Urgent help for collected azaleas

[kvan64]

Hi, I dug these up 2 days ago. The lady owner who let me dug these up said they are over 40 years old. The leaves are extremely small and look dried like they have been out of water for a long time. There are a lot of flower buds on them. I spitted the bush in smaller groups. Two are shown in the pics.
The problems:
1- the root ball is very dense and almost no soil in between them. They are currently submerged in tap water.
2- since I had to transpot them home, I have cut the roots very short.
3- some old roots got rotted badly

I was wondering what should be done before I pot these.
Should I cut all the folliages and flower buds?
Should I split the trunks to single ones? or keep them as groups.
Should I leave them longer in the water, the leaves don't look good as I said they didn't get water for a long time.
Any other advice will be great. I need to pot them soon.
Thanks heaps
DK

[Gary Bee]

G/Day! Kvan64,
While you have the plants in water just add seasol or any other seaweed solution to the water. 2 days is long enough already!
Transplant into large pots with a normal? Bonsai mix and then place them in a protected area with no direct sun.
Dont disturb any more roots; nip off all the flower buds then keep damp until the plants show some new growth.
Nurse them through this summer without full sun until the QLD winter then you can sort them out.
Remember - Patience is a virtue only given to a true Bonsai Artist
Go for it Kvan!
Regards
Gary

[kcpoole]

If you can fit them in a box or large pot, then leave them as they are. You can separate them at the next repoting if they recover.
Add seasol the water if you have it / can get some and add some when you water fro the next month or 2 while they recover.
Pot up into a well draining mix when you can and Remove all the flower buds.

nice score so look after them
Ken

[Bretts]

I have killed many azalea and last clue I had was that I was keeping them too wet after pruning them back hard? Is keeping them damp the best way to go?

[sreeve]

Hi Dk
I wont show you any pictures of the torture I would have placed them under with respect to clearing out the old soil.....needless to say, it would have been a garden hose nozzle full on, clipping, garden nozzle blasts etc etc

Even though I have a pretty good hit rate nowadays, I did lose a few in the early days, so perhaps with something so promising it is better that you take it slow and steady this time round
Good luck - look forward to seeing progression shots of this beauty
Regards
Steve

[kvan64]

The plants was in water for half a day and I just added seasol as advised and will pot them the way they are (in groups) tomorrow. Thank you for everyone's input.
DK

[Leigh Taafe]

G'day mate - I dont offer advice here often, but you can take it or leave it. I have had a fair amount of experience with azalea. I repot over 1000 a year. Azaleas have a very fine root system which is susceptible to too much and too little water very quickly. It is quite easy to let them dry out, and it is equally easy to let them drown. I have been able to root prune azaleas at any time of year, but it is always important to be careful of what you do with them afterwards. Any new soil that is placed around the roots of a newly root pruned azalea will hold alot of moisture, this can rot the roots in an instant if not allowed to dry out sufficiently. On the other side of the coin, the masses of fine roots that remain will require moisture, and if there is none present in the new soil, then the tree can suffer from dryness.

The best way to tell if it is too much, or too little, water for an azalea, is if the foliage is browning from the outside of the leaf, or if it is browning from the inside of the leaf. Outside = dry. Inside = wet.
If it is too dry - not too much of a problem - you havent lost it - you will lose some branching but the tree isnt lost altogether - just water again. If it is too wet - much bigger problem - the roots will rot and it is harder to recover.

Too wet ---- Use a product like "Fongarid" and only water at first sign of dryness.
Too dry ---- Water....then water at first sign of dryness.

"Just because you have a hose in your hand, doesnt mean you should water your azaleas" (Famous Satsuki Grower - Name Withheld)

Azaleas love moisture - but also need oxygen - dont drown them!

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Leigh.

[kvan64]

Thanks Leigh,
They are in the soil now. I don't have a big pot for the biggest group so I put it in a rusted no-wheel barrel and cover it with potting mix. Will update with photos soon.

[Bretts]

Hey ya never gave me such a detailed answer
I would not have rememberd all that anyway thanks for writting it down for us Leigh I might have a chance with the buggers now great info
That quote never did help me understand what I was doing wrong

[Scott Roxburgh]

Excellent input Leigh.

Kvan take note of Leigh he is full of good quality information!

As an aside, I have had my best success with Satsuki in a mix of 90% Zeolite 10% Sphagnum, very free draining but excellent water retention (dampness).

However, i have just bought some Kanuma and we'll see how they react to it!

Scott

[kcpoole]

Excellent input Leigh.

Kvan take note of Leigh he is full of good quality information!

As an aside, I have had my best success with Satsuki in a mix of 90% Zeolite 10% Sphagnum, very free draining but excellent water retention (dampness).

However, i have just bought some Kanuma and we'll see how they react to it!

Scott

From my initial Pottings so far with Kanuma, It seems to hold moisture far longer than Akadama does. I suspect because it is much softer. Be interesting to hear you results and Observations Scott

[Bretts]

And I will let you know how it goes with orchids

[kvan64]

They are in the pots now and doing well. I have removed all the flower buds (hundreds of them) and there are some new grow already. Thanks heaps for all suggestions guys. I'm just still not so good with Japanese/technical terms