I NEED HELP WITH MY AZALEA

[steve27]

Not sure of the variety, but had it for 3 years now. repotted it last season into k and it did well. this spring it was in need of a good shapng .So before it flowerd I removed a large branch sealed it up and let the rest flower
after it flowered I cut back the rest of it. in a short time it started to make lots of new shoots.
unfortunately as the new growth comes out the tips of the leaves turn brown the guickly die back.
it tryes to make new shoot again and the same thing is happening. I checked for bugs and fungus and treated for both. but think its more of a foot problem.I try not to over water or under water.the soil I used to repot was kanuma and i didnt bareroot it. I am afraid i am going to loose it. I will get pictures soon

 

[GrimLore]

If you have been having the same hot streak as we have get it out of the sun and make sure the pot is elevated so there is air circulation under it. Even if it has not been so hot being cut back a shade area is best for recovery. Damp never wet and skip the fertilizer for now...
I have never cut one back hard that late in the season, usually by the second week of March. I do have one though from March 2015 that I chopped and it had done the same as yours. It was put off to the side and left as dead. This year it is actually growing leaf and although not abundant it appears healthy. The reason I mentioned it is it can take a whole year as mine did. I never saw that happen before and I am pretty certain I never will...

Grimmy

 

[steve27]

thank you ! will do..

 

[Eric Group]

thank you ! will do..

Let's go deeper into how you repotted this one... So I am taking that you had it in nursery soil/ "potting soil" and did NOT bare root, but repotted into Kanuma? Did you cut wedges in the root ball and tease the outer roots off the packed root mass to get them integrated into the new soil?

If not, @Adair M will give you a thorough tongue lashing about the health detriments this causes- And with good reason! What I suspect you have here is a big, dense mass of roots surrounded by layers of open, porous pumice (Kanuma is basically an acidic type of pumice..), so any watering you are doing is sheeting right off the roots and flowing past them Through the free draining Kanuma leading to a root mass that continually gets dryer and dryer and a tree that gets weaker and weaker. Don't change much right now- move it to more shade (they are "understory" tree/ bushes in nature and can get stressed quick with too little water and too much sun!) and then WATER IT!!! Yeah, HEAVILY! Azaleas need more water than most trees, and I have never seen root rot in an azalea and have been growing them fro decades, with probably about 50++ in my garden today. Don't worry about OVER WATERING... Especially in Kanuma it would be nearly impossible unless you left it floati in a bucket of water for a couple weeks... Even that I do not think would really hurt an azalea!... JMO, Never tried it obviously..
If you have treated for disease and insects, see no signs of heal on the leaves that were left on (I got the impression there were some old leaves left?), your tree should be OK, but we need pics and more info on how you worked to roots to give more advice.
Quick note on porous soils- STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM THEM until you are in the final stages of refinement and slowing down the growth of your trees! Beginners hear these seasoned Bonsai "professionals" and semi- pros talking about these inorganic soils and think they have to repot all their sticks into them to avoid the mythical root rot beast, and they wind up with these types of issues or just flat out DEAD TREES that dried completely out over the 8 hours you were at work! Until you know what you are doing (not saying the OP doesn't, just a general public service here), stick with regular old potting soil. Trees grow just fine in it and nothing will grow them out quicker or keep them happier during refinement phase. Again, JMHO!

Good luck!

 

[PeaceBD]

I have some Wakaebisu and Coral belle azaleas going through the same thing. I did leave a couple of larger branches with leaves on the wakaebisu and had left a lot of original leaves on the coral belle . The plants are under a shade cloth with another layer of thin plain white plastic cover and the plants are still losing the new buds. I am just praying those plants make it thru this summer.

 

[Paradox]

Hey Steve,

I agree we need a bit more detail, but putting in shade (especially in the afternoon) is best for azalea. I have repotted after flowering with no issues but I now try to repot them early before bud break.

My azaleas get morning sun and afternoon shade.

I have 5 azaleas potted straight kanuma, and all are doing fine. I just repotted one a month ago (yes I know that is late) because it was in a very clayish substrate and looked terrible. It had very few leaves and the ones it did have were small and a sickly color. Since then it is growing new leaves and the they are slowly getting back their nice green color.

Coincidentally 3 of my azaleas that were in potting mix turned brown and were losing leaves left and right when I put them in the garage for winter. I repotted all of them into kanuma the following spring (last year) and all are still alive and have been growing fine with great color since.

 

[steve27]

Let's go deeper into how you repotted this one... So I am taking that you had it in nursery soil/ "potting soil" and did NOT bare root, but repotted into Kanuma? Did you cut wedges in the root ball and tease the outer roots off the packed root mass to get them integrated into the new soil?

If not, @Adair M will give you a thorough tongue lashing about the health detriments this causes- And with good reason! What I suspect you have here is a big, dense mass of roots surrounded by layers of open, porous pumice (Kanuma is basically an acidic type of pumice..), so any watering you are doing is sheeting right off the roots and flowing past them Through the free draining Kanuma leading to a root mass that continually gets dryer and dryer and a tree that gets weaker and weaker. Don't change much right now- move it to more shade (they are "understory" tree/ bushes in nature and can get stressed quick with too little water and too much sun!) and then WATER IT!!! Yeah, HEAVILY! Azaleas need more water than most trees, and I have never seen root rot in an azalea and have been growing them fro decades, with probably about 50++ in my garden today. Don't worry about OVER WATERING... Especially in Kanuma it would be nearly impossible unless you left it floati in a bucket of water for a couple weeks... Even that I do not think would really hurt an azalea!... JMO, Never tried it obviously..
If you have treated for disease and insects, see no signs of heal on the leaves that were left on (I got the impression there were some old leaves left?), your tree should be OK, but we need pics and more info on how you worked to roots to give more advice.
Quick note on porous soils- STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM THEM until you are in the final stages of refinement and slowing down the growth of your trees! Beginners hear these seasoned Bonsai "professionals" and semi- pros talking about these inorganic soils and think they have to repot all their sticks into them to avoid the mythical root rot beast, and they wind up with these types of issues or just flat out DEAD TREES that dried completely out over the 8 hours you were at work! Until you know what you are doing (not saying the OP doesn't, just a general public service here), stick with regular old potting soil. Trees grow just fine in it and nothing will grow them out quicker or keep them happier during refinement phase. Again, JMHO!

Good luck!

 

[steve27]

Hey Steve,

I agree we need a bit more detail, but putting in shade (especially in the afternoon) is best for azalea. I have repotted after flowering with no issues but I now try to repot them early before bud break.

My azaleas get morning sun and afternoon shade.

I have 5 azaleas potted straight kanuma, and all are doing fine. I just repotted one a month ago (yes I know that is late) because it was in a very clayish substrate and looked terrible. It had very few leaves and the ones it did have were small and a sickly color. Since then it is growing new leaves and the they are slowly getting back their nice green color.

Coincidentally 3 of my azaleas that were in potting mix turned brown and were losing leaves left and right when I put them in the garage for winter. I repotted all of them into kanuma the following spring (last year) and all are still alive and have been growing fine with great color since.

yes i know I will get some pictures and a little more detail I just dont want to lose this one has a nice thick trunk i would have thought it would have been to much water.

 

[Paradox]

yes i know I will get some pictures and a little more detail I just dont want to lose this one has a nice thick trunk i would have thought it would have been to much water.

That's what I thought was the issue with mine when they were in potting soil. If you've got it in kanuma, you really can't overwater unless there is an issue like Eric mentioned.

 

[Adair M]

Let's go deeper into how you repotted this one... So I am taking that you had it in nursery soil/ "potting soil" and did NOT bare root, but repotted into Kanuma? Did you cut wedges in the root ball and tease the outer roots off the packed root mass to get them integrated into the new soil?

If not, @Adair M will give you a thorough tongue lashing about the health detriments this causes- And with good reason! What I suspect you have here is a big, dense mass of roots surrounded by layers of open, porous pumice (Kanuma is basically an acidic type of pumice..), so any watering you are doing is sheeting right off the roots and flowing past them Through the free draining Kanuma leading to a root mass that continually gets dryer and dryer and a tree that gets weaker and weaker. Don't change much right now- move it to more shade (they are "understory" tree/ bushes in nature and can get stressed quick with too little water and too much sun!) and then WATER IT!!! Yeah, HEAVILY! Azaleas need more water than most trees, and I have never seen root rot in an azalea and have been growing them fro decades, with probably about 50++ in my garden today. Don't worry about OVER WATERING... Especially in Kanuma it would be nearly impossible unless you left it floati in a bucket of water for a couple weeks... Even that I do not think would really hurt an azalea!... JMO, Never tried it obviously..
If you have treated for disease and insects, see no signs of heal on the leaves that were left on (I got the impression there were some old leaves left?), your tree should be OK, but we need pics and more info on how you worked to roots to give more advice.
Quick note on porous soils- STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM THEM until you are in the final stages of refinement and slowing down the growth of your trees! Beginners hear these seasoned Bonsai "professionals" and semi- pros talking about these inorganic soils and think they have to repot all their sticks into them to avoid the mythical root rot beast, and they wind up with these types of issues or just flat out DEAD TREES that dried completely out over the 8 hours you were at work! Until you know what you are doing (not saying the OP doesn't, just a general public service here), stick with regular old potting soil. Trees grow just fine in it and nothing will grow them out quicker or keep them happier during refinement phase. Again, JMHO!

Good luck!

That was a pretty good tongue lashing, Eric!

What wine were you drinking?

 

[steve27]

That was a pretty good tongue lashing, Eric!

What wine were you drinking?

6:00

 

[Paradox]

6:00

?????

 

[Eric Group]

That was a pretty good tongue lashing, Eric!

What wine were you drinking?

LOL, I must have channeled my inner Adair!

 

[Adair M]

I post on this forum on my iPhone. I tend to write rather terse. Damn phone auto misspells half what I type, so I "speak" rather bluntly.

I'm usually a pretty nice guy!

 

[Paradox]

Steve couldn't post pics for some reason. He emailed them to me. I'll post them later when I get back to my computer at home

 

[Paradox]

Pictures:

 

[0soyoung]

Steve couldn't post pics for some reason. He emailed them to me. I'll post them later when I get back to my computer at home

Max photo size is 1 Meg. Lacking a photo editing app. or ability to lower the resolution of photos the phone takes, people have emailed photos to themselves to reduce the photo file size. Tell Steve to email to himself, unless you like mothering him.

 

[sorce]

Tell Steve

His azalea is gonna die too!

(drunk disclaimer)

Sorce

 

[Paradox]

Max photo size is 1 Meg. Lacking a photo editing app. or ability to lower the resolution of photos the phone takes, people have emailed photos to themselves to reduce the photo file size. Tell Steve to email to himself, unless you like mothering him.

Excuse me but who the hell are you and where do you get off telling me I can't help a personal friend (we are in the same club) or anyone for that matter?

Yes he took the pics with his phone and couldn't reduce it. He sent me the pictures asking my opinion on the tree and saying he couldn't post. He didn't ask me to post them, I did it to help my friend.

If you have nothing constructive to add, mind your own damn buisness instead of being as asshole.

 

[M. Frary]

I'm usually a pretty nice guy!

That's what we all say.