn't move it to the side of the house as I have a woodland garden planted there with bleedinghearts, crocus, ferns, and moss. Two years might give the roots enough depth although I've been told that rhodos are shallow rooted.

If you hear of a hurricane approaching, you can always hammer some tall wooden stakes deeply into the ground surrounding the rhododendron, and tie the rhododendron to the stakes? Just a thought. I'm not sure if the stakes would be strong enough to hold it in place; but, if you hammer them down far enough, it might be.

Thinking about it more, the winds might just cause the branches to break if they are merely tied, so you could always wrap some burlap around the stakes to try to diminish the winds (which may not work in a hurricane).

Hello, eric30. I have received only one reply so far and this person suggested getting low growing plants since that would reduce the wind drag some. But he does not protect the plants himself; his attitude is "c'est la vie."

I now wonder if the best solution might be to grow cuttings inside the house as a back up measure. If Mother Nature decrees that the plant be "relocated" miles away from your house then at least the cutting can be used to replace it.

I will let you know if I hear some more,
Luis

A few words from Louisiana: Most azaleas that were in the ground and established survived Hurricane "Katrina". They suffered severe leaf loss but survived nonetheless. Exposure to salt or even brackish water is/was a death sentence. Falling limbs and trees caused the major damage to azaleas that were not in the flooded areas.

Luis