Satsuki Not Doing Well

[Miguelito's Blade]

I have four Satsukis and three of them are doing well. This one is not. It got really soaked for a couple of rainy days here, and I fear that it is drowning. Please give me the benefit of your wisdom into what is wrong with my Satsuki and what I should do about it.

 

[Bnana]

It looks like it is in organic soil slip potted in inorganic soil. That's a recipe for disaster.

 

[Shibui]

If the only difference between your trees is that one stayed wet for a few days and it is the only one affected stands to reason that's the cause.
The tree does not look too bad. Still enough green to be optimistic IMHO.
I'd try just letting it get a fraction drier if possible. Just be careful not to overcompensate because they certainly don't like to be dry either.
There are other possible reasons for a satsuki to look sick so always keep an open mind for other possibilities. Soil type and water quality are 2 common reasons for azalea decline but I assume all yours get the same soil and water so those are unlikely. Occasionally some varieties can be less hardy. Maybe not exciting but could be a cause for the symptoms.

 

[just.wing.it]

Looks to me like it's dropping it's old leaves. The green leaves look normal.

 

[Miguelito's Blade]

I should add that of the four trees, three are still in the nursery soil I brought them home in a couple of months ago, including this one. One got accidentally knocked off a shelf at the start and I had to repot it right then; I pruned the roots (beginner's overwhelming enthusiasm), repotted it in kanuma and it seems to be no different from the other two. Also, regarding this one, the leaves are much smaller than the others. I'll include some more detailed photos a little later today.

 

[Pitoon]

Looks like a typical satsuki in winter to me. I have some that are almost bare at the moment. I would collect and remove any leaves that have dropped into the pot and well as removing that dead branch tip.

 

[Bnana]

I should add that of the four trees, three are still in the nursery soil I brought them home in a couple of months ago, including this one.

I do not see typical nursery soil in the photos, I see nursery soil in the middle but stones/granules around that.

 

[Miguelito's Blade]

I do not see typical nursery soil in the photos, I see nursery soil in the middle but stones/granules around that.

All I can say is that that is the undisturbed pot in which I brought it home from Murayama Nursery in Sacramento.

 

[AppleBonsai]

Yuzo doesn't use nursery soil for his Satsuki- or for anything else for that matter. They look semi-normal-ish for Satsuki in winter, but do I see a scale in your picture?

 

[Glaucus]

Except for the dried branch that died a while ago, this is about how a satsuki looks in winter. Yes, it looks like it is not doing much.
The only way to know how healthy it is is to see how it comes out of dormancy at the end of winter.

 

[shinmai]

‘Yuzo doesn't use nursery soil for his Satsuki- or for anything else for that matter.’
I beg to differ. I bought two trees three years ago. Both had his signature styrofoam peanuts, and both had organic soil at their bases, surrounded by kanuma. The organic soil had hardened between the nebari, and in my ignorance I didn’t think to ‘cultivate’ it to break it up so water could get through. Ultimately both died because when they were watered, the water ran off the center to the edges, with the majority of the root mass getting no water at all.

 

[bunjin]

As others have said, your azaleas look fine for this time of the year. We are scheduled for a lot more rain(CA standards) so putting those that are really soggy under a cover would be wise. I don't think the peanuts are a big + or -, but they do make repotting difficult. Repot when we get warmer temperatures.

 

[Miguelito's Blade]

Here are the other photos I had promised.

 

[Bnana]

Doesn't look too bad but I still think the soil is bad.

What is that dark clump in the middle if not organic nursery soil?

 

[Miguelito's Blade]

What is that dark clump in the middle if not organic nursery soil?

It is the giant, hard root ball that all of Murayama Satsukis have. I've never been to another bonsai nursery, so I don't know if this is common or not.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Doesn't look too bad but I still think the soil is bad.

What is that dark clump in the middle if not organic nursery soil?

I agree. I think the foliage looks fine - this is the time of year that they will drop all their old inner leaves.

However I agree with Bnana. There appears to be a core of solid organic soil in the middle, surrounded by inorganic mix with piece size a little on the large size for this particular plant. How can you tell? The inner organic soil is jet black and growing moss on its surface, suggesting that it isn't drying out between waterings. The inorganic soil has some green on it - not from moss but from algae. Perhaps you have just had a rainy month, but be really careful that you aren't creating an environment where the core rootball starts to rot. In the spring I would repot this plant and investigate the rootball to its core. Do not bare-root it, but try to remove about 50% of the organic soil ball in the middle. The following year you can go back for the remaining 50%. This way you won't stress the plant too much.

 

[AppleBonsai]

I forgot about his peanuts technique... lol I had a few of those and funny if they are on the ground the will literally suck up the ground soil into the roots!

I have teased out the roots over time as BonsaiNut says to... however IME with Maruyama's Satsuki there is no organic soil- it's literally a tight mass of roots that looks like organic (not that that makes things better). I have seen this type of root ball on many of their trees where they aren't going through the roots as they are potting up. He has used more of a "production" method when potting up. One exception when he was buying "Ron Kuzon" azalea direct from nurseries in the area and potting them up for resale... He and Mrs Maruyama usually take hundreds and hundreds of Satsuki cuttings each year and they go straight into Kanuma (unsifted).

...Now your real challenge is the Summer HEAT in Roseville! Got shade cloth?

 

[AppleBonsai]

Here are the other photos I had promised.

I am still seeing what looks like scale - either dead or still alive- that would also contribute to some of the foliage and overall health decline you have observed.

 

[Miguelito's Blade]

I am still seeing what looks like scale - either dead or still alive- that would also contribute to some of the foliage and overall health decline you have observed. View attachment 413686

I'll examine it tonight.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Your tree looks a bit peaked, yetI can’t tell if it the cold or a little nasty. If it’s cold by you wait before doing anything drastic.

Please use a magnifying glass when you do return. Those areas are some areas satsuki love to bud out of and scale loves to hide. You’ll recognize the scale right off with a magnifier. If it is scale, that’s easy to treat, but be persistent about hunting down the little buggers every couple days.

The most common scale on azaleas looks kind of weird it’s azalea bark scale. Check this out.

I’m sorry yet, imho I would flat out bare root this tree in the late winter if you are in Roseville. This is the second tree I’ve seen today with the same media situation. Leaving 1/2 of that media caked on the fine fiberous roots while having Kanuma or otherwise good draining media all around is just asking for the remaining muck to sop up water and kick off a bout of root rot, one of the main reasons why azaleas die.

Azaleas aren’t like most other trees in that these little guys, if given good care an azalea can handle a proper root wash like a miner’s once a year bath. Shedding copious dirt, yet coming out smelling like a daisy… I mean an azalea!

Last year I rootwashed over 30 azaleas and all but 1 of the 12 smallest ones, a very slow growing narrow leafed satsuki, survived. It didn’t like the Big Heat Dome event at all.

After a root wash expect the tree to respond slowly for about six weeks until things warm up.

Best of luck!
DSD sends