Time to dig?

[Rid]

This little azalea stump is partial budding out on one side of the trunk . I want to transfer to a grow box this year. Should I wait until more buds are popping elsewhere on the trunk?

 

[Rid]

Bump

 

[Dav4]

Timing wise, I'd do it now. Fwiw, it looks very weak... could you leave it in the ground for another year?

 

[Rid]

Timing wise, I'd do it now. Fwiw, it looks very weak... could you leave it in the ground for another year?

I could do that. It was pretty healthy when I chopped and sealed over the winter. It’s planted in a full shade area, so I’m not sure it will ever grow vigorously where it is.

Did the chopping stress it to a point where I shouldn’t be dug this year

Thanks for your help as always Dave

 

[Dav4]

I could do that. It was pretty healthy when I chopped and sealed over the winter. It’s planted in a full shade area, so I’m not sure it will ever grow vigorously where it is.

Did the chopping stress it to a point where I shouldn’t be dug this year

Thanks for your help as always Dave

It's hard for me to say based on the picture, and my assessment of the azalea's vigor could be way off. If it's pushing lots of buds all over the trunk, you should be good to go now.

 

[Rid]

I don’t know if this is going to be successful. The little stump was connected to some sucker growth, so I was only able to keep some roots on one side of the plant. Got it into some pine bark, kanuma, and turface. Hope it pulls through, It was in total shade and the leaves were tiny, so I think there’s potential if I didn’t kill it.

 

[Shibui]

My experience of transplant of azalea is all good. I have dug them all times of the year. Summer and autumn transplant seems to be even better than winter or spring.
You don't need much root to keep them alive. New roots can take several years to gain strength but the tree will usually survive until that happens.
good luck. Tiny leaves sound good.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

You’re giving it a good shot.

Be cautious with the colendar. Azalea roots are super fine and dry out easily, and that’s when they run into problems.

You’re also going to have issues with the transition at the chops. Azaleas are slow to thicken up and die back at big cuts, so you’ll have a “crape murder” look unless you really work hard to grow out a next section of trunk. I’d eliminate the thicker of thr two trunks at the spilt.

Otherwise azaleas are pretty easy and rewarding. Enjoy.

 

[shinmai]

I agree with Brian about eliminating the thicker trunk. At least in the pictures they appear to be essentially parallel and close together. My guess is that you would have a better time developing a canopy from the remaining trunk alone.

 

[Rid]

You’re giving it a good shot.

Be cautious with the colendar. Azalea roots are super fine and dry out easily, and that’s when they run into problems.

You’re also going to have issues with the transition at the chops. Azaleas are slow to thicken up and die back at big cuts, so you’ll have a “crape murder” look unless you really work hard to grow out a next section of trunk. I’d eliminate the thicker of thr two trunks at the spilt.

Otherwise azaleas are pretty easy and rewarding. Enjoy.

Thanks for the tip. I’ll do that for sure.