Rhododendron Dopey

Hello

I am looking for some advice for my Rhododendron 'dopey'. Something is nibbling at the leaves and it's not looking so healthy, we have tried slug pellets but that hasn't helped. I have one big flower bud but not sure if the other buds have failed to bloom? Any advice would be great please!

Thanks

 

Looks like a bit of vine weevil damage and a bit of chlorosis. Maybe a mixed seaweed/sequested iron feed and a weevil treatment.
Also, mining bees take lumps out of the leaves, but I'm leaning towards pest damage rather than solitary friends lining their nest
edit
The other 'flower' buds are not flower buds, they're leaf buds...thin rather than chubby

 

I agree with @flounder
My only other thought was - is your soil suitable for it?
They're happy in acidic to neutral soils, but if your soil is alkaline then that may be the cause of the yellowing and poor health.

 

Thank you both for your replies. Best treatment for vine weevils or am I best to potentially take it up as I don't want to risk any surrounding plants getting vine weevils too?

If it was vine weevils would it be healthy enough to be flowering??

Also someone has mentioned leaf cutter bees?

Soil wise, I am not sure! It's very sandy if that helps at all.

Thanks again

 

I assume the leaf damage was done last year?

Agree it looks Chlorotic and needs an iron feed.

 

If you live in England, have a look here-
LandIS - Land Information System - Soilscapes soil types viewer
Enter your postcode and it'll tell you what the general soil conditions are in your area and if it's acidic/neutral/alkaline.
Are there gardens around you that have good specimens of rhododendrons and azaleas? If there are, then your soil is likely good for them.

I've only ever had problems with vine weevils in containers, so not sure about them, but there are plenty of treatments available.

You could try sequestrene or seaweed extract.
Seaweed extract is an excellent tonic for all plants and will provide vital micronutrients that may be missing from your soil. I use it as a supplement on most plants and as a feed for all my houseplants.
Sequestrene helps restore the iron balance in soils - which can be the cause of leaf yellowing.
I wouldn't use both at the same time though - at least 10 days between one and the other.

 

Thank you for the information. We have sandy slightly acidic soil, we have a woodlands very close by that I visited this morning and it's full of huge healthy rhododendrons. I will try some seaweed extract feed to hopefully help it out and if that doesn't I will explore vien weevil treatment.

A photo below for reference of the rhododendrons less than a mile away

 

A good mulching with organic matter - ideally rotted horse manure or something with a lot of fiber in it will help air get to the roots which will help too.
Good luck