Rhododendron does not bloom - this helps if the azalea does not bloom

• Too young, too inexperienced
• Too little light, water, nutrients
• Too much light, water, nutrients

A rhododendron does not bloom when pests / diseases are involved - and sometimes it just does not bloom. Then it goes to the cause search, in the article there are many tips.

Because rhododendrons / azaleas give us beautiful flowers in quantities, they stand in our homes. Some (healthy) rhododendrons / azaleas seem to stubbornly refuse to develop beautiful flowers, which is about what might prevent them from blooming.

Too young, too inexperienced

If a young rhododendron does not flower, first check to see if it's right to flower, and you're just a little too impatient:

• if you plant a young rhododendron, it takes at least a year to flower the first time
• with rhododendrons planted in the fall in the next season, which is already 1.5 years
• but it can also take 2 or in the case of plants in the autumn 2.5 years
• but only refined Rhododendron are so fast
• Seedlings propagated rhododendrons usually need several years to the first flowering

Tip: Even beginners of rhododendron are naturally inexperienced, not infrequently a rhododendron is always pruned in the spring. With the success that the flower is cut away, which has created the rhododendrons namely the previous year. In this case, do not cut next spring, then it works well with the flower.

Rhododendrons should not be pruned in the spring. For tips on trimming, see our Rhododendron Cutting Guide or post-flowering tips in Rhododendron Nursing After Flowering .

Too little light, water, nutrients

Blooming costs strength, and if the rhododendron still does not bloom after years, it could be missing something. If a rhododendron was not planted in the shade of light, but rather in the deep shadow, it could go for a flowering strike for lack of light, then it needs all its energy to form shoots that capture a ray of sunshine somewhere.

Sometimes you can help here by pruning / clearing the shady trees, sometimes only helping to move to a sunnier location. Find out what to look for in our guide "Implement Rhododendron" .

Too little water can prevent a garden rhododendron from blooming, which had to live through a very dry spring without additional watering. In recent years, the meteorologists have repeatedly described the spring as too dry, garden owners are not always set to watering in the garden in the spring. Nothing can be saved for this season, think about additional irrigation in time for the next spring, when there is little rain.

Too little water is more often a problem of rhododendrons / azaleas in the tub during hibernation. As soon as the rhododendron packs well winter protection in its location, it consumes water. In instructions for the hibernation of rhododendrons this (for gardeners "too natural") fact is not always pointed out. Thus, the beginners in the plant care sometimes strictly to the instruction, in the winter to reduce the Wassergaben.

Too few nutrients get rhododendrons, where the fertilizer inputs are a bit too "stingy". It is not easy to adjust the nutrition of a plant, just like adjusting a person's diet so that it does not increase or decrease. But also rhododendrons, which are in soil with wrong pH values, in which they can not properly utilize the nutrients, are malnourished. Here, measuring the soil pH and, if necessary, adjusting the pH by means of suitable organic substances will help

Too much light, water, nutrients

On the other hand, hobby gardeners are often talking too well about their rhododendron.

The location is an important criterion. Rhododendrons grow in nature mostly in the shade of tall trees and can not do much with a location in full sun. In direct sunlight they usually burn and then have to be transplanted. If the sun sheds too much light on the rhododendron for a short time each year, you may be able to shade it at this time.

Too much water gets every rhododendron, from whose root space excess water can not drain. So the rhododendron in compacted garden soil in any heavy rain, the rhododendron in the bucket with clogged drain. Loosening garden soil around the root is difficult, usually only transplanting with drainage in the plant hole helps. The drain in the bucket can be made free, if there is no drainage layer of gravel at the bottom, this can be improved.

Too much fertilizer feeds the Rhododendron too well, it is "fat" and thus also lazy. Over-fertilization is fast with synthetic fertilizer, which is highly concentrated and must be precisely dosed. The composition also plays a role, too much nitrogen leaves the leaves grow powerful to the detriment of the flower abundance. Organic fertilizer will become slower on the plants and therefore can not be overdosed quickly. For rhododendron in the bucket alone but not enough, because too few soil organisms for comminution at work.