As I'm a novice I buy my plants from a reputable seller. They come well established and I'm really pleased with them so far. However, I bought 2 Azaleas in September last year. The purple one is thriving, but the orange one seemed slower to grow. This morning I think it's dead. Is there anything I could do to help it? I'm sending a picture of both so you can see they're in the same pots with the same compost.

The soil in the picture appears very soggy but maybe it is just the picture. Consider never watering based on a schedule in year one. Instead, ensure that you test the soil frequently (almost daily?) instead and only water when the soil is dry at a depth of 5 to 7 cm. Skip watering if the soil is already soggy before you irrigate. Also, ensure that the pot has sufficient water drainage holes (drill more if necessary). You can extract the plant from the pot and temporarily leave it in full but bright shade to allow the excess water to drain away faster. Then place the azalea back in the pot and place the pot in its original site. Note: if you get some potting soil from the bottom of the pot in between two fingers and press, the soil is too soggy if you observe water droplets forming. Do not plant the azaleas too deeply in a pot as that can promote fungal leaf diseases. It may take 2-4 weeks to produce new leaves. If no new leaves and no new growth is observed, then the plant did not make it. Azaleas are shallow rooted so make sure you water from above.

Thank you for your very helpful advice. I'll put it into practice straight away. The soil is a bit wet. I'll let you know how he gets on.

That azalea does look as though it was planted too deeply.

Thank you for your advice Lucy. I'm putting more drainage in the bottom of the at the moment, but I'll take on board what you said and repot, but not so deep. Thank you

Florence, When you say "I'm putting more drainage in the bottom of the at the moment," did you mean in the bottom of the pot? Do you mean rocks or gravel? That will raise the water table and make drainage worse. Just use a well draining potting mix. Put screen over the drain holes if you're worried they might clog. The pots have drain holes, right?

The purple is beautiful! 💜

Hi Zoe, The pot had small holes, which I've made a little bigger, this was suggested by Luis. No rocks or bits of pot. The compost I'm using is especially for Azaleas. Screenshot attached. Hope it's going to help. Thanks for your advice.

That is apparently not available in the US. What are the ingredients?

Lucy, interesting. I think the UK prohibits peat as an ingredient. Here's the site. Says wood fibers...
https://www.lovethegarden.com/...

Oops, Florence, thanks. The package does say it's formulated to retain water and looks heavy to my eye, but I haven't grown azaleas for decades. Good luck!

There's a big delivery label on the back, so I can't see very much. I've Googled it and found the attached screenshot, but don't think the ingredients are on there.

That's okay, the info is online and just as vague as the package: "forest by-products" processed into wood fibre. It's interesting to us because we don't have peat restrictions.

Azaleas need acidic soil. I wonder what's in there to lower pH?

If you use it, add perlite or pumice to open up air spaces. That will help it be less soggy. Azaleas root less than 6 inches deep. You can use a shallower pot or fill the bottom of you current pot with something big, like soda cans or cobbles. Put a piece of screen on top of the 'filler' to keep your soil in the top half of the pot. Plant a little high so you can see the top of the rootball.

Edited to fix the last sentence as it didn't make a bit of sense.

Thank you for your advice.