Need Help With Azalea

[Gordon M.]

Don’t let it dry out again. They don’t want to be soggy, but the roots are so fine, they can’t handle drying out at all. Good soil and good watering habits are an absolute must for keeping azaleas happy. My Satsuki are in Kanuma soil, AM sun, then mostly shade after about 10:00. They get watered 1-2 times per day and misted in the afternoons when they don’t need to be watered. 100% Kanuma soil provides them even moisture and makes the margin of error for watering a bit wider.
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Thank you for this reply. Helps me a lot!

 

[Gordon M.]

We already know the soil is shit. That can affect how the water penetrates the root ball. Azaleas have very fine roots which can also impede water penetration. In my experience, even though you think you are watering well the water is not actually soaking right into the centre of the root ball. This happens even more when trees become root bound. If the azaleas on either side are in good mix and have recently been repotted the water will soak in much better so they will have adequate moisture all day. water will only soak into a root bound pot a short distance leaving the inside of the root ball drier each day until the tree shows signs of water stress or dies. All this is from personal experience and post mortem after the trees were dead.

There is a slight possibility the soil is too wet but far more likely too dry in summer. Even one day is enough to burn leaves.

Thank you for this reply. Helps me a lot!

 

[Gordon M.]

I bought an azeala earlier this year that had spent most, if not all, of its life under some protection, ie shade cloth and enclosed.

When I brought it home and put it outside in partial sun, I got very similar leaves.

Is this a new purchase for you? Do you know how it was grown before you bought it?

As for mine, all the new growth has come in green and has not burned, so I’m not real worried about it.

Yes, it's a new purchase, the spring of this year.
I was told it was imported last year from Japan and has been at a North Georgia nursery thereafter. Just like yours, it spent it's US life enclosed under a shade cloth.
It may as well be its first summer out in the open.

 

[shinmai]

A previous post mentioned using kanuma. I highly recommend it as well. I have approximately thirty azaleas and rhododendrons in pots, and every one of them is in 100% kanuma. It ain't cheap, but it makes a huge difference. It provides the slightly acid environment that azalea roots need, and makes it virtually impossible to overwater. I have also stopped using chemical fertilizers such as Miracid, and gone to completely organic. I use pelletized, composted chicken manure [Coop Poop] on top of the soil which gradually waters in, and once a month they get a watering with a fish emulsion solution. Mine have really responded to adding the fish goop, with noticeably brighter, greener foliage. Generally speaking, you are less likely to get fertilizer burn with organic fertilizers because they dissolve gradually, rather than a flash flood of chemicals.
As an aside, check your library for a book on Satsuki azaleas by Robert Callaham. It's out of print, but an invaluable resource, really the satsuki bible. Also, when you prune, do not use a concave cutter, and do not leave a little stub. Azaleas do not callus over wounds the way other trees do. Use the orange cut paste that comes in a tube. The only toolmaker that I'm aware of that offers a convex cutter is Masakuni, and it's brutally expensive, but I know of other people who have used ordinary sidecutter pliers to get a cut that is flush to the branch.