AusBonsai

Can anyone identify the cause of this problem?
The plant is a Azalea, some of them seem to bee affected in this manner and I cant work out what it is
It starts like this on what seems to be a healthy plant and then sometimes has a defoliating effect which seems to be more severe with plants suffering from mild chlorosis. I have been feeding fairly regularly but there is one fert I used which is perhaps questionable but it has been used on all plants and only a few have the above problem.

Could it be PH? Could it be a fungus? (It is not root rot or dieback, I have seen that plenty of times and is very different) Could it be a burn from too much fert? Could it be a burn from applying a systemic to treat insect attack on sot new growth?

It's driving me a little crazy and is a real pain in the but, any advice or help would be much appreciated.

im no expert m8, but i do know that too much fertilization or the wrong fertilizer can cause damage to the roots and effect the tree. i dont use any other fertiliser other than "Seasol" on all my bonsai and have never had any problems with it, only benefits its made from all natural ingrediants and promotes growth, feeding, flowering, pest resistance, resistance to weather... in other words it does alot of good things and its not too harsh to use on your trees they love it. hope that helps

the grasshopper wrote:im no expert m8, but i do know that too much fertilization or the wrong fertilizer can cause damage to the roots and effect the tree. i dont use any other fertiliser other than "Seasol" on all my bonsai and have never had any problems with it, only benefits its made from all natural ingrediants and promotes growth, feeding, flowering, pest resistance, resistance to weather... in other words it does alot of good things and its not too harsh to use on your trees they love it. hope that helps

Seasol is NOT a fertiliser, it is a tonic. It even says so on the packaging. I personally use about 8 or 9 different fertilisers and rotate them weekly so my trees get a good diet. I also use seasol, and sometimes seamungus (as I bought a 20kg bag ) superthrive and go-go juice.

Azaleas usually have a specific fertiliser requirement. the only reason I say this is there is miraclegro all purpose, and then there is miraclegro azalea, camellia and rhododendron. I am unsure about your problem with you azalea, and it would be hard to know if it is root rot without knowing your watering regime, potting substrate (which looks fairly loose), and how often you repot them. I do know that Azelea's are acid loving plants and like their soil slightly acidic, so it could be a pH problem, however I have never owned an Azalea so can't elaborate. I am sure someone else may be able to help. It may be a case of doing a ph test and then if it needs to be more acidic, mix a new batch of soil adding sulphar and then re-test the pH until it is right, then re-pot (although don't root prune or disturb the roots too much as its the wrong time of year)

my point was seasol is still a good thing to use on azalea's as it has many benefits and builds your trees NATURAL IMMUNITY against pests and poor conditions, it says on the packaging it also promotes growth and flowering which is what fertilizer does anyway. i was only trying to offer help, not a solution as its too hard to tell from the pic and info what the exact problem is, but seasol will definetly help combat the problem what ever it is and most other problems too

the grasshopper wrote:my point was seasol is still a good thing to use on azalea's as it has many benefits and builds your trees NATURAL IMMUNITY against pests and poor conditions, it says on the packaging it also promotes growth and flowering which is what fertilizer does anyway. i was only trying to offer help, not a solution as its too hard to tell from the pic and info what the exact problem is, but seasol will definetly help combat the problem what ever it is and most other problems too

All good mate, I just thought you had been told seasol was a fertiliser. You should still use a fertiliser as trees need Nitrogen Phosphorus and Potassium and trace elements to really thrive and develop a good root system. Powerfeed which is made by seasol is a good organic fertilser, so is Yates fish emulsion and charlie carp. I also use Debco all purpose, Yates thrive (both all purpose and flower and fruit), miraclegro, PK 13 14, aquasol and occasionally both dynamic lifter, & blood and bone. I am about to try some products that Brett recommended from NTS such as hot mix npk 7:17:17, Life-force stimulate and maybe even some Nutri-Store Gold and Calcium Fulvate Check out their product listings here http://www.nutri-tech.com.au/ The reason I use so much fertilser is because I use a very open mix of mainly diatomite/zeolite, and majority of my trees are very young, and I am trying to fatten them up as quickly as possible. I only use the recommended dosage, but I fertilise weekly, and twice weekly in spring.


Sorry Damien for hogging your thread, I hope someone chimes in with some answers for you, alternatively you could take your azalea to a large nursery near where you live (not Bunnings) and ask the nursery man/woman what they would recommend. All the best, I hope it is nothing drastic

I think you have already nailed the problem Damian - this is an AZALEA.
Many of them just seem to have a death wish - a whole host of bugs, fungal problems and pH preference. Too many problems I reckon so to solve all your problems just stop growing azaleas, easy!

Looks like a nice open mix with a bit of everything in it so most likely not a PH or anything else problem

What do you fert with?

All mine get Rotating dose of Miracle grow (Azaleas), and Charlie Carp, Fortnightly. Also use a 1/2 Handful of Neutrog sudden impact starting about a month or so after repotting.
Also spray with Confidor to control lace bug aver 3 months or so.

Ken

Damian, what is your watering regime like? Do you allow the tree to become barely damp between waterings or do you water everything to a schedule? Specifically, what are you feeding it at what rate? How often? Full sun/part shade/shade? Does it live on the ground or on benches? You mention a systemic, what was it, to treat what, did it work? Is it part of a lot of plants that you bought at one time? If so how are the others going?

Help us to help you mate and give us some more info to work with.

Cheers,
Mojo

Damian
Azaleas are known to loss there green colour this time of year and go from yellow to crimson just like deciduous trees. From the picture you have the problem dose not look like a mites or a fungal infestation. Perhaps if you could get a closer pic of the affected area you might get a more accurate diagnoses.

Systemic was Confidor,

Currently I have Thrip and Lacebug, mostly on those in semi shade or on those with dense foliage.
I fertilised with Powerfeed and Seasol, but the difference this year was Azalea food and a manure based pellet made by Ktec, the Ktec may have been the culprit and delivered a dose of phosphorus and burned the foliage and roots but not all of the plants have the effect of foliage burn. The bark stays green even if there is complete foliage drop and new foliage will appear. In some cases there is branch drop and part of or all of the plant may die.

It has taken some time for it to appear (2-3 months) and as I mentioned earlier, those with chlorosis seem to be affected or chlorosis is a symptom?

So to summarise a little, it does not affect a particular variety although some are more sensitive than others and yes I have aimed to keep them in a nice open mix,(6mm pine 50%, Zeolite 5%, 5mm pebble 20-25%, and 20-25% perlite or Diatomite) learnt that lesson years ago with Canadian Peat.

I believe that I have lost one nice advanced plant which is quite frustrating,(it is in first aid sitting in coarse sand) I do not want to loose any more.

I hope this additional info will help a little more.
Both of these were healthy before application of ferts, I put the Azalea fod on after the pelletised stuff to treat the chlorosis as well as iron chelates, these have worked but I still face the issue of foliage burn, I am hoping that the problem will be lessened with each watering.

As far is watering goes, I water as the soil becomes dry, some obviously are dryer than others due to their aspect or variety.

Still scratching my head and will probably go back to Neutrog and organic soluables including Comfrey tea, I used it years ago and did not lose a single plant.
In the meantime I will be doing some more first aid.

Any solutions on this problem are welcome and I thank you all for your recent contributions

Hi damien

I probably can't help with your diagnosis but the lace wing and might will be a battle. I say this as I worked in a nursery that grew azaleas for sale in some of the large retailers garden centres. We would grow the azaleas in about 60 percent peat, then the remainder was bark, washed river sand and foam beads. This was obviously quite acidic but was balanced with a concoction of trace elements.

The reason I say you will always battle with lacewing and red spider is we would have quite a vigorous spray routine to control these pests and keep the leaves clean ready for sale. Every one should be mindful of the amount if chemical residue on azaleas by the way. I can't think of the name of the chemical we used for lacewing but it was an s7 poison and us not available in retail as it is far too unsafe. With the mites you need to keep in mind there life cycle, which is quite short 6 days or something. The reason this is important is they have an ability to build a resistance to continual use of one spray so they need to be rotated. I think we had a schedule of maybe 5 different sprays.
Your other safer option if you have enough azaleas is to use performer mites which are a larger mite that eats two spotted mite. You will need to keep in mind though that you need to control the lacewing and the chemical used to control these may very well kill your predators.

In short as someone stated before azaleas are a pain in the A to maintain in a completely healthy star so my advice is to steer well clear of them and wash your hands if you have been handling one you have just purchases that looks nice and healthy.

Cheers

Squizz

I think it is a combination of high pH, and excessive fertiliser. Azalea are very sensitive to ammonia toxicity, if your soil pH is too high it will cause ammonia toxicity when you fertilise. Even a soil pH of 6.5 will cause ammonia toxicity if fertilizinf woith ammonium based ferts, soil pH needs to be around 5.5.

I suggest you check soil pH and hold back on the fertilising

Good luck

Paul

Just noticed a few typos in my post. Typing with the phone results in a few of these. I meant predatory mites.

Squizz

Hi Damien. Your plant is suffering from chlorosis. There are a few causes of this that you may be interested in. The most common is high pH. (High Carbonates/Lime) Azaleas need a pH of 4.4 to about 6 at the most. Another cause is over watering with susequent root damage and an inability to take up nutrients. Root problems can also be caused by over potting or too fine a mix or over feeding as already mentioned. You MUST fertilize Azalea at HALF strength. I have grown many over the years and found the following to be the best. Blood&Bone 1teaspoon/6'' pot twice /year, OR A mix of bb and cottonseed meal at the same rate, OR 1 teaspoon Osmocote for Citrus with high Mg. AND a pinch of gypsum/6'' pot once per year. These will give the acid conditions they need and nice dark green leaves. You must also spray each spring with a systemic insecticide for lacebug.
To revive your plant I would take it out of the pot NOW, and remove 50% of the mix and place into a SMALLER pot. Check pH, If over 6, add some REAL peatmoss or sphag put through a sieve.( sulphur takes too long ) Your mix looks coarse enough to take it. Do not feed until spring. (IMPORTANT),Allow to dry out a little between waterings!! IF you have bad rot soak in Fongarid. They should start improving next spring. Remove all flower buds now. Do not use powerfeed (alkaline) or dynamic L(alkaline and too strong) Use WEAK kelp a couple of times.
BEST of luck

Awesome Posts Treeman and PMP:yes:

From what I have experienced myself, these hit the nail on the head. Just have to hope recovery is OK and that will take time.

Ken