Plants advice

IamTheWalrus95

Hi have 2 plants one is a rhododendron and the other a phoenix. Phoenix leaves are all brown, is this dead?

rhodedendron is looking a bit limp. Have added feed and water. See photos

looksee

They both look unhappy, but not un-save-able I think. They have either been too wet or too dry I reckon. Most likely too wet.

Suggest you cut all the dead leaves off the phoenix, there does still seem to be some life in the bottom. Check the compost and see if it is soggy. If it is, what I would do in that case is put the plant on its side and ease it out of the pot. Leave it like that for a couple of days to dry out a bit, make sure it can't roll around and have it in the shade with something like an old towel thrown over it. Then put it back in the pot, don't water it and see how it gets on. If compost falls off replace it with fresh.

The rhododendron I suggest you check the compost is it too wet or dry - its probably a solid mat of roots and dry compost, the leaves shelter it from the rain. Give it a bit of a feed with sequestered iron, not too much, and wait and see what happens. You may need to repot it after flowering, they have vigorous root systems and that one looks as though it could be a big one, in which case it would really be better in the garden if your soil is any way acid or neutral.

standardg60

Phoenix looks like it's had it to me, probably got way too wet over the winter, they're not very hardy either, but as above take it out and see if there is any root left and let it dry out.

Would also lift the Rhodo to see what's going on with the roots, i would favour them being too wet as well rather than dry, but it's also possible there's vine weevil larvae chomping the roots. This is the time of year when plants affected collapse as they've been feeding all winter and there's not enough root left for the plant to use in spring. There's a couple of tell-tale u-shaped notches in the leaves which the adults feed on too. Look out for white pupae in the compost.

bored_newbie

On a similar theme, I have a Hebe that was lovely for about two years but looks dead as a dodo. I cut it back to see if I could find any sign of life but couldn’t. I’ve been reading they can be short-lived. Luckily a couple of cuttings I took seem to be doing okay so I’ll be able to plant them at some stage.

I’m not sure what killed it. The soil was quite heavy so I had used a decent amount of peat and some organic matter. Maybe I didn’t work the peat into the clay enough but it’s on a slight slope so I wouldn’t think it had wet feet. Root rot does seem to be common though so maybe I need to add some better drainage in the soil next time, and dig it in a bit deeper… any other thoughts?

looksee

I like the look of Hebe but have found that they either become straggly monsters or suddenly die off, so I don't bother with them too much now. They can be very attractive and useful plants but you have to accept you might not get more than a few years out of them.

IamTheWalrus95

Hi all, just an update, phoenix was dead. It was rotten at the bottom of the stem. Oh Well. Still trying to save the rhododendron. I took it out of the pot, didn't seem to be too many big roots. I changed the soil in pot and added for feed for the plant. Still has wilted leaves, at what point should i cut my losses?