azalea questions

[Psymo]

Whats "Ekka Wednesday"

[Glenda]

Whats "Ekka Wednesday"

The public holiday in August for the Brisbane Exhibition. Only a holiday in the Brisbane area.

Glenda

[mashby]

I hope I am not breaking any confidences here, but Arthur Robinson has just returned from Japan, staying with the owners of, and working at, the Kobayashi Nursery - which specialises in Satsuki Azaleas. Apparently, whilst reading various magazines dedicated to Bonsai Satsuki, Mr Robinson noticed that there was quite a bit of material written suggesting that major re-potting of Azaleas in Japan was done in the "Depths of Winter". Kobayashi San, the owner of the nursery, when questioned about this practice, said that they do, in fact, re-pot, do heavy pruning and bare root re-potting from Autumn through to Spring. Kobayashi San cautioned that the only thing to be mindful of was to keep the trees free from frost. Kanuma, the area where the Kobayashi nursery is situated, usually has temperatures of around - 5 degrees celcius in the middle of winter.
According to Mr Robinson, this revelation opens up the field of good growth even more for us in Australia, as we can get our trees growing well just as we come into early Spring.
It therefore appears as if the "traditional" thinking regarding the treatment of Satsuki in Australia can now be updated and some more guidance obtained from our dear Japanese friends and the wonderful, experienced and ever so helpful Mr Robinson.

[Psymo]

Yeah thats really interesting, i've also read bare rooting is the biggest stress to a tree. When repotting Azaleas, it is better to do it at a certain time. Repotting in early to middle spring is best. Some people say that you should repot after flowering, but this is not the case. Flowering is the second biggest stress to a Azaleas. So repotting and flowering in the same year is not a healthy thing to do for a tree. That is why when repotting, do not let the Azalea flower that year.