Zaelthus
Yamadori
Hi all, first post! Great group of knowledgeable people around here so I figured someone maybe able to help. I'm definitely a bonsai beginner, most of my stuff is in grow boxes or in the ground developing size, taper and movement. Here is an Azalea I dug up a few years ago from someone's garden and put into a grow box recently. One day when it is healthy day it will be chopped or airlayered, who knows it may never even becomes a bonsai. Right now my goal is just to restore its health.
When I transplanted it I essentially bare rooted it as the soil was probably 20 years old and very hard/compacted. It is planted in approx 75% turface with some compost and fir mulch (I added a top layer of mulch for moisture retention). Since potting it into the grow box (about a month and a half ago) it hasn't shown any improvement. Coincidentally I repotted one of its brothers (collected from same garden) at the same time into a 85% organic mix (compost, fir mulch, sand) and it is doing much better i.e. heavy budding, dark green leaves. It also seems that some of the new growth is malformed and has the appearance of a bulbous sickly clump rather than a leaf. I pull these off as I see them but today I noticed one of these malformations that was also moldy. The leaves seem yellowish, so I'm wondering if there is an iron or PH deficiency, perhaps related to the turface. I fertilize with Miracid one a week.
When I transplanted it I essentially bare rooted it as the soil was probably 20 years old and very hard/compacted. It is planted in approx 75% turface with some compost and fir mulch (I added a top layer of mulch for moisture retention). Since potting it into the grow box (about a month and a half ago) it hasn't shown any improvement. Coincidentally I repotted one of its brothers (collected from same garden) at the same time into a 85% organic mix (compost, fir mulch, sand) and it is doing much better i.e. heavy budding, dark green leaves. It also seems that some of the new growth is malformed and has the appearance of a bulbous sickly clump rather than a leaf. I pull these off as I see them but today I noticed one of these malformations that was also moldy. The leaves seem yellowish, so I'm wondering if there is an iron or PH deficiency, perhaps related to the turface. I fertilize with Miracid one a week.