Question on Satsuki Azalea. Cuttings in Late Summer?

[Jetson1950]

Visiting my daughter in Alexandria Va. she has a neighbor with a giant Satsuki Azalea bush. I’m thinking of trying to collect some cuttings and try to propagate them. Do you think it may be too difficult to get them to root this time of year? It’s already getting into the 50F temperatures here, but I will be taking them back to Florida where it’s still good summer weather. We won’t see temperature start to drop into the 50s for another 3-4 months.

 

[Glaucus]

Now should still be a good time. If it is later in the reason, they may be a bit more dormant and maybe slower to root. Theoretically, you can also root azaleas by hardwood. But from my experience, that requires an indoor LED setup and has a higher failure rate.

 

[Jetson1950]

Now should still be a good time. If it is later in the reason, they may be a bit more dormant and maybe slower to root. Theoretically, you can also root azaleas by hardwood. But from my experience, that requires an indoor LED setup and has a higher failure rate.

Roger that. I’m going to give it a shot. Her bush is like 10’ by 6’ and 6’ tall. It won’t miss a few cuttings. I’ll go for semi-hard cuttings and maybe take a few hardwood ones.

 

[ECMist]

I have taken many satsuki cuttings this time of year and have found that more fleshy shoots root much more than hardwood. The hardwood ones that I have tried usually either don't root at all or have very few / are slow with rooting, so I would aim for more fleshy ones

 

[Glaucus]

The more fleshy ones should be the semihardwood ones. That's this years growth. But it is a bit late in the year so they may be considered hardwood.
Usually, one wants to prune this years growth before the flower buds develop, so they are faster to root as they are still actively growing.
Once they have flower buds, they are more shy to grow new leaves and their metabolism is lower. They should still grow roots eventually.
I took most of my own cuttings about a month ago and a few of them are failing, others probably have taken.
When I take cuttings with flower buds I usually remove the flower buds. If not or if I miss them, they often flower indoors after rooting, sometimes showing no new leaves at all.
I wish I knew what explains the difference. Don't see a pattern.

A true hardwood cutting is taken from a branch that has very short growth where part of the growth is older than 12 months and completely woody. The new growth may be way too short to be a cutting. And then you just bury the entire thing and hope for the best.

I have some doubts about how viable it is to root cuttings outdoors that have flower buds or that are true hardwood cuttings.

 

[rockm]

Unless it is specifically labeled or you know it’s history it’s very unlikely to be a satsuki particularly since it is so large.

 

[Jetson1950]

Unless it is specifically labeled or you know it’s history it’s very unlikely to be a satsuki particularly since it is so large.

Absolutely. I saw it bloom last spring and looked like the flowers of a Satsuki. Both google photo and Seek agreed that’s what it was and I very seldom see them completely agree. But, I can’t be completely sure. Having said that, the leaves are extremely small and the flowers are beautiful, so as an amateur bonsai person I’ll go for it. I like it.

 

[Glaucus]

Satsuki rarely become giants. But there should be satsuki in gardens of people in Alexandria, Va.
The AI apps are horrible at recognizing cultivars or even species of azaleas. There's thousands of pictures that show either Southern Indicas or Belgian Indicas with the word 'satsuki' or 'Rhododendron indicum'.

Cuttings are rooted the same way either way.

 

[rockm]

Absolutely. I saw it bloom last spring and looked like the flowers of a Satsuki. Both google photo and Seek agreed that’s what it was and I very seldom see them completely agree. But, I can’t be completely sure. Having said that, the leaves are extremely small and the flowers are beautiful, so as an amateur bonsai person I’ll go for it. I like it.

There are many varieties of azalea that have small flowers. Some are cross bred part satsuki. A satsuki six feet tall would be very rare in Alexandria. Indicum is extremely common and planted commonly from the 1940s on. Large examples of those are very common.

 

[Jetson1950]

Satsuki rarely become giants. But there should be satsuki in gardens of people in Alexandria, Va.
The AI apps are horrible at recognizing cultivars or even species of azaleas. There's thousands of pictures that show either Southern Indicas or Belgian Indicas with the word 'satsuki' or 'Rhododendron indicum'.

Cuttings are rooted the same either way.

There are many varieties of azalea that have small flowers. Some are cross bred part satsuki. A satsuki six feet tall would be very rare in Alexandria. Indicum is extremely common and planted commonly from the 1940s on. Large examples of those are very common.

Thanks. When it quite raining I’ll get some pictures of it.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Folks pretty much covered striking cuttings, except hardwood cuttings will take root both out and indoors. For us it seems to be more a matter of consistent heat, drainage & moisture… and not too much of heat and moisture.

Size. Last year was experimenting with how large of a hardwood cutting would push roots as small ones didn’t seem to be a challenge. So a small chunk likely 5-7yoa 2x2” Kazan (didn’t have any larger) was pruned and immediately struck in one of the large pots by the fountain… and promptly forgot about it. The pots stayed out all winter and come April finally looked down at the pot to see the Kazan had survived with a decent body of roots.

Outdoors. When taking cuttings we often strike a bunch of extras in large pots on the ground in the splash zone of a fountain. Or simply strike these in the same pot as the older developing pre bonsai Satsuki the cuttings came from (saves a label if one is short on time). Another method used is to take seedling mix (40:60 peaterlite) and strike 20ish cuttings with a little spacing in a 4” nursery pot destined later for designs requiring a bunch of stems. Use of a semi shade microclimate in the growing area is best.

Satsuki in the landscape. In Puget Sound the older Japanese nurseries always had Satsuki in inventory. Old fashioned large leaf large flowers were planted in the gardens of the Puget Sound Area by ARS folks back in the day 50ish years ago all around the Sound. These do grow pretty large. A newer group of ARS members has planted Satsuki that are more compact both in leaves and in flower size. However these planting are very rare nowadays as the older homes are torn down and 10 townhomes replace them.

Cheers
DSD sends

 

[Jetson1950]

Folks pretty much covered striking cuttings, except hardwood cuttings will take root both out and indoors. For us it seems to be more a matter of consistent heat, drainage & moisture… and not too much of heat and moisture.

Size. Last year was experimenting with how large of a hardwood cutting would push roots as small ones didn’t seem to be a challenge. So a small chunk likely 5-7yoa 2x2” Kazan (didn’t have any larger) was pruned and immediately struck in one of the large pots by the fountain… and promptly forgot about it. The pots stayed out all winter and come April finally looked down at the pot to see the Kazan had survived with a decent body of roots.

Outdoors. When taking cuttings we often strike a bunch of extras in large pots on the ground in the splash zone of a fountain. Or simply strike these in the same pot as the older developing pre bonsai Satsuki the cuttings came from (saves a label if one is short on time). Another method used is to take seedling mix (40:60 peaterlite) and strike 20ish cuttings with a little spacing in a 4” nursery pot destined later for designs requiring a bunch of stems. Use of a semi shade microclimate in the growing area is best.

Satsuki in the landscape. In Puget Sound the older Japanese nurseries always had Satsuki in inventory. Old fashioned large leaf large flowers were planted in the gardens of the Puget Sound Area by ARS folks back in the day 50ish years ago all around the Sound. These do grow pretty large. A newer group of ARS members has planted Satsuki that are more compact both in leaves and in flower size. However these planting are very rare nowadays as the older homes are torn down and 10 townhomes replace them.

Cheers
DSD sends

Good info. I’ve been experimenting with a lot of cuttings from different trees and have found a pretty good system using perlite, vermiculite and peat moss at 60/30/10 ratios and using dome covers in full shade. Getting pretty good success rates for everything.

 

[Jetson1950]

Here’s some pictures of it.

 

[Glaucus]

Probably some kurume/obtusum type heavy in R.kiusianum genetics. It looks like healthy bushy plant, but the closeups they show some discoloration? The google lens example has lacewing bug damage?

 

[rockm]

Here’s some pictures of it.

View attachment 613558View attachment 613559View attachment 613560View attachment 613561View attachment 613562View attachment 613563

Yeah. Not a satsuki. Indicum. Doesn’t make that much difference. You have a case of either thrips or lace wing from the damage on the leaves. P

Thrips are Pretty common on azaleas around here. They’re treated with systemic s most effectively.

 

[Jetson1950]

Yeah. Not a satsuki. Indicum. Doesn’t make that much difference. You have a case of either thrips or lace wing from the damage on the leaves. P

Thrips are Pretty common on azaleas around here. They’re treated with systemic s most effectively.

Not a problem. I use it a lot down in Florida for our hated pests. Mostly mealybugs.

As far as not being a Satsuki, I’m okay with that as well. I’ve got 1 Satsuki, I Kurume and 7 encore azaleas in pots already. As long as it grows well and looks good, I’m happy.