---
title: "Hello, I’m a new gardener. I planted azaleas in wonderful new acidic…"
description: "Hello, I’m a new gardener. I planted azaleas in wonderful new acidic soil covered them with fresh pine chips approximately four weeks ago. I have been good to…"
url: "https://getplanta.com/community/lKxUkhzRR_aIJD7o1QvtwQ/sQ9oYiryxN9gyZoqmHpGpC"
community: "Pests, diseases and problems"
author: "New Gardener"
published: "2026-06-25T15:55:10.169407Z"
language: "en"
image: "https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/y1OGwTpxzAe_BylMxXt7vUOsA-aqrkJiZTO-3rYNlr8/zHa_8tr2Sv6nlmQrUXSiSQ.webp?size=large"
---

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# Hello, I’m a new gardener. I planted azaleas in wonderful new acidic…

_Posted by New Gardener on 2026-06-25_

Hello, I’m a new gardener. I planted azaleas in wonderful new acidic soil covered them with fresh pine chips approximately four weeks ago. I have been good to water them nearly daily at the roots Over the past week and a half, we have had a lot of rain so I backed off on watering. Leaves on my azaleas have started turning yellow with black spots. I thought it was too much rain, but the soil seems dry now.  
I sprayed them with neem oil 2 days ago, but the leaves continue to turn yellow with black holes and drop. please help.  
One of the azaleas has had a bloom over the past week so I thought they were beginning to do better. But they’re getting worse  
I don’t know how to prevent them from dying. They are looking sparse. Thanks for your expertise.

![Attachment 1 of 4](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/y1OGwTpxzAe_BylMxXt7vUOsA-aqrkJiZTO-3rYNlr8/zHa_8tr2Sv6nlmQrUXSiSQ.webp?size=large)

![Attachment 2 of 4](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/y1OGwTpxzAe_BylMxXt7vUOsA-aqrkJiZTO-3rYNlr8/cq6oh3tIQiWCs0YWiQ0x3A.webp?size=large)

![Attachment 3 of 4](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/y1OGwTpxzAe_BylMxXt7vUOsA-aqrkJiZTO-3rYNlr8/j4jlHV61Tp-lqiZNCxurjg.webp?size=large)

![Attachment 4 of 4](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/y1OGwTpxzAe_BylMxXt7vUOsA-aqrkJiZTO-3rYNlr8/egkWGEtTShu0H407MbmMbw.webp?size=large)

## 1 comment

### New Gardener commented on 2026-06-25

Even the stem looks diseased

![Attachment 1 of 1](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/y1OGwTpxzAe_BylMxXt7vUOsA-aqrkJiZTO-3rYNlr8/eep6R3sfS0q3Ym9mx3E-DA.webp?size=large)

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