ajsz
Newly Registered
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue May 30, 2017 10:21 pm
Location: Allegan County MI

Azalea not flowering, leafs out beautifully then brown spots

I have an azalea, three years old, I think the flowers are supposed to be yellow. Full sun per grower's instructions. The leaves are a gorgeous bright green, but they're getting light brown spots. This happened last year. What wrong with it? Help and thank you!
Attachments
image.jpg
image.jpg

User avatar
Lindsaylew82
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 2115
Joined: Wed May 21, 2014 9:26 pm
Location: Upstate, SC

Hello! Welcome to the forum!

The most important information here... your azaleas are not happy in full sun. Dappled sun to part sun at most. They just won't be happy in full sun. This may be the reason for the dieoff.

Did you prune? Azaleas set buds for next year pretty much right after this year's blooms. So if you prune too late in summer, you won't get many blooms (or any blooms!) next year. If you have to prune it, do so right after the blossoms fall off.

Did something prune FOR you? Like a deer ... :evil: The same rules apply for "helpers" who do you the yearly favor.

If your plant isn't happy in full sun, but it's planted in full sun, the die off that you're seeing here could essentially be nature "helping" with your pruning. High heat, high sun, and inadequate water can all attribute to bloom fail, especially when you're seeing new growth dieoff.

I would find a nice shady spot in your yard for this beauty. I've never seen a yellow azalea, but I bet it'd be a beauty! I'm currently housing a double pastel pink one, and the pretties coral colored azalea! Very happy in my shady front beds. :()

imafan26
Mod
Posts: 13961
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Depending on where you live azaleas are not always full sun. Morning sun or dappled shade would be good. They are not traffic hardy either. They do not like to be near a busy street or car exhaust and dust. I treat them like gardenias. They are in the same family as rhodedendrons but more heat tolerant and a lot smaller. They do need good light but they don't like intense sun or the leaves will burn. The leaves of your plant looks pale. Most of the azaleas I know do not have bright green leaves but it could be a varietal thing. I don't know if it is the lighting, but they are moderate to heavy feeders so they should get fed regularly. They like an acidic soil and use a fertilizer for acid loving plants like rose or rhodedendron food. Be careful to how you apply the fertilizer since they roots are shallow. They need regular water since they do have shallow roots and a mulch will help. Usually they are fertilized in the spring just before the growth starts.

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Those leaves and the info that the blossoms are yellow (maybe light orange?) has me thinking this is probably a native azalea. I have two pink ones and one light orange in my native shade garden with dwarf mountain laurel, violets, maidenhair fern, American ginger, native pachysandra, woods poppy, turk's cap lily, etc.

They are understory shrubs preferring dappled sun at edge of woods. Their branches are not compact like the typical foundation azaleas with tiny thick/leathery leaves but tend to be tall, willowy and arching.

They can easily be propagated by ground layering (semi-break/bend and bury with a rock or brick over the break and several inches of the tip sticking out). By next spring, the branch will have rooted.

User avatar
pinksand
Greener Thumb
Posts: 869
Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2012 2:13 am
Location: Columbia, MD

I agree with applestar that this azalea looks more like the native deciduous ones I've seen.

Regarding sunlight and azaleas... I have around 30 non-native azaleas in my garden and a good number of them receive full sun. They are quite large and I'm sure pretty old so they're well established. I'm not sure why they do so well but we do have acidic soil and maybe there was a tree shading them when they were much younger and once they were established they could tolerate the sun better?

I have a friend that kept asking me about her azaleas that looked terrible for years and were suffering from azalea lace bug! We were confused since so many of mine did fine in full sun but finally I suggested we move them to a shadier spot where they just get morning sun. Ever since they were moved they have been beautiful! The leaves are so much healthier and they haven't had any trouble with the lace bug.

I don't know why mine do so well in full sun but I've officially learned from this experience that full sun isn't generally optimal, despite what the tags may say.

imafan26
Mod
Posts: 13961
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Sun intensity increases the closer you get to the equator. Full sun may be o.k. in a cooler zone and once they have acclimated.



Return to “Trees, Shrubs, and Hedges”