Source for R. Kiusianum species (not cultivars)

[Thomas Mitchell]

Finally scored some R. Kiusianum from Singing Tree.

They are 2 gallon plants that were planted in straight fir bark mulch so I added a bunch of fir fines to some salvaged Bonsai Jack, shook off the loose mulch from the rootballs and dropped them into big pond baskets for the winter. Will figure out something else next spring after they flower. Planning on using them as stock plants to strike cuttings for bonsai someday maybe.

Between these and a bunch of 'yabu tsubaki' (wild camellia) that's come later, I'll be adding a little bit of Kyushu to Washington.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Finally scored some R. Kiusianum from Singing Tree.

That’s awesome! Glad you finally found these.

They are 2 gallon plants that were planted in straight fir bark mulch so I added a bunch of fir fines to some salvaged Bonsai Jack, shook off the loose mulch from the rootballs and dropped them into big pond baskets for the winter.

Soory, I have to go on record about pond baskets etc and azaleas…hopefully in the kindest way I can. imho azaleas should never be planted in pond baskets, grow bags or the like from either a horticultural or bonsai developmental viewpoint. The fine fibrous feeder root tips get repeatedly damaged from heat, cold and frost in these environments any time the roots push. This slows the growth and affects the health of the azalea. Azaleas already have the fine fibrous roots bonsai folks so desire in other species.

But your trees, your choice!

Will figure out something else next spring after they flower.

One might plan on a repot/rootwash, if you are doing this, in Late Feb early March in our area just as the buds begin to push.
This will allow the tree an entire year growing season to get strong. Repotting in summer is a thing of the past, even in Japan.

Planning on using them as stock plants to strike cuttings for bonsai someday maybe.

That would be awesome!

Between these and a bunch of 'yabu tsubaki' (wild camellia) that's come later, I'll be adding a little bit of Kyushu to Washington

Yep, I’m really looking forward to seeing your results over time!

Cheers
DSD sends

 

[Thomas Mitchell]

You've mentioned this before and I defer to your much more extensive experience.

All (3 ) of mine have been in pond baskets for a few years now (in mostly kanuma) and have been crazy vigorous. Maybe they would have been extra crazy vigorous in something else but they sure haven't declined at all and it's been very easy to manage the O2/H2O relationship. Several are now transitioned into training pots and the repotting was very simple as the pond basket was a sold mass of fibrous roots and kanuma that just needed to be combed out and resized.

Maybe when I have some cuttings, I can do a comparative trial for fun.

 

[Glaucus]

I think it can work. I would say that azaleas actually benefit from pots with additional drainage, so you can water them a lot. Especially if they are in a mix containing peat or soil.
So a pot that would be like a strip of pond basket at the bottom only. So a pond basket would be a bit overkill, I would say.

The air root pruning definitely is not required for azaleas. So the normal reasoning for a pond basket for bonsai does not apply.
I would say if you kinda overpot them, like it looks like you did, then a pond basket is fine.
But it also depends on the weather. If you have low humidity hot summers, I wouldn't do this. But you are in WA so that should be ok.
Because the root system is in a large amount of soil & mix, they stay cooler. Definitely an azalea in a very small pond basket, would not be questionable in keeping the roots cool.
I haven't tried pond baskets myself, but I don't see a huge red flag for using them with azaleas. Just that the air pruning reason to use them doesn't apply at all.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

No worries here.

A growth test would be fun to see! It would also be good to see if you have luck with cuttings as this is a very tough cultivar to strike.

But I’ll bet one could ground layer lower branches of those azaleas right now and have some new plants by next spring!

cheers
DSD sends

 

[Thomas Mitchell]

I'm not a pond basket dogmatist by any means. I just happened to have some and didn't have anything else suitable other cutting down a leftover black plastic nursery pot. When I got them, I had to buy in a larger quantity so I'm just using them to get the stack out of the garage...

Ground layering is a great idea. Thanks for that! The way they grow prostrate/windswept on the volcanoes, I'm sure that's a pretty common method of self propagation.

When clearing around the base of the rhodies mentioned above, so many had self ground layered branches in the fir needle litter. I could probably add 20 new ones with ease.

Thanks both of you for the feedback and learning throughout this thread. Your time is much appreciated.