[IBC] Azaleas and Miracid

sam crowell

The recent discussion regarding azaleas having leaf tips turn dark and then
drying, continuing until the whole plant is dead is EXACTLY what I have
experienced with all the azaleas I have ever owned.

Not once did anyone question my fertilizing with Miracid. Most of the
suggestions were with respect to overwatering/underwatering/root problems.
I tried a lot of things, putting them in heavy shade, misting often, nothing
seemed to help. The longest I kept one alive was about a year and a half.
I finally figured that our climate was just too dry, without a misting
system, and that our 200+ days of sunshine a year was just too much.

My wife bought a little azalea in February this year. Feeling rather like
the grim reaper for azaleas, I kept my hands off totally. It has flourished
in a dimly light kitchen, getting little sunlight. Leaves are nice and
green, it has been slowly blooming less and less since she purchased it. It
seems to be constantly pushing new growth.

When I read of other people's experience....it just dawned on me that was
what I had also experienced...I must have been WAY overfertilizing my
azaleas...apparently a little bit goes a long way. I don't want to bash
Miracid, are there people out there who use it with success? If so, what
sort of concentration, and frequency?

All in all the comments I read, and my own observations have been
encouraging enough that I might try azaleas again, but I think I will leave
my wife's azalea alone :-)

Sam Crowell

Klamath Falls, Oregon, USA

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Jim Lewis

Your wife's azalea won't bloom (for long) inside. While azaleas
most definitely are not full sun plants, they do need light (and,
I think, UV light which is filtered by the window glass).

As far as Miracid goes, I guess I missed the earlier posts in
this thread, but I'd hesitate to blame it on the brand or
composition (in of a fertilizer.

For any plant, too much fertilizer is MUCH worse than too
little -- or even none.

For Azalea, fertilizer that contains Nitrate Nitrogen can be
dangerous. It has been so long since I looked at a Miracid
label, I don't know whether there is nitrate nitrogen in there or
not.

I've never experienced the blackening leaf problem you describe,
but I'd _guess_ that it was a watering (too much!) problem before
I'd blame it on fertilizer. Nor would I blame it on 200 days of
sunshine as long as you can keep your tree in light shade,
especially in the summer afternoon. Over-misting _could_ result
in a fungus problem on the leaves, I suppose, but my trees get
watered from the top (leaves and all) in a VERY humid environment
(72% yesterday!) and I see no fungal leaf problems.

What soil were you using?

The only leaf problem I have with azalea (aside from the
occasional gall, and, of course, azalea caterpillars) is
chlorosis, or something like it -- and that's from lack of
micronutrients in the (mostly) organic fertilizers I use.

Don't suppose you have pictures of your leaf problem?

Jim Lewis - jklewis@nettally.com - Tallahassee, FL - Bonsaiests
are like genealogists: We know our roots!

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