AusBonsai

Hi all, i probably should have been asking this question a few days ago, but alas...got a bit excited and impatient....

Yesterday i dug up a very established 70-80ish year old red azalea from my mums front yard in the hopes of moving it elsewhere in the garden once some landscaping is finally done probably in a couple years or so.

As this azalea has had some issues with root rot in the past and had some rotten trunks i washed the vast majority of its old garden soil out and potted it into a very coarse mix of 7-10mm blue metal and some generic potting mix since thats all i had around at the time.

I was just wondering whether this sort of mix is appropriate for collected azaleas and whether there are any specific aftercare practices i should start doing for it? Its been in the family garden since before i was born and i'd hate to lose it.

I also dug out a large japanese maple at the same time and put it into the same type of mix so i'm hoping its not a disastrous mistake....

Any helpful insights would be muchly appreciated!
Thanks!

I think both trees have an excellent chance of surviving in the mix you have made. I generally use a mix with more pine bark and sand for particle size but the small blue metal should open up the generic mix enough to give good air and water penetration. Just watch and water according to how fast the mix dries out.
I have found azalea very tolerant of root pruning and transplant. They seem to do better when transplanted in warmer weather but I have dug them at all times of the year and rarely had problems.
My collected trees, including azalea, usually go somewhere in part shade for a few months until I see good growth. Even then root growth can be very slow for a couple of years so don't try picking the azalea up by the trunk.

I'm not familiar with using blue metal but since azaleas like acidic soil would something need to be done to lower the PH?

Good luck with the azalea. Old trees with a family history are gold.

Matt.

Matt S wrote: ↑May 19th, 2020, 10:18 am I'm not familiar with using blue metal but since azaleas like acidic soil would something need to be done to lower the PH?

Good luck with the azalea. Old trees with a family history are gold.

Matt.

Damn i'd not considered the ph issue of it...doing a little test tonight it appears to be slightly alkaline....i suppose i could take them out again and mix a bunch of peat through it or something like that to maybe help?

I've been contemplating whether it might be worth repotting them again into something similarly fast draining but more acidic like a 90% to 10% perlite/peat mix although i'm a little concerned it might stress them a bit much...

At this time of year it is unlikely that your trees have made any root growth in just a couple of weeks. The stress of repotting that you are worried about is really the process of regrowing damaged roots and that root damage has already happened.
If there are no new roots to break now repotting will not add any further to the recovery.

I usually tend to leave things as is and see what happens but if you are concerned there's no problem with repotting so soon after the initial root prune.

I just throw some coffee grounds onto my azalea tree and water it in. Helps in achieving acidity levels.

Probably too late to repot now again but Kanuma is the best thing for Azaleas I have ever seen
it is the reason why I import it and Akadama from Japan.
It is available in Melbourne, or direct from me.

Ken

I'll second Ken on the kanuma for azaleas.
I was sceptical at first, thinking it was possibly an overpriced gimmick, but decided to try it a few years back and it made a huge positive difference over the first season they were planted in 100% kanuma. Never looked back. Azaleas just love the stuff. My camellias love it too. I was pleasantly surprised!

juan73870 wrote: ↑May 22nd, 2020, 10:38 am I'll second Ken on the kanuma for azaleas.
I was sceptical at first, thinking it was possibly an overpriced gimmick, but decided to try it a few years back and it made a huge positive difference over the first season they were planted in 100% kanuma. Never looked back. Azaleas just love the stuff. My camellias love it too. I was pleasantly surprised!

I have heard that Bougies appreciate it as well. I have put 2 of mine in it to trial.
Also Peiris and Blueberries prefer a acidic mix so will do well in Kanuma too

Ken

kcpoole wrote: ↑May 22nd, 2020, 7:53 pm I have heard that Bougies appreciate it as well. I have put 2 of mine in it to trial.

Please keep us updated on how that goes Ken!

greg27 wrote: ↑May 22nd, 2020, 10:10 pm

kcpoole wrote: ↑May 22nd, 2020, 7:53 pm I have heard that Bougies appreciate it as well. I have put 2 of mine in it to trial.

Please keep us updated on how that goes Ken!

Will do.
A customer in QLD bought a few bags as they suggested it

Ken