Satsuki Kinsai Material

R_F

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Just had this shipped in from california a few weeks ago. I have since removed the flowers and pruned it back to begin its training. I think it is so cool how it had a few "normal" petal shaped flowers amongst all the double skinny petaled flowers. Satsukis really are amazing plants.
 

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R_F

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Well I trimmed this one back to two pairs of leaves on each branch about a month ago or so. It's in kanuma soil that it arrived in and everything was going fine until this week. Some of the leaves have turned brown and fallen off and some branches have died back completely. This is the only one of my azaleas that is doing this. I have some plant-tone organic feed on top of the soil and I don't know if this would be the culprit or if the heavy rains this week have caused the soil to be too wet. I'm not familiar with how kanuma reacts to a Florida growing environment. Any ideas what might be happening?
 
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It shouldn't be the kanuma... it's an ideal soil for them, and it takes several years for it to be a break down problem. I assume that water flows out readily when you water it.

Can you take any photos of the tree?

How much sun is it getting?

Also... how much are you watering it? Remember... trees which have been hard pruned to 2 leaves need LESS water than trees with them... there's very little transpiration going on without the leaves.

Has it started pushing it's new leaves yet?

You should have been up here last night. I just gave an hour long lecture on satsuki. :p

V
 

R_F

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Hi Victrinia

Thanks for the reply. Yes it is pushing new growth now and the water does drain freely. It only gets dappled morning sun and is in bright shade the rest of the day. Now that you mention it needing less water because of the pruning I think water is the culprit. It has been raining every day here and being where it's at I doubt it has had a chance to dry out enough. But it's funny, my other azaleas (not in kanuma) that have been pruned seem to be doing fine...well one of them is in the beginning stages of chlorosis, and I think it may be due to the new organic fertilizer I'm using.

I'm really anxious over this little azalea. I want it to live, I just love the flowers on this variety. Thanks again for your help. And yes, I wish I could have been up there last night. I would love to hear you speak on satsuki. If you taped it there's always youtube...hint...hint:D
 
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Chlorosis is usually an iron problem.... if you foliar spray it with iron and feed it... it shoud clear up in a few days... if it doesn't... its a nitrogen problem. If it's nitrogen and you are feeding it (even organics) then I suspicion that something in your fertilizer is sweetening the soil. When Soil pH is too high azaleas's can't absorb the nitrogen (especially if its the wrong form of nitrogen)... interestingly the most readily available nitrogen which is also a good soil acidifier is ammounim phosphate. Which is available in huge bags, for like 8 bucks and usually is listed as lawn fertilizer with a ratio of 21-0-0

If you use it, do a 0-10-10 as well on a different schedule... and add iron. It may be a little more complicated than simple miracid... which is also a very available nitrogren... it's just not quite as good. You can keep it simple and just use miracid though... :)


Did you acquire all of these azaleas at the same time? And did they all come from the same area....

hmmmm... send me your email... and I'll send you my notes... it'll be helpful even if you didn't get the full talk.

:)

V
 

R_F

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Thanks again Victrinia for all your help. I got all the azaleas from different places. I got some iron and proper azalea food today and applied it...fingers crossed on the one with chlorosis. Do you know how often I should/can apply the iron...it's in a liquid form. If I have a chance I'll post a pick of the one that is dropping leaves.

Thanks again for all your help. I'll send you my email in a PM.

Ryan
 
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I usually add iron a few times a year when it's growing. I just add iron chelate to the soup that I feed it. You won't hurt the tree with it... and like I said, if it's an iron problem, it'll respond pretty quick.

I zip that stuff off to you and ml_work here in a few mins... he wanted it also. :)

V
 

october

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Hello Ryan,
That is nice starter material...Kanuma can hold quite a bit of water and can sometimes break down faster than we would think..Couple this with azaleas having fine, haih like roots.. and root rot or an unhealthy root system will sneek up on you awfully fast... Especially if it was not sifted well before usage. Also as Victrinia pointed out, since it was pruned, it will need less water. Also and just as important, a sick tree needs less water since it is not taking in the same amount of water that a healthy tree would take in.

Also, while the tree is sick..All fertilizing and feeding should be stopped. Only when the tree begins to recover, should feeding, maybe limited doses, be offered. However, like Victrinia said, if it is an iron deficiency, adding iron will obviously help. if not, it may do more harm than good...

Rob
 

garywood

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Hello Ryan,
like Victrinia said, if it is an iron deficiency, adding iron will obviously help. if not, it may do more harm than good...

Rob

Rob, would you clarify this please?
Wood
 

october

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Hello Gary,
Adding any from of feeding, unless it is known to be deficient of a particular nutrient can be wasted and can stress the plant even more.. I know that when a plant is sick, fertilizer should be withheld since the plant is not taking it in..subsequently root burn can occur...

I am not sure if an overdose of iron will have any noticeable negative affect, like too much nitrogen is said to possible cause root burn...The thinking here is that if a plant is sick, fertilizing can do more harm that good... I do not know if an excess of iron would have the negative effects of other nutrient over doses.

I will say that if it was my azalea, I would probably cut back on watering and then maybe try the iron. I always try to think of the what ifs first..
 
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Iron won't cause a problem... you can foliar spary it which is a very effective delivery system when the tree is weak as well...

Root rot can present as chlorosis... because the roots aren't able to suck up nutrients... but iron won't bring it on. It's a test to see if the problem can be cleared up.... but have you checked your roots?

If they are rust colored or mushy in any way... you have a problem...

I should have asked that before... :eek:

V
 

capnk

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Ryan,
So let's get serious if you really want to save this tree.
Carefully lift the tree from whatever pot it is in.
Give us some pictures of the roots.
Also tell us if the kanuma under the tree is moist, or bone dry.
Then put the tree back in the pot, until you get some advice.
Satsuki roots are very telling.
In the meantime, I can't imagine that frequent misting of the foliage could do any harm, and it might be very beneficial.
Good luck,
Chris
 
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