{"id":21916,"date":"2023-04-27T14:43:03","date_gmt":"2023-04-27T18:43:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/?p=21916"},"modified":"2023-04-27T14:43:39","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T18:43:39","slug":"what-is-causing-the-leaves-on-my-azalea-bush-to-have-a-strange-color-and-not-produce-many-flowers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2023\/04\/27\/what-is-causing-the-leaves-on-my-azalea-bush-to-have-a-strange-color-and-not-produce-many-flowers\/","title":{"rendered":"What is causing the leaves on my azalea bush to have a strange color and not produce many flowers?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Question:<\/h3>\n<p><strong>My azalea bush is about 30 years old and has bloomed beautifully every spring around Mother\u2019s Day. Last year there was very few flowers and this year the leaves are a weird color and I have no idea if it will bloom.\u00a0 It does not get too much water. I\u2019ve looked up pictures and I don\u2019t think it is a fungus. Maybe something to do with the soil?<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>Answer:<\/h3>\n<div><em>Jonathan Foster, Special Project Assistant<\/em><\/div>\n<p>We would need to submit a sample to a diagnostic lab to be 100% certain, but you&#8217;re almost certainly dealing with either lace bugs or spider mites. Both are well-known pests on azaleas, their damage appears similar (stippling of the leaves), and both can be a bit tricky to get rid of. Spider mites will leave tiny masses of webbing under the affected leaves and down in the axils of leaves and branches coming off the main stem&#8211;it&#8217;s pretty apparent if you look for it.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/hgic.clemson.edu\/factsheet\/azalea-rhododendron-insect-pests\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/hgic.clemson.edu\/factsheet\/azalea-rhododendron-insect-pests\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1682699977102000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0AVpty9owMKsdLXDxc_U8a\">Clemson Univ page on Azalea pests<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/hgic.clemson.edu\/azalea-lace-bugs-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/hgic.clemson.edu\/azalea-lace-bugs-2\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1682699977102000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1YkVvJfI12fh35XakfzIhR\">Clemson Univ page on Lace Bugs<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/hgic.clemson.edu\/factsheet\/integrated-pest-management-i-p-m-for-spider-mites\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/hgic.clemson.edu\/factsheet\/integrated-pest-management-i-p-m-for-spider-mites\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1682699977102000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2jRveVw_MFoNcC9HUcSK0Y\">Clemson Univ page on management of Spider Mites<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The resources listed above provide information on the ID and life cycles for both pests, how they persist on the plant, and how to control them. Lace bugs will lay eggs in the leaves and protect them with a hard, resinous cover, but if worse comes to worst and the attempts to control aren&#8217;t effective, the good news is that most rhododendrons and azaleas are tough plants and can withstand serious cutting back to remove all the infected tissue. That may also be your option if you&#8217;re uncomfortable with chemical controls, though be advised that it may interfere with the plant&#8217;s bloom cycle for a year or two. It should recover.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: My azalea bush is about 30 years old and has bloomed beautifully every spring around Mother\u2019s Day. Last year there was very few flowers and this year the leaves are a weird color and I have no idea if it will bloom.\u00a0 It does not get too much water. I\u2019ve looked up pictures and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[199,204],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ask","category-pests"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What is causing the leaves on my azalea bush to have a strange color and not produce many flowers? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2023\/04\/27\/what-is-causing-the-leaves-on-my-azalea-bush-to-have-a-strange-color-and-not-produce-many-flowers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is causing the leaves on my azalea bush to have a strange color and not produce many flowers? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Question: My azalea bush is about 30 years old and has bloomed beautifully every spring around Mother\u2019s Day. 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