rhododendron advice plz

I have just bought 3 in the sale..this gardening lark will be the death of me financially. Ones a Cilpinense, ones a Yakushimanum, Hope thats the correct spellings the 3rd I have no idea what its called as there was nothing on it. What I need to know is do they need repotting NOW? the roots are just visible. I think the post they are in are about 7 inches so if they do need repotting whats the best size to go up to plz
Thanks A

 

Hi Nut, aren`t you putting them in the ground? They aren`t best suited to posts. They like it peaty, shady and they like that stuff Ivory told me to get for hydrangea-iron. Sequestrine

 

Well it said on the packet suitable for containers bother

 

They can go in pots=oak trees can go in pots after all, but they are majestic and gorgeous in the right place and some plants get frozen through in the winter. And they are greedy plants.


Have athink, and if you go for the pot just go one or two sizes up at a time.

 

okies thanks for the info

 

Ah they ull be gert propper job in a pot:thumb:

 

Honestly spud-

Yon lad dinno tha's counties!

Now you're harking Yorkshire.


I'd pack it in if I were you, you keep getting it wrong

 

Hiya Nut.

Yea they need re-potting as soon as.

Couple of things. They are an acid soil lover, so you will need to purchase some ericaceous compost if you want them to stay in pots.

Usually if you are re-potting house plants then you usually go up 1 to 2" in size, depending if the roots of a particular plant need restricting to flower.

If you plan on keeping them in pots then I would go straight away for a 15 to 20" pot, but they will obviously not grow as large as if they were in the ground.

Should you wish to plant them, then.....if you know your soil is acid then no probs. If you don't know, then line the planting hole and the bottom with some ericaceous compost. Wont do them any harm if the soil is already acid.:thumb:

 

Hi Tweaks,

Mr Pop insists on buying peat for the rhododendrons in the garden-is that right, I just pour a bucket of sequestrine over them each year.

And a quiet question, I have probably rashly bet him they will flower again yet this year-I bet him the cost of a new Ash tree to replace that blinking cherry! How can I make sure they will ( other than sticking them one with pritt stick of course)?

 

So no worry..peat is acid...they will probably flower abundantly. Unless you are talking about two different gardens. Heh,heh.:thumb:

 

I do sometimes wonder! Hope your well chuck in that there land

 

Rhododendron cilipinense and R. yakushimanum (together with the 'Yak' hybrids) are relatively 'dwarf' growing and can be grown in large containers provided they are not allowed to dry out. Provided they are kept constantly moist and are fed with a suitable fertiliser, there's no rush to get them into larger containers just yet, but they'll need moving on next spring at the latest. Ideally they should be moved to 12" pots at the next move and the compost should to be a well formulated type such as Arthur Bowyers Ericaceous mix rather than mixing peat with garden soil.

Any containerised plant needs regular feeding since its roots are unable to grow out into fresh soil. Miracle Grow do a feed specially formulated for acid loving plants (used to be called 'Miracid', but is now just 'Miracle Grow for Ericaceous plants') and this should be applied at approx. 3 - 4 week intervals from spring through to late autumn. You should start doing this straight away since the flower buds for next year are being formed at the tips of the current year's shoots at the moment. Give an application immediately, another in 2 week's time and then every 3 weeks until November. It is very important that they do not dry out so if we get some decent summer weather or even just a warmish, dry cloudy spell they will need inspecting every day.

 

Thank you Dave thats really helpful. I have pots at the ready and I will hot foot it to the garden centre for fertiliser asap. Think I am going to need a gardening calendar.
Your a star

 

errrrrrmm when should my Rhodos flower cos I think I see a bud strating to open on the un named one I bought in June.. What have I done wrong ? :o

 

nothing at all, if happy some will flower twice in a year. It`s a good sign.