Limp growth on two azaleas

[keyfen06]

Hi all. I received some azaleas from France a week or two ago now, and they've been doing pretty well but two of them are concerning me a bit. The new growth on them seems to be going limp. At first I believed it was underwatering, so I made sure to immerse them in water for a minute or two and watch them closely over the next few days. I've had this on another larger azalea, but it bounces right back within a few hours of watering and looks healthy. However, these two seem to bounce back in the evening and then by the next morning they've gone limp again. The weather here really isn't anything that hot, it's about ~17C (62F) or colder each day which makes me think that it might not be underwatering? I don't want to give them too much water though, because I know that overwatering them can make the new growth go limp as well. Any advice would be appreciated. I've checked for aphids as well as I had them on some other azaleas, but I made sure to position them well away.


'Koto-no-Mai'

This one is really worrying me, because the growth looks so limp. I tried to poke some holes at the top of the rootball to help with drainage. Could it possibly be the water not being taken up as much since the rootball is so matted?



'Moeka'

This one doesn't look as dramatic, but I wanted to catch anything early in case it's something serious.




Edit: All of my azaleas have been under a shade cloth for about 2 weeks now, which I realise might not have been the best since it hasn't been that hot so could it maybe have something to do with these varieties needing more light? I've removed the shade cloth for now until the weather starts to get a lot hotter, and I've moved from the tiles on the floor of the garden onto an actual bonsai bench now.

 

[penumbra]

How long were they in the shipping box? They may have elongated a bit while being shipped.

 

[keyfen06]

How long were they in the shipping box? They may have elongated a bit while being shipped.

They were in the shipping box for 12 days. Spent 2 days of that sitting in my house as I was away. Looking back at a picture I took when I unboxed them, the growth on the Koto-no-Mai was still pretty fine so I'm not sure what's up with it now.

 

[penumbra]

They were in the shipping box for 12 days. Spent 2 days of that sitting in my house as I was away. Looking back at a picture I took when I unboxed them, the growth on the Koto-no-Mai was still pretty fine so I'm not sure what's up with it now.

I think that is the issue. I would be inclined to prune off the limp growth.

 

[rockm]

I think that is the issue. I would be inclined to prune off the limp growth.

Yup. Thats too long to be in a box. Packing material like styrofoam peanuts can damage finer branching if left in too long. Plants also dry out in such conditions
The current growth is likely permanently deformed a bit and might not straighten out

 

[keyfen06]

Ah, that's a shame. I'd much rather conserve the health of the plant anyway, so I'll do that. Should I just prune back to the leaves not affected?

 

[Glaucus]

Just put in the shade and water them. The kanuma and roots look completely dry (whiteish kanuma and white roots). MiniSatsuki now grow their satsuki in 100% kanuma now. Which is not my preference for plants at this age, but is better for developing nebari.
If you cannot water often enough, put them inside peat in a bowl-style pot.
So that there is about 1cm or so of peat and perlite underneath the kanuma&roots that you have now. But 2cm to the sides.
I used to be concerned about combining kanuma and soil non-uniformly. But with a small, young plant like this, that is not a bonsai in a boinsai pot, I now believe it is not an issue.
Out of the thousands of azaleas I have, many go limp now as it is windy, sunny, with little clouds. It looks very dramatic when the new growth goes completely limp. And yes, if you do not water immediately, it will damage the plant. But if you do water in time, there is no ill effect.
Once you apply water, it takes about an hour for them to regain turgor pressure.
Potbound or near-potbound small azaleas that are in kanuma or other substrate, sitting in sun, with or without shade cloth, may need watering twice a day.
If you cannot water them twice a day, put them in full shade.
Alternatively, make the sun not hit the black plastic of the pot itself. Or use a different colour plastic. Black plastic gets hot fast, when hit by sunlight.
No need to poke roots into kanuma particles that are still intact. It drains freely.
That said, these azaleas are not fully pot-bound. They would have plenty of space to grow more roots. They just need water and more shade.
No need to prune off the new growth.
I have had plants that look way worse. But if I water them, they look fine in a few hours. If yours don't, then I am not sure.
Minisatsuki used Teku 9cm MQC pots, which have a good amount of drainage holes. But they are black. Terracotta/tan-coloured plastic pots are better.S
So when I go to a larger size, I use terracotta colour instead. Usually MCI or the T-series bowls shape. Or a 10 to 12cm diameter low round tan pot.
If you have many pots and only the outer ones are hit by sunlight, it is not much of an issue to grow inside MQC pots.
Put them in a more shaded area so you can go to school, job, social activity, whatever, without any worries.
Once satsuki go into a rapid growth mode, like they did at the Minisatsuki nursery under ideal conditions, they need a lot of water.
When the new growth hardens off, they can endure being dry a bit better. Which could be more dangerous, as there isn't such a dramatic sign of underwatering.
Note, I grow hundreds of satsuki like this in the same pot in a similar climate. They need watering twice a day in peat.

 

[Glaucus]

Oh, and if you 100% know the new growth is going to go limp again, then yes you could prune off the new growth. The old growth will evaporate a lot less water.
But it is a bit of a waste as the plant will be smaller. There is a really quite a big difference between the new growth and old growth in how tender they are and how much water they evaporate.
Ideally, you can keep the new growth and keep it at the proper turgor pressure.. Because that way you get the most roots and the most flower buds.
If you cannot water enough and/or if there is too much sun&wind, the new growth may be a liability to the rest of the plant.

 

[keyfen06]

Having watered, they all look okay now and have regained their turgor pressure. I didn't realise how quickly kanuma actually dries out, having looked at most of them today, a lot of them are already starting to dry up a bit. I should have enough time to water twice a day now though but I'll probably put the shade cloth back up if it gets too much staying on top of it. I'm using an organic fertiliser and with watering twice a day now, is this still going to be fine in regards of not overfertilising? Am I right in saying that with organics, every time you water a small amount of nutrients are released into the soil?