Azalea pontica

[David Nicholson]

I have in my garden what was bought as Azalea pontica but a recent Web search seems to call it Rhododendron flavum or luteum?

Last year and this from late Summer it has been covered in mildew.  This year I have sprayed it with fungicide once a week for the last three weeks (as I did last year) but it doesn't seem to have improved any. Is this a species that is particularly prone to mildew and is there any other remedy I could try? Flowering this year was very sparse and I did collect up as many of the fallen leaves from around the plant as I could. I did think I had maybe under watered the plant last year so this year I have watered it well in addition to Nature's bounty

 

[Maggi Young]

David, this is a plant which is very prone to mildew. There are several in gardens along the road from here which suffer almost every year. I don't believe any of these plants in my street are being treated against the mildew in any way but the plants seem to survive well enough from year to year. I would recommend collecting and destroying the leaves as they fall, if nothing else it'll make you feel you are doing somehing but I believe that climatic conditions are foremost in mildew attacks and spraying is not likely to be much help.

[David Nicholson]

David, this is a plant which is very prone to mildew. There are several in gardens along the road from here which suffer almost every year. I don't believe any of these plants in my street are being treated against the mildew in any way but the plants seem to survive well enough from year to year. I would recommend collecting and destroying the leaves as they fall, if nothing else it'll make you feel you are doing somehing but I believe that climatic conditions are foremost in mildew attacks and spraying is not likely to be much help.

Thanks for that Maggi. It's nice to know that Nature is at fault and it's not just me!