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gardenclueless

Remedy for sunburn?

gardenclueless
15 years ago

Hello all, I'm new here and new to gardening. Last fall I had some shrubs planted in two small beds in front of the house, five azaleas, two camellias and three gardenias. The gardenias and camellias are thriving, and until a week or so ago, the azaleas looked wonderful and healthy -- lots of shiny green leaves and new growth. They were late to bloom this spring, but produced quite a few flowers when they finally did.

The last few weeks have been extremely hot here with little rain. I do my best to keep the beds watered, but was out of town for a week and my housesitter was not as diligent in tending to the plants. Three of the azaleas in particular are suffering from sunburn, one quite serious. The leaves are reddish brown and dry. I have been watering twice a day the last couple of days in hopes it will help but I'm worried. Since I'm new to all of this, I am not sure how to treat the plants. Is moving them my only option? I am a little nervous about transplanting since I've never done it before and the plants are already so stressed, I am afraid to add to it. If it's useful to know, we live in Western Arkansas and have a northern exposure. There is a mature oak in the yard that provides shade at various spots throughout the day. The azaleas are in a spot where they get morning and early afternoon sun mostly. Not surprisingly, the healthy ones are closer to the house and thus more shaded than the three with sunburn.

Please let me know if there's anything I can do for the poor things. I feel terrible. :-(

Comments (4)

  • rhodyman
    15 years ago

    I have a couple questions.

    Why do you think that watering twice a day will help?

    Why do you think that moving them will help?

    Watering once a week is more than most people do. Azaleas should be planted in good soil that retains moisture but is well drained and be very well mulched. The mulch is the key to keeping the soil moist, not watering.

    Moving won't fix anything, it just creates more stress. If you meant moving them into a shadier area, it sounds like they are in a perfect area right now with morning sun. If they get too much shade they won't bloom.

    Were they pruned or was their shade moved? Sunburn usually occurs from sun hitting leaves that were formerly in the shade, either of other azalea leaves that were pruned, of from a shade tree that was cut back. Once azaleas are hardened off they seldom show sun burn.

    It is best to water infrequently but thoroughly.

  • flowergirl257
    15 years ago

    Somebody please help gardenclueless and answer her questions instead of asking more! She said she's knew and doesn't know. I too and having problems with azaleas planted last fall that are getting sunburned. Too much sun and heat no doubt. I have them in northern exposure, 3 get more morning sun and 3 get more afternoon sun. July heat really made them stress and start turning brown. Are they going to live and should I find a new home for them come fall if they make it?

  • rhodyman
    15 years ago

    I asked questions because the original questions made assumptions that are not correct. Watering does not prevent sunburn. Too much sun causes sunburn. Leaves that are reddish brown are not suffering from sunburn.

    Sunburn is a yellowing along the main vein. It is permanent. It doesn't go away. The best you can do is do something to keep future leaves from getting sunburn.

    If the leaves are wilting in the heat of the day, that is normal. If they are wilted in the morning, then they are too dry or too wet. Being too wet causes root rot which causes the leaves to wilt also.

    If the leaves are turning reddish brown, it may be a variety such as PJM that has leaves that turn red in the fall and the drought caused it to turn red sooner.

    Here is a link that might be useful: How to grow rhododendrons and azaleas.

  • User
    15 years ago

    I tend to agree with rhodyman and think that the assumption that the plant is suffering from sunburn is a bit of a hasty judgement. I established a hedge of evergreen azaleas on the south side of my house. They get full, direct sun all day and did not not burn even after 10 days in the mid 90's. They were only planted in March and April of this year but I made sure to mulch them well. Precip has been sufficient since then so not too much supplemental watering was needed. Something tells me that these azaleas never really got a chance to get established before the heat kicked in (an azalea planted in a northern exposure, in zone 6 no less, should NOT be suffering sunburn).--Azaleas should be able take some direct sun without scolding in zones 6 and 7 and the camellias and gardenia would show sunburn before the azalea in any case.

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