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Azalea & Rhododendron

Yellow new growth on potted rhodo?

8 years ago

Hi, I've got several new rhododendron plants online (Costco), mostly to check out how shipping would work for potted plants. This is what I've got:

The box was delivered upside down (thanks UPS!), and the new growth (?) is yellow/wilted for all of them, then though leaves below look normal. Here are 3 different cultivars (6 plants), and they all look similar. Pot soil felt reasonably most (so not really bone dry ;) )

What can that be? I actually planted them a couple of days ago, hoping they are dry and would recover. As of today, they look pretty much the same (no better, but not worse either). Can they recover, or should I just get a refund?

Thanks!

Comments (4)

tlbean2004
8 years ago
New growth is usually a lighter green and then it turns darker as it matures. Those are very yellow but just wait and see how it goes.
akamainegrower
8 years ago
Too much time without light in a dark box. Rhododendrons should not be shipped when they have a lot of soft new growth - this is the result when they are. These may recover somewhat, but the straggly growth - a result of reaching for light - will remain a problem. You can prune out the worst of it and hope for the best. I'm not sure you're very likely to get a refund. These plants are clearly alive and will be even if they completely lose this year's first flush of new growth.
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sevimo
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks, this makes a lot of sense. I'm not concerned about refund - most likely I'll get it if I want it (Costco return policy is extremely generous, you can return anything for any reason; I've heard people getting a refund for their dead annuals after the season was over, which is clearly an abuse of policy). My question is more about should I keep these, or should I replant? I won't be able to get new plants for at least a few weeks, and ideal planting season might be over until fall.

What are the chances of these recovering in the ground? What would be consequences of pruning right now (i.e will I get new normal growth this season / flowers next season)? Will existing straggly growth straighten somewhat when it hardens (if at all)?

Thanks!
akamainegrower
8 years ago
Chances of recovery are actually pretty good. The straggly growth will straighten out to a certain extent. You can keep what looks decent and prune out anything that looks too far gone to be worth saving. Most varieties of rhododendrons in most climates put out a single flush of growth per year. If you cut off all of this year's flush you may or may not have to wait until next spring for renewed growth. As for flowers next season, hard to tell from the photo, but these look like pretty small plants. They probably would not have bloomed next year even if they had not experienced the shipping problem.

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