On 8 Nov 2005 09:04:29 -0800, "La puce" wrote:


Janet Baraclough wrote:
Misleading advice. Rhododendrons do not flower in their second or
third year from seed. The reason such a small plant hasn't flowered yet
is immaturity, as Kay said. Adding potash won't make any difference to
that.
The success of a nearby mother-plant at flowering and setting seed,
indicates the soil is not deficient .

Right. I got some more info on this and you are wrong. Check out this
website which some member of this group has just forwarded to me.

http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile...dodendrons.asp

In brief it says:- Young plants are usually in bud or flower when
planted but may then take two to three years to establish before
resuming flowering. Potash encourages flower production so check that
the soil is not deficient in this fertiliser.

And I will add from my own experience that rhodos can disperse their
seeds milles and milles away and therefore could lend anywhere and not
near a mother plant.

HTH

But the RHS advice is, of necessity, very general, and will refer to
plants bought in a plant centre or nursery, as that is where most
people get them. Such plants are invariably grown from cuttings, and
'retain' the maturity of their parents, flowering much sooner than
those raised from seed. There are many hundreds of rhododendrons,
both species and hybrids, and while some of the dwarf rhodies will
flower from seed when young, I don't think this is one of them
(although of course you're correct in saying we don't actually know
what it is). I agree with Janet. It looks very like a young R.
ponticum seedling to me, and if so won't flower for a few years yet,
added potash or the RHS advice notwithstanding.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net