| I planted encore azaleas in my yard. they got mites(i think); i treated but some died. this yr the survivers seemed fine and bloomed. i replanted for the dead ones. then 2 of the survivors suddenly died & 1 of the new ones dropped it's leaves;some of the the leaves are spotted and part brown. i see no bugs (tried the white paper test) It is probably wetter than they like. help! |
| Mites will cause a stippling of the leaves but an infestation rarely kills a plant. Mites look like tiny little dots on the white paper, except that they move. Azaleas can be sensitive to insect sprays so you need to be careful what you spray on them. If they don't like it, they will drop all their leaves. But they usually grow new leaves within a month or so. When azaleas do not thrive it's usually due to soil conditions. Overly wet soils can suffocate roots and cause root rot. This is easy to diagnose because the roots will be slimy and there will be an odor when you remove them from the soil. You may be able to save your azaleas by digging and replanting them into a raised bed where the drainage will be better. If you don't want to build a raised bed you can simply mound up some soil into an island shape and plant your azaleas there. Hope this helps! |
