On 13/04/17 09:35, David wrote:
On 13/04/2017 08:32, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Wed, 12 Apr 2017 22:16:07 +0100, Bigus

Hi. Thank you for the response. Looking at pictures of rhododendron the
leaves do look very similar and from what I recall the flower heads were
composed of multiple flowers in a roughly ball-like cluster.

Yes that sounds like a rhodo. They like partial shade so should be
fine in the position you're suggesting. They like a slightly acid
soil. If your garden soil is chalky, you haven't really got much
chance of it doing well out in the garden, and that may be why it's in
a container. As you say, use ericaceous compost when you pot it on,
and keep the top of the root ball at the same level in the soil as it
was before, i.e. don't bury it. Watering occasionally with
'Sequestrene' or some other sequestered-iron fertiliser will keep the
leaves green, and they respond to an occasional shot of high-nitrogen
fertiliser such as sulphate of ammonia in the water or blood, fish and
bone scattered on the surface of the soil.

Or you could buy a bale of Peat and work that into the area you are
going to plant it into, even 50/50 peat and soil would be good, and
don't forget fertilizer. After planting water well.
David @ a still rain free side of Swansea Bay

There are quite a few garden centres which don't sell peat, and even
peat-based products these days. Adding peat might work for a time, but
although it is acid, I don't think that it has any particularly strong
chalk-neutralising properties. The OP might do better to add sulphur as
an acidifying agent, but even that would fail after a time if the
underlying condition of the soil is alkaline. Providing the OP remembers
to water it (and with rainwater if he's in a hard-water area), a
container is the best way to go.

--

Jeff