AusBonsai

Graeme wrote:And that's why you got it mate.

Hi Graeme, I have found a product from QLD it is Flourish by Searles ferts for different species of fruit and flower one for Azaleas is the same as miraclgro.

Cheers Pup

So, it all happened yesterday.
The subjects...


Nice nebari


after some manual labour



This is where they shalll reside for time being

All potted up





not bad for a days work...

Please feel free to advise on how long I should leave them in the shade, and if I should cut back further and where,

Lovely Score Lots of Roots on them so you should be gold
Wait until the show signs of new growth and recovery. Ideally late winter early Spring to give them full sun again.
And No need to reduce any further.

Typical of collection large clumps of Azaleas, you end up wih numerous pieces to develop into several trees.

See See where they start to shoot and develop, then you can sit and ponder them and come up with some nice styling for them.
Get out the sketch book and draw out the trunklines you have already and see what you have. Then you will have a ggod idea in 6 months on how to start development of them

Ken

Thanks for the info Ken. I will be giving these a drink of weak Seasol every 2nd day. I don't want them to stay too wet...

UPDATE: These all seem to have survived. All have fully flowered and are now starting to drop their flowers. Some new shoots have emerged on some of the branches I chopped. I have moved a couple out of their resting place and placed them out in my display area,(viewtopic.php?f=129&t=17773 ) and the other 2 are still down the side of the house. What next

I found I killed some potted azaleas, I re-potted them. Very pot bound. But then I had alkaline tap water, and didn't have my rainwater tank, I bought specifically for pot plants.

Just a bit of advice, once the house goes up for sale, or contracts exchanged, don't remove any of the plants, or tell the real estate agent before hand you will be removing them.

My friend's mother sold her house very cheaply, and I was invited to go around and pick what I wanted from the garage. I noted that the buyers were already pulling up carpets, and walls inside.Even had a skip there already. I alerted the sellers son, and the price was renegotiated as this was why they dropped the price $5,000 in the first place and hadn't exchanged contracts yet. It wasn't fair they were charging the lessor $5,000 for future renovations and clearing away rubbish.

Raymond wrote:UPDATE: These all seem to have survived. All have fully flowered and are now starting to drop their flowers. Some new shoots have emerged on some of the branches I chopped. I have moved a couple out of their resting place and placed them out in my display area,(viewtopic.php?f=129&t=17773 ) and the other 2 are still down the side of the house. What next

I let mine recover for a full year befor edoing very much aside from looking at them

Do not rush them but strat planning what styles and shapes you will like to finish them as.
Draw pictures or do virts to help.

Ken

Just a quick question, All the flowers have now started to drop off. Should I cut the tops off? Still giving light seasol weekly... Thanks in advance

Yep cut then off

... What would cause these to just die? Ive lost 2 of these in a week. They went from super green to super dead in 5 days... I have done nothing different since the day I dug and potted them. They all flowered, they all looked really healthy...

Did you fertilize?
Azaleas like very acidic soil feeding with something like dynamic lifter will change the soil ph and have tragic consequences.

As per Gerards post I would suggest testing the soil with a decent PH tester.

Seeing as these are over 6 months since dug I would think unlikely..... But...
Perhaps the tree's didn't quite make it afterall and the new growth was stored energy which was unsustainable by the damaged root systems?

Keep us posted with your findings..

Gerard wrote:Did you fertilize?
Azaleas like very acidic soil feeding with something like dynamic lifter will change the soil ph and have tragic consequences.

No fertiliser. Only seasol and Powerfeed. Will do a soil ph test and post results...

I have an azalea bonsai too. It loves the standard bonsai potting mix.

elljuu wrote:It loves the standard bonsai potting mix.

I never knew there is such a thing?
Soils and potting substrates are about as varied as the species of trees we use. Some dedicated have different mixes for different tree types.
Azaleas like a more alkaline soil, but will be quite happy in any Well draining mix

Ken