So is the main issue in the scenario you lay out that the only part of the plant receiving sunlight is the top canopy? This plant was under my care for the last year, and I think what happened is that I had submerged the plant inside of a 15 gallon container. The light was not getting to the bottom part of the plant.

Now that the whole plant is receiving good light, do you think the leaves below will start to come in under the existing canopy?

What are the specific pruning and pinching techniques that might encourage leaf growth around the whole plant?

What do you make of the fact that it is not showing evidence of any bloom?

Westes here’s what I do to prune/pinch to encourage branched growth. After it blooms, cut a few specific branches (which bloomed) that are towards the perimeter of the plant. I don’t cut them all the same length, but let them vary a bit so it looks more natural. Where you cut, it will branch new growth in 2 or 3 directions (just like when pruning a tree or rose bush).

For pruning, I actually think it works best to just cut the rhodie bloom itself for cut flowers indoors. That way you’re pruning and you also get a long lived bouquet for indoors too.

I’m no pro though. Maybe others will have different advice or techniques.

@coriann is this video getting at the same idea as your cutback technique? What I would really love to see would be before and after photos showing the initial cut and how the plant responded.

It is scary to me at this point to cut back this plant. It seems to be doing so well on top. But I want a bushy hedge, not a tree....

Hmmm. Westes that’s the general idea of pruning, but I’m not sure how well that info transfers over to your particular rhodie since she’s talking about rejuvenating older, unmaintained rhodies and yours is just a baby.

I don’t have any photos from previous years to help give you a visual since it isn’t something I have really thought much of, but here are some close up photos of how a couple rhodies responded to being cut with branching/bushing new growth from just this year. It’s the same as pruning a tree or a rose bush, where you cut it will branch out into new growth in a few different directions. These are already showing new growth after just recently being cut. You can see where the cut is they responded with 3-4 new shoots of growth.

On yours, I would wait until it blooms then just cut two or three stems toward the perimeter of the plant. I wouldn’t cut much more than that since it’s so young, but that’s just me. It’s looking very healthy!

Also, if it doesn’t bloom I personally wouldn’t cut it until after it does next year. It could just be young. Or it could be that it didn’t get enough light in the bucket it was sunken into before. The foliage looks great, I wouldn’t personally change whatever you are (or aren’t) doing to fertilize it.

This is a better video for you. Mike Kincaid is great and very passionate about rhodies. :-) The talk about pruning/shaping young ones starts at about 2 min if you don’t want to watch the whole thing. All of his videos are really good.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l1vJg8hQ9ao

He prunes/cuts/shapes them before they bloom. I wait since I like to see them bloom first. You would probably be OK making a few cuts now if you wanted to test it out.

@coriann, just to let you know none of your replies are generating notifications through the Houzz notification system. I am only finding your replies by luck when I come back to the thread for some other reason. It may be you have some security setting turned on.

I will review Mike's many videos and come back here later.

The one video on the trimming technique was helpful. So basically his formula appears to be something like:

1) Look for the end of a stem.

2) Traceback from that point to just above the next node that has leaves coming out

3) Cut right before the leaves

4) Wait for multiple stems to branch out from the cut

That formula works great for broadening the plant, but I guess it will not give me back leaves below the canopy?

You’re not going to get leaves below the current canopy unless you prune (at least in my experience). But when you prune/cut/shape you are making a new canopy for next year.

Nope. Not my settings. Houzz just isn’t perfect sometimes. It happens. :-)

Rhododendrons respond to pruning much differently than most plants. That's because there are latent buds under the bark up and down the branching structure that remain dormant until stimulated into growth by hard pruning. This is why you can rejuvenated very large, overgrown or excessively leggy rhodies by cutting them back to mere stubs only inches above the ground! Of course you can do a much lighter prune but it should still stimulate growth in pretty much same manner, even low under the major leaf canopy

That makes sense! Thanks for helping gardengal!

@gardengal48 Interesting regarding latent buds below the surface.... Since these are long-lived plants, I think I need to just be patient and try some experiments and observe the results.

Looking at the original photo I posted, I guess I could cut back the smallest limb and then just observe the result. If that goes well, then I could follow up with additional cuts. No reason to assault the plant in its entirety all at once I guess.

The cuts should be done right around this time, either before or right after the blossom depending on whose advice you follow. How long until we see branching from the cut area? That happens next Spring?

Looking at my original photo, I put small yellow arrows on either side of a place I might cut. Could you direct me up or down from that on that stem? Is that stem a good candidate for a test?

Everything gardengal wrote is accurate, but I think outside the Rhododendron Heaven of the Pacific Coast things are not quite as easy as she says. A rhodendron's particular variety has a strong influence on how easily latent buds break. So does the age of the wood on which the cuts are made.So does exposure to sun. Just as there are some rhododendrons that are well nigh impossible to root from cuttings, there are some that shaply cutting back just does not induce new growth.

The proper time to make the cuts is after bloom when vegetative growth is strongest. Evidence of sprouting occurs in a short time.

@akamainegrower Look at the photo I put up and the proposed cut I would make. Is that the right cut to experiment with?

Where you cut is not critical. Sometimes you can feel a slight swelling just beneath the bark. If you do, cut just above that area. I have no direct experience with this variety, but from the photo I assume you'll be cutting into wood that is at least a year, maybe more, old. Bud break may be delayed so be patient.

Some rhodies seem to bloom when small for me and others don't. This one seems to be wanting to size up a bit before blooming. It was damaged in the most recent winter, and somewhat in the PV winters...that could be a factor too, but it's not like it even tried to form buds. OTOH, Richard Murcott's TT117, surely one of the best yellows bred on the east coast and only slightly behind 'Gotham Rheingold', formed buds when small but they were nipped by the Polar Vortex winters. FINALLY it might bloom this spring. (but might not...one bud looks like it was killed in January)

Nice thing about this plant is even though the color is not as good as 'Nancy Evans', for those of us in non-maritime climates, it is like a much stronger growing daughter of Nancy. It is a triploid and seems to have some 'triploid vigor'. No sign of being set back by root rot after 5 years, while an ungrafted 'Nancy' would surely be dead now.

@davidrt28 my only Nancy Evans died quickly on arrival from the nursery. I gather it is a difficult plant.

Well, that shouldn't have happened ;-).

Was it very pot bound?

@davidrt28 no, it was a small plant and I think it already had some infection when it arrived.