In my experience, it is very easy to overfertilise Azaleas. If fed
regularly with chemical feeds such as Miracid, they soon develop a
darker than normal leaf colour. If feeding is stopped, normal growth is
rapidly established. Carried on for just a little longer the leaf tips
turn brown and the plant will often die. An interesting side effect is
that also become more brittle and consequently harder to style.

I can't say if this happens in a free draining soil as I have yet to
transfer any of my Satsuki over to expensive Japanese proprietary brands
such as Kanuma. Mine are grown in peat and bark based mixtures which
can't really be described as free draining.

What works for me is a fortnightly feeding with Miracid or similar and
organics on the soil surface right through the growing season.

Cheers

Kev Bailey
Vale Of Clwyd, North Wales

It is not so much the value of the NPK as it is the frequency of the
feeding.
I use a 20-20-20 with a fast-draining soil. All chemical feedings are
supplemented with fish emulsion, etc.

Some are concerned about residual fertilizer in the soil from frequent
feedings. I have yet to experience this problem with fast-draining
soils.



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