Large Azalea trunk chop

[shibui]

Whether it needs support depends where you cut it. If it is likely to move if bumped or in wind then it must be supported but if you cut the stem short and the cutting is stable when planted then it should be ok without support.
How to support will depend where you plant it and what you have on hand. Tied to a stake of some sort, tied down with twine, etc. Whatever you can manage to get it to stay still while roots form.

[kcpoole]

They are standard Azalea ''Indica''. They will grow from a chop but they don't make very good bonsai.

Nah. Indica don't make good Bonsai

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Only had 3 years of refinement since then and hope it flowers well this year

Ken

[kcpoole]

dynamic lifter and a good watering.

Will kill an azalea real fast. Keep DL away from any of the Rhododendron species. I have lost quite a few until i worked that one out.

OK.

I picked up the Azalea tree late today. There wasn't enough time to plant it because it got dark. I gave it a good soaking to it will hopefully last through the night.

Should be fine with this mild weather we are having. Plant out tomorrow when you can see.

I doubt very much a cutting of the size of that trunk will survive.
With the size of the top bit it might well be worth waiting till spring and then airlayering it off. Then you can keep the bottom as a nice trunk to regrow from, and also have the top section which surely will make a nice tree itself given a chance.

Both will be a few years effort anyway so waiting 6 months or so to layer off the top will not slow you down overly.

Indica need to be larger specimens as the leaves and flowers are quite large. Might as well make use of what you have in the best way possible.

Ken

ps. if you do not want to take the time, i will buy off you instead

Ken

[Homer911]

OK, got a little scared with all the comments about the top cutting failing.....

I just planted the who tree in the ground with some sand, peat, organic compost in the ground with some acidic fertilizer. Fingers crossed.

Thanks for the DL comment. I would have killed it.

[Homer911]

dynamic lifter and a good watering.

Will kill an azalea real fast. Keep DL away from any of the Rhododendron species. I have lost quite a few until i worked that one out.

OK.

I picked up the Azalea tree late today. There wasn't enough time to plant it because it got dark. I gave it a good soaking to it will hopefully last through the night.

Should be fine with this mild weather we are having. Plant out tomorrow when you can see.

I doubt very much a cutting of the size of that trunk will survive.
With the size of the top bit it might well be worth waiting till spring and then airlayering it off. Then you can keep the bottom as a nice trunk to regrow from, and also have the top section which surely will make a nice tree itself given a chance.

Both will be a few years effort anyway so waiting 6 months or so to layer off the top will not slow you down overly.

Indica need to be larger specimens as the leaves and flowers are quite large. Might as well make use of what you have in the best way possible.

Ken

ps. if you do not want to take the time, i will buy off you instead

Ken

I only bought one of two trees Ken... Go for your life

[kcpoole]

I only bought one of two trees Ken... Go for your life

Sent them an email just now.
which one did you get?

good to hear you did not chop yet, are you going to try to layer off the top?

Ken

[treeman]

They are standard Azalea ''Indica''. They will grow from a chop but they don't make very good bonsai.

Even if it is an Indica, I think it would make a great bonsai.

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Thats not an Indica Homer911. It is a Kurume and yep they make the best Azalea (flowering) bonsai IMO...small leaves and small flowers. The Indicas they use for standards here have very large leaves and large flowers too. Also not very elegant and very coarse branching.
Actually...on second looking it seems to be a small leaved Satsuki which would make it ''Indicum'' But they are really all hybrids anyway.

[Homer911]

I got the one in the middle. They are a very nice family who sold us the tree.

No, I have not chopped it yet. I am going to air layer it just in case. I have never air layered or propagated so I will stay on the side of caution. Is spring the best time to air layer?

Here is a couple of pics of the planted tree. Just hope it survives till spring. It's also the first tree I have transplanted. Any advice on keeping it alive?

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[Isitangus]

Regular seasol, I would be spraying on the leaves as well.
It also needs a confidor treatment to treat the azalea leaf mite that it has. Just pop a few confidor balls under the soil.
Great score for the price


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[Homer911]

How can you tell it has leaf mite?

[Isitangus]

The leaf should be a solid colour,the spotting is a result of the mites feeding on the leaves. On the under side of the leaves there will be dozens of tiny black spots-they are the mites.
Leaves should look "like this"



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[kcpoole]

Nice score
yep the White spots on the leaves are a giveaway. I treat all my azaleas with Confidor 3 times a year to keep it at bay.

Airlayer in Spring.
you can reduce the foliage back as well if you want to reduce the amount of moisture loss. coming into winter shoud be OK but if the tips of the new growth droop then I would cut back.

ps I will call the owner tomorrow re the other one.

Ken

[Homer911]

Cheers guys, good call about the mites


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[kcpoole]

Just collected the other one.
Soaking in Seasol until I can get to pot it up later.

Thanks Homer, I owe you a beer and we can compare one day

Plan is to pot into a large tub in Kanuma and cut back the top to open it up and shorten the growth. Once active growth starts I will layer off the top and see what I can get out of it.
The trunk base has very nice radial roots and a great Basal flare from the trunk. it will make a very nice tree once the top section removed. The bark on the trunk is to die for IMHO and has good coverage of lichen too
The top section has great potential too so this one should be very exciting to develop in the years ahead

ps, The trees are about 30 years old, as that is when the houses were built in this area. (I grew up near there).

Ken

[Isitangus]

Great score, shame there's no more


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