White powder on Rhodie

Hi all - please forgive this newbie question! I have a couple of Rhodies which suffered big-time a few years ago - I think they were too dry but there is something else going on, possibly mildew or leaf blight. ANYWAY, they have survived but do very little each year. This year, I have been at home a lot and have been trying to make some progress with them - they've each had lots of food, water and they look to have come alive again. However, one of them has a lot of 'white powder' on the leaves - once the leaves have expanded, you can rub this off but I've attached a picture of some shoots - you can see the white powder on them - they are covered in it. Question is: is this ok or should I rub it off?

Thank you so much in advance, I'm desperate to get these plants looking good!

Ken

 

It looks normal to me, the white stuff is just on the new leaves.

 

Thank you - ok I just wanted to be sure!

 

@Kenneth Boyd some rhododendrons - mostly from yakushimanum hybrids have this on young leaves - it can be quite a nice feature. Others have lovely brown dust underneath the leaves...

 

OK that is very re-assuring. You guys are fantastic! I've just popped out now to grab a couple more photos (sorry about this). The first one shows the same plant but another branch of it - these leaves come each year but never any flowers and they never grow - the leaves look a tad brown or bruised in a pattern along them.

I've also taken a photo of my other Rhodie which is generally much more healthy but has a few leaves with these brown spots on them.

If you can shed any light on either of these, it would be wonderful!

 

The other stem looks poor. The pattern suggests some form of deficiency. Make sure the soil is acidic, and maybe water with sequestered iron to help the plant - otherwise the new stems will start to show these symptoms as well. The other plant also shows some signs of this too - notice the pattern on them.

 

OK thanks Caroline, I have fed these both properly this year but I think these leaves were already in place. I will get hold of some sequestered iron as you suggest and go from there. Thank you for your help!