Deciduous Azalea help

[Eckhoffw]

Hello.
I picked up this “White Lights” Azalea yesterday while out for essentials .

They had many of the different “Lights” hardy deciduous variations.
All of them where very bush like -no single or even double trunk options.
I picked one I thought may have potential for a clump style.

I raked out the roots -which I read later was a bad idea, but I hope I didn’t cause too much damage.
My Main question and concern now is what to do about the flower buds?
Should I cut em all off to lessen the stress on the plant? I’m fine with not having flowers this year, just don’t want to kill it.

Thanks!

 

[Indoor Trees]

Clever using the colander as a temp. pot.

 

[Eckhoffw]

Thanks Yep. Not my idea, but yeah, Dollar store containers for the new plants

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Flowers are the "rent" a tree needs to pay us to keep them watered. I would let it bloom. For 2 reasons. First is so you know what it looks like, and so that you know what size the flowers are, so you can plan branch placement to best display them. The second is not often talked about, but is actually important.

I would have scrapped off the surface of the soil a bit more. It would be nice to know if all those trunks came from a single trunk, or if they all come directly from the roots. I bet if you remove a few fine roots you will eventually find a single trunk under there. But maybe not. Scrape more off the surface.

Second, I would not have used a colander. Fine roots dry out easily. Azalea have mostly fine roots. You may have trouble keeping the colander moist enough. The colander really was initially intended to be used only with pines in development. It is not a "cure all" or best practice with broadleaf trees. Though I do see them getting used. If you can keep up on watering, no harm, but not much advantage either, as azalea naturally have fine roots, and have well ramified root systems without much effort.

Eventually. you will have to choose. Either make it a "clump style forest" or a small group or a single trunk. Let it bloom without any pruning. then decide what you would do.

I don't see a single trunk that I like, I guess I would go for a 5 or 7 trunk forest.

 

[Eckhoffw]

Flowers are the "rent" a tree needs to pay us to keep them watered. I would let it bloom. For 2 reasons. First is so you know what it looks like, and so that you know what size the flowers are, so you can plan branch placement to best display them. The second is not often talked about, but is actually important.

I would have scrapped off the surface of the soil a bit more. It would be nice to know if all those trunks came from a single trunk, or if they all come directly from the roots. I bet if you remove a few fine roots you will eventually find a single trunk under there. But maybe not. Scrape more off the surface.

Second, I would not have used a colander. Fine roots dry out easily. Azalea have mostly fine roots. You may have trouble keeping the colander moist enough. The colander really was initially intended to be used only with pines in development. It is not a "cure all" or best practice with broadleaf trees. Though I do see them getting used. If you can keep up on watering, no harm, but not much advantage either, as azalea naturally have fine roots, and have well ramified root systems without much effort.

Eventually. you will have to choose. Either make it a "clump style forest" or a small group or a single trunk. Let it bloom without any pruning. then decide what you would do.

I don't see a single trunk that I like, I guess I would go for a 5 or 7 trunk forest.

Thanks again Leo for all the amazing help!
Will be looking at the surface more and will put it in a more suitable container.

 

[Eckhoffw]

Flowers are the "rent" a tree needs to pay us to keep them watered. I would let it bloom. For 2 reasons. First is so you know what it looks like, and so that you know what size the flowers are, so you can plan branch placement to best display them. The second is not often talked about, but is actually important.

I would have scrapped off the surface of the soil a bit more. It would be nice to know if all those trunks came from a single trunk, or if they all come directly from the roots. I bet if you remove a few fine roots you will eventually find a single trunk under there. But maybe not. Scrape more off the surface.

Second, I would not have used a colander. Fine roots dry out easily. Azalea have mostly fine roots. You may have trouble keeping the colander moist enough. The colander really was initially intended to be used only with pines in development. It is not a "cure all" or best practice with broadleaf trees. Though I do see them getting used. If you can keep up on watering, no harm, but not much advantage either, as azalea naturally have fine roots, and have well ramified root systems without much effort.

Eventually. you will have to choose. Either make it a "clump style forest" or a small group or a single trunk. Let it bloom without any pruning. then decide what you would do.

I don't see a single trunk that I like, I guess I would go for a 5 or 7 trunk forest.

Doesn’t look like I can go down much further. Ill plan on the small clump forest
Thanks again

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Ah ha, that is good to see. I agree that is the nebari for the clump. The extra trunks should be treated as suckers from the roots. Actually I think there is a single trunk, but it was buried deep. Those that look like suckers are probably branches off that trunk. But they have been buried long enough that most have their own root systems. As training continues, you will flatten the root mass by removing more from the bottom. It should work out.

Now, bury that nebari. Do not leave it exposed. Cover with at least 1/4 inch of potting media and or some sphagnum moss. Those roots you will want to preserve and develop, don't leave them exposed. they are not large enough yet. So get them covered. You expose them every time you repot to observe and do some pruning and or training. Then cover them back up. They do not get exposed "permanently" until the tree is in show or exhibition readiness. This will be 5 to 10 years from now. But it is important to look at the nebari every time you repot. Then cover it back up.

 

[Eckhoffw]

P

Ah ha, that is good to see. I agree that is the nebari for the clump. The extra trunks should be treated as suckers from the roots. Actually I think there is a single trunk, but it was buried deep. Those that look like suckers are probably branches off that trunk. But they have been buried long enough that most have their own root systems. As training continues, you will flatten the root mass by removing more from the bottom. It should work out.

Now, bury that nebari. Do not leave it exposed. Cover with at least 1/4 inch of potting media and or some sphagnum moss. Those roots you will want to preserve and develop, don't leave them exposed. they are not large enough yet. So get them covered. You expose them every time you repot to observe and do some pruning and or training. Then cover them back up. They do not get exposed "permanently" until the tree is in show or exhibition readiness. This will be 5 to 10 years from now. But it is important to look at the nebari every time you repot. Then cover it back up.

ok thanks Leo!