Rhodo container care

Hi all
Haven't been on for a long time, but looking for some info now to help keep my first ever Rhodo in good shape.

It's about 3 years old & has flowered for the 1st time and wonderfully so with 10 blooms on 2 main stems, but therein lies my concern & question.

Forgive the photo but you can hopefully see that it has the 2 main stems & is currently in a container around 15 inches in width (square one). It's just shocking leggy on it & having never had one before I'm wondering if there's any way to keep it around this height, or is it too late to conserve it heightwise?

I appreciate it's absolutely not the time to be doing anything with it in that respect, but am just curious to know if the option will be there for me later in the season. I'm overjoyed with the flower output as I'd my doubts given what it looked like through the winter. .

Thanks, Romayne

 

It does look rather leggy - perhaps because of it's location it's growing upwards toward the light? It would help to see a pic from further away to see the true size of the plant and its pot and the situation it is in. Rhodos are surface rooting so they need a pot that's wide rather than deep.

If you are going to prune it, it should be done just after flowering (link)

You should always dead head it after flowering anyway, to encourage more flowers the following year.

Have a look here.

Rhodos do very well in containers - I've got some gorgeous specimens which are mainly in containers - but they do need an extra bit of tlc.

 

Thanks for your speedy response & info. The plant is around 5 feet tall in a container that's about 18 inches wide by 12 deep & only just got moved to its current location because it had been in a rather shady place all winter. Part of the reason it got so leggy was firstly because I initially had it in far too small a pot, secondly I think I fed it the usual culprit of food that pushes growth the wrong way - Miracle Gro (!) & lastly, I'd no clue how to stop it heading skywards once it did, & was reluctant in case it stopped it from flowering, so just let it go.

I'm pleased to hear they do well in containers as I've now just invested in 2 beautiful dwarf ones to see if I can manage them any better. So the info you've provided on pruning etc will be immensely helpful given the last thing I want is for them to head skywards too. I've such a tiny yard & probably too many plants so really need to keep them as compact as possible.

That leggy Rhodo though is already pushing out further growth upwards, so I think I'll certainly be clipping its wings to some degree come the end of the season.
Romayne

 

It may need a larger pot for its roots if it's that tall, but doesn't have to be this year. I give my more mature ones a pot of at least 50 cm diameter.

Nothing wrong in using Miracle Gro (I use the slow release fertiliser on my Rhodos each spring), but it does need to be the one specifically for Rhodos and Camellias.

By 'end of season' do you mean end of summer? If you wait that long to prune them back then you'll be cutting off next year's blooms because they produce the buds anytime from July/August onwards, so as long as you are aware of that. However, what you will get in the long run is a bushier, healthier plant with more blooms.

Another link you may find useful:

Link 1

Hope this helps

 

You can always give your Rhoddies a drink of cold tea now and again. Gives the soil a touch of acidity that they like.
Coffee grinds work great too.
I love Rhoddie and Azaleas. Beautiful shrubs

 

The video helped me anyway Merleworld.

I just went out and dead-headed mines just now. I didn`t last year since I was away working and it was left to do it`s own thing. Probably why they weren`t in such great shape this year. They did flower well I must admit but are a bit bare in the greenery dep`t.

I`ve also been feeding them properly recently and can see new leaves coming through.

 

Look forward to seeing pics when they flower next year