I have had this for coming upto to 3 years now in a 12inch pot on our
patio, and the picture on the label shows loads of blue flowers.
For the first 2 years there were no flowers at all,and this year there
is just one solitary purple ish flower.

Is this normal or have I missed something, like putting it in a border??
Thanks

On 07/05/20 16:27, RobH wrote:
I have had this for coming upto to 3 years now in a 12inch pot on our
patio, and the picture on the label shows loads of blue flowers.
For the first 2 years there were no flowers at all,and this year there
is just one solitary purple ish flower.

Is this normal or have I missed something, like putting it in a border??
Thanks

Blue-flowered rhododendrons exist only in the minds of their sellers and
their photoshopped catalogues. There are *no* blue-flowered rhodos.

When very young, rhodos do not flower. You don't say how old or how big
yours is. Now it has started flowering, it should do so every year, and
you should get increasing numbers of flowers. A 12 inch pot should keep
it going for several years, but eventually it will need repotting. I've
not tried giving rhodos fertilisers; maybe someone else in this NG has
more info on this aspect of growing them.

--

Jeff

On 07/05/2020 17:20, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Thu, 7 May 2020 16:27:10 +0100, RobH wrote:

I have had this for coming upto to 3 years now in a 12inch pot on our
patio, and the picture on the label shows loads of blue flowers.
For the first 2 years there were no flowers at all,and this year there
is just one solitary purple ish flower.

Is this normal or have I missed something, like putting it in a border??
Thanks

Several questions: What soil is it in - ericaceous compost or one of
the standard garden centre multipurpose composts? Rhodies like an
acid, ericaceous compost, which most multipurpose composts aren't.

Is the soil nice and open and fibrous, or dense and clayey/claggy?
Does it drain well? Rhodies like a fibrous compost that holds moisture
but is free-draining. One of the best ericaceous composts I've found
in the last few years is Humax ericaceous compost
https://tinyurl.com/y8km7z9c but it's peat-based, which you may object
to. Some garden centre own-brand ericaceous composts can be truly
appalling!

If it's in a 12" pot on a patio, does it get too hot in Summer, and do
you keep it well watered? The Millais web site says of Rhododendron
calostrotum keleticum "they hate too much heat, so do avoid reflected
heat from South facing walls and patios, particularly if planting in
containers." https://tinyurl.com/y9tbqgcp



The said plant is in bog standard type compost which I've used forother
potted plants, but it wasn't stipulated what type to use either.

So should I buy some ericaceous compost and repot it.

Thanks

On 07/05/2020 17:08, Jeff Layman wrote:
On 07/05/20 16:27, RobH wrote:
I have had this for coming upto to 3 years now in a 12inch pot on our
patio, and the picture on the label shows loads of blue flowers.
For the first 2 years there were no flowers at all,and this year there
is just one solitary purple ish flower.

Is this normal or have I missed something, like putting it in a border??
Thanks

Blue-flowered rhododendrons exist only in the minds of their sellers and
their photoshopped catalogues. There are *no* blue-flowered rhodos.

When very young, rhodos do not flower. You don't say how old or how big
yours is. Now it has started flowering, it should do so every year, and
you should get increasing numbers of flowers. A 12 inch pot should keep
it going for several years, but eventually it will need repotting. I've
not tried giving rhodos fertilisers; maybe someone else in this NG has
more info on this aspect of growing them.


Well I did say we've had it for 3 years now, that is all I know.

On 07/05/20 18:02, RobH wrote:
On 07/05/2020 17:20, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Thu, 7 May 2020 16:27:10 +0100, RobH wrote:

I have had this for coming upto to 3 years now in a 12inch pot on our
patio, and the picture on the label shows loads of blue flowers.
For the first 2 years there were no flowers at all,and this year there
is just one solitary purple ish flower.

Is this normal or have I missed something, like putting it in a border??
Thanks

Several questions: What soil is it in - ericaceous compost or one of
the standard garden centre multipurpose composts? Rhodies like an
acid, ericaceous compost, which most multipurpose composts aren't.

Is the soil nice and open and fibrous, or dense and clayey/claggy?
Does it drain well? Rhodies like a fibrous compost that holds moisture
but is free-draining. One of the best ericaceous composts I've found
in the last few years is Humax ericaceous compost
https://tinyurl.com/y8km7z9c but it's peat-based, which you may object
to. Some garden centre own-brand ericaceous composts can be truly
appalling!

If it's in a 12" pot on a patio, does it get too hot in Summer, and do
you keep it well watered? The Millais web site says of Rhododendron
calostrotum keleticum "they hate too much heat, so do avoid reflected
heat from South facing walls and patios, particularly if planting in
containers." https://tinyurl.com/y9tbqgcp



The said plant is in bog standard type compost which I've used forother
potted plants, but it wasn't stipulated what type to use either.

So should I buy some ericaceous compost and repot it.

Thanks

As Chris said, get some ericaceous compost. I don't know about Humax,
but I use Melcourt Sylvagrow ericaceous compost (available from a Blue
Diamond garden centre not too far from me. I would guess other Blue
Diamond centres stock it). It is peat-free, and very good quality. It
isn't cheap, but it is much denser than peat-based compost, and 50l bags
go a long way.

--

Jeff

On 07/05/20 18:35, RobH wrote:
On 07/05/2020 17:08, Jeff Layman wrote:
On 07/05/20 16:27, RobH wrote:
I have had this for coming upto to 3 years now in a 12inch pot on our
patio, and the picture on the label shows loads of blue flowers.
For the first 2 years there were no flowers at all,and this year there
is just one solitary purple ish flower.

Is this normal or have I missed something, like putting it in a border??
Thanks

Blue-flowered rhododendrons exist only in the minds of their sellers and
their photoshopped catalogues. There are *no* blue-flowered rhodos.

When very young, rhodos do not flower. You don't say how old or how big
yours is. Now it has started flowering, it should do so every year, and
you should get increasing numbers of flowers. A 12 inch pot should keep
it going for several years, but eventually it will need repotting. I've
not tried giving rhodos fertilisers; maybe someone else in this NG has
more info on this aspect of growing them.


Well I did say we've had it for 3 years now, that is all I know.

Well, yes, but three years from when you got it /at what size/? I bought
a Thuja three months ago; but it was already 2.5 metres high - that
doesn't make it three months old, if you see what I mean. So what size
is it currently?

--

Jeff

On 07/05/2020 18:59, Jeff Layman wrote:
On 07/05/20 18:35, RobH wrote:
On 07/05/2020 17:08, Jeff Layman wrote:
On 07/05/20 16:27, RobH wrote:
I have had this for coming upto to 3 years now in a 12inch pot on our
patio, and the picture on the label shows loads of blue flowers.
For the first 2 years there were no flowers at all,and this year there
is just one solitary purple ish flower.

Is this normal or have I missed something, like putting it in a
border??
Thanks

Blue-flowered rhododendrons exist only in the minds of their sellers and
their photoshopped catalogues. There are *no* blue-flowered rhodos.

When very young, rhodos do not flower. You don't say how old or how big
yours is. Now it has started flowering, it should do so every year, and
you should get increasing numbers of flowers. A 12 inch pot should keep
it going for several years, but eventually it will need repotting. I've
not tried giving rhodos fertilisers; maybe someone else in this NG has
more info on this aspect of growing them.


Well I did say we've had it for 3 years now, that is all I know.

Well, yes, but three years from when you got it /at what size/? I bought
a Thuja three months ago; but it was already 2.5 metres high - that
doesn't make it three months old, if you see what I mean. So what size
is it currently?

Aah ok, it's about 10 inches accross and about 6 / 8 inches high at the
moment.

On 07/05/20 19:02, RobH wrote:
On 07/05/2020 18:59, Jeff Layman wrote:
On 07/05/20 18:35, RobH wrote:
On 07/05/2020 17:08, Jeff Layman wrote:
On 07/05/20 16:27, RobH wrote:
I have had this for coming upto to 3 years now in a 12inch pot on our
patio, and the picture on the label shows loads of blue flowers.
For the first 2 years there were no flowers at all,and this year there
is just one solitary purple ish flower.

Is this normal or have I missed something, like putting it in a
border??
Thanks

Blue-flowered rhododendrons exist only in the minds of their sellers and
their photoshopped catalogues. There are *no* blue-flowered rhodos.

When very young, rhodos do not flower. You don't say how old or how big
yours is. Now it has started flowering, it should do so every year, and
you should get increasing numbers of flowers. A 12 inch pot should keep
it going for several years, but eventually it will need repotting. I've
not tried giving rhodos fertilisers; maybe someone else in this NG has
more info on this aspect of growing them.


Well I did say we've had it for 3 years now, that is all I know.

Well, yes, but three years from when you got it /at what size/? I bought
a Thuja three months ago; but it was already 2.5 metres high - that
doesn't make it three months old, if you see what I mean. So what size
is it currently?

Aah ok, it's about 10 inches accross and about 6 / 8 inches high at the
moment.

That's a decent size for a R.calostrotum keleticum. It should be
flowering more than you are seeing. However, that's quite a big pot for
a small plant, and I can't see it exhausting the compost it was
originally planted in. If the leaves are a good green, it should be ok
for a while in that pot, but maybe try some Tomorite to give it a bit
more Potassium.

--

Jeff

On 07/05/2020 19:13, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Thu, 7 May 2020 18:02:10 +0100, RobH wrote:


The said plant is in bog standard type compost which I've used forother
potted plants, but it wasn't stipulated what type to use either.

So should I buy some ericaceous compost and repot it.

Thanks

Well, I would, but as I implied in my first reply, some garden centre
own-brand ericaceous composts are awful, more like subsoil, clay and
sand or aquatic compost. Are the leaves of your rhody a good green, or
are they rather yellow and a bit sickly looking? If they're green,
then the compost they're in may be acid enough. As a mid-way approach,
take some of your fresh bog standard compost and mix it with equal
parts coarse peat and re-pot in that.

Another point - do you feed it, and if so, when? Any plant in a pot
needs to be fed from time to time, using an ericaceous feed in your
case. Until they allow garden centres to re-open, you may not have
access to any, but several mentioned here on Amazon.
https://tinyurl.com/yasnfjmb

Rhodies set their flower buds for the following year in late summer.
It's worth giving them a high-potash feed in say late July to
encourage them (potash encourages flower-set). A tomato fertiliser
such as Tomorite will be OK. Again, Amazon may be your best option
https://tinyurl.com/y7tz8bsr

And if you can position it somewhere where its shaded during the
hottest part of the day, so much the better.

The leaves are a mid to light green.
No I don't feed it and nor do I feed any of the potted plants.I just go
by the labels which come with them. There is a local garden centre to me
which does have some ericaceous compost,which I can get on Saturday.
I'll ask them if they have Tomorite.
The plant is in the sun for a good few hours each day, when it is
shining, like today, but I'll move it to a less sunny area.

Thanks