Rhododendron in Pots - Best method or soil etc

Over the last 2 winters/spring I have lost 2 Rhododendrons.
The first I thought was from where I over wintered it near the North wall of the house and starved of rain water etc.
Second one this spring, left it on the patio but placed protected from wind and frosts. But think this one had root rot as the soil was wet although using grit at the bottom of the pot with crocks etc.
In both cases the leaves stayed on the bush, just turned brown, curled and fell off. Tried feeding since March with the recommended feed for these plants to no avail.

So I have another to plant and want to be sure the best I can not to loose this one over winter.
So apart from the dedicated soil. I've read to use Pine bark or Moss in the base of the pot ensuring good drainage and mix grit 50/50 with the ericaceous soil.

Any recommendations/suggestions of what to plant the bush with, in a approx 8/10 gallon pot. I would plant it in the garden but my soil is clay, wet in winter and dry in summer.

Thanks

 

Picture of the plant would be good as you don't want to put a small plant in a whacking great big pot.
They tend to like almost woodland conditions, not too hot and dry and a soft moisture retentative compost, go easy on the grit.

 

Absolutely no need to feed Rhododendrons whatever the feed manufacturers say! I grow over 50 Rhododendron and amount I feed them, zero in over 30 years! Do they bloom, hell yes, I would hardly grow so many if they did not. Many Rhododendron and Azalea originate in The Himalayas, don’t think anybody bothered to feed those Miracle Grow or the likes.
They need acid soil which is pretty free draining, add dare I say it peat or failing that leaf mould if you can get it, added to ericaceous compost, make sure there are plenty of drainage holes in the pots if you have to grow them in pots. It is never that easy to get the watering right in pots. Rhododendron have fibrous surface roots. Do not plant deep and when watering water a really good amount and then leave it a while before watering again. They do not need to be verging on aquatic! Most Rhododendrons other than species, the majority of which are far too big growing for pots like a fair amount of sun to flower well. It is only the very large leafed species ones which you are unlikely to see unless you go to a specialist nursery that like it very shady.
That said they (I live in Scotland which amazingly can get very hot during the summer at times) do best with dappled sunlight as if the sun is very strong it can bleach both the flowers and burn new growth.
Few like cold wind so try and give a bit of shelter from the easterlies.
Please do not be tempted to buy Rhododendrons from the likes of Lidl and Aldi. Chances are they will be in a dreadful growing medium which will go like concrete if it dries out and is then virtually impossible to rehydrate AND then there is a good chance the plants have been grafted onto Rhododendron Ponticum which the forestry industry spend thousands of pounds trying to eradicate each year! Result of poor grafting material will be your pink or white Rhododendron will revert to ghastly purple in a couple of years. I saw Rhododendron for sale in 1 of the above for £7.99recently. Wholesale decent will cost at least £11 plus vat, you get what you pay for. I would also tend to steer clear of yellow flowering Rhododenron, they in my experience, tend to be a bit fussier about drainage than say the reds or whites. Not exactly sure why, no doubt something to do with original parentage.
The Yak hybrids are very easy, good size for large pots and flower very well. The likes of Hoppy, Percy Wiseman, Dreamland and Gartendirektor Riegor are, to name a few, easy and free flowering.
I have gorgeous Rhododendron that I bought over 30 years ago. They probably cost more than £7.99 then but not such a stupid move having enjoyed them for all these years. I think there is an expression, buy cheap and buy twice.

 

Thanks for your replies.
The plants were purchased from local reputable garden centres.

Dwarf Azalea, approx 15 yrs old about 50cm high with ericaceous soil with a layer of grit.The dying Rhododendron, approx 4yrs old about 50cm high in a roughly 9lt pot with ericaceous soil with a layer of grit.

Camelia, approx 12 yrs old about 90cm high with ericaceous soil with a layer of grit.

The dying Rhododendron, approx 4yrs old about 50cm high in a roughly 9lt pot with ericaceous soil with a layer of grit.
The above plants were stored together with other pot plants such as a Japanese Acer and Lavenders etc from the winter gales and frosts under no canopy etc.

New Rhododendron, still in its pot waiting to be potted on.

The camelia is positioned against the back of the house north facing seeing the sun late afternoon/evening.
The azalea, dying rhododendron and acer positioned on the patio seeing the midday sun for approx hour in summer and both flowered every year.
The new rhododendron is current positioned alongside a new zealand fern, seeing the sun early morning or late afternoon/evening in summer.

thanks

 

The dying/ dead Rhododendron looks as though it has been planted too deep from the photo but might be wrong. New Rhododendron needs a considerably bigger pot than the one with the dead Rhododendron in it. The nice Camellia could do with being potted into a bigger pot soon. If the photos were taken today your Camellia is very late to flower as my white ones are finished flowering and I am considerably further north than you are. Mine are about 10 years old and heading for about 8 ft tall and 6 ft wide. Pity you could not improve your soil structure and plant your lovely plants in the ground where they could reach their potential.

 

Should I put Pine bark in the pot on its own surrounding the existing pot or mix with soil at roughly what ratio.

thanks

 

Decorative bark is used as a weed suppressor/ mulch to reduce evaporation, rather than a soil improver so do not mix it with soil. Put about 2 ins deep around the plant. I have a huge garden of over 1 acre and weeding 24/7 is not my idea of having a life so use bark chip extensively to reduce weeding. It is most effective combined with a membrane underneath. In an ideal world or if I did not have such a big garden I would dispense with the membrane but it save 100s of hours of weeding and my plants don’t seem to object into the slightest!

 

Some soil based ericaceous compost would be good, but not always easy to find, so just use any ericaceous compost you can find, adding bark as a top dressing would help.

 

Yes, I always use Ericaceous soil/compost with any plant that wants it.
I’ve read to use Pine bark as its acidy and seen it used for Orchid plants which would be finer than the common garden bark used for ground cover.
So using this in the last 2” as top dressing instead of the grit which I’ve used previously ?

thanks