I have had no luck with Azaleas and it is driving me crazy. I bought them from ArtKnapp in Surrey in late Spring last year and planted them right away. Once the flowers died the plants slowly started to turn brown, one branch at a time. It started with one and then the next would slowly being the same process. I cut off the dead branches in the hope that it was just one dead branch and would fertilize the plants with soluble all purpose fertilizer but it didn't help. My azaleas died a slow, painful death. At the end of the summer I bought 2 more plants that were on sale for the end of the season. This time I researched soil conditions and amended the soil for acidity and drainage as best as I could. Over the winter the leaves got a dark, crunchy texture, unhealthy look to them and over the course of Spring they have started to die as well. Not branch by branch but the leaves just started turning a rusty red and dying. One of them is pretty much gone, I ripped it out of the soil yesterday and the roots look fine, but they never spread, I yanked it out with no effort. When I cut a branch to see the inside, it still looks green, but I can tell you that plant had no live leaves left. The other looked like it would bounce back at one point but now the leaves are crunchy and snapping off at the touch. Why is this happening? Other plants thrive in that bed despite the lack of direct sunlight. What am I doing wrong?
Probably root rot. Or maybe honey fungus. In general you must have good drainage and a cool root run for rhododendrons and azaleas, very many are planted on unsuitable sites and do not do well.
I would like to point out that the one plant that is left appears to be sprouting new, healthy looking leaves on a few of the branches, but still has the ugly rust color on the old ones. Some of them also have holes through them of different sizes and look like the edges have been chewed by something on a few leaves. I dont' see any insects on the leaves and I started using slug repellent after I found the chewed leaves. Should I cut off those branches that have predominantly reddish/brittle leaves?
