This is a lot of the awesome feedback from the thread above copied here. This is the posterchild for what
@John in Toledo had in mind for this non-contest. I hope to continue it here. This stuff is gold...
Awesome! Myself I would put it in the ground this time of year, box it up early Spring but that is me. Interested to see what others think as it varies a lot by region.
Grimmy
Dave4
I'd put it in the ground in a protected area to overwinter, then re-collect next spring to wash the roots and get into better soil. Good trunk on that one, good luck with it.
Jester Seal those cuts.
Lordy
Hope this comes to life for you soon!
I would caution you to choose your structure and go with it. Seal cuts, but due to the thin bark on most azaleas, scar healing is hit or miss, but kinda slow even if it works. No need to put the plant through more than it has to in terms of healing.
JoeR WOW. Now that is an azalea. I would prune out any conflicting or crossing branches and call it a day. That trunk is impressive, can’t inagine how old that thing must be.
GeorgiaBonsai
Friday at 6:45 PM
#25
Maybe someone else can chime in, but I would think it would be smart to remove the blooms this year if there are any as they take up a lot of resources and this tree is stressed enough as it is.
Drew
I'm betting that in 2-3 weeks you will have little green buds all over this tree and it will turn into a landscaping bush again. Should have chopped it back much harder.
Dalsom
Yesterday at 4:22 AM
#30
You will never have more built up energy than you do at this moment. Best to eliminate every branch you do not want at this time and seal every cut.
Eliminate EVERY BIT of field soil by cutting back roots hard for final pot size and aggressively washing completely. You do not ever want to have to go back in to try to do this in subsequent repottings.
Use final soil aggregate (I recommend 100% Kanuma) as will be used in final pot. Top dress with chopped NZ sphagnum (mountain moss if you can find it). Plant in wider container.
The remaining field soil will result in eventual decline and loss after a few years. If you try to remove it a few years down the road, you will have to disturb the fine root mass you have developed in the interim and the tree will not have as much stored energy to recover as it does now.
Grimmy
It has been a few days but honest I have wet down large collected and stored them a week before potting. Simply wrapped the roots in a plastic bag. This early in the season here you have esentially done the same thing only in a pot.
Myself I would not hesitate to remove it, rinse out that root ball clean, rake it out a bit but take easy on the fine roots... the fine roots are essential as this wakes up. I would not cut any fines at this point but lop off all or some of the tap root as it is not needed. The tap can be cut back further down the road one the plant is established. I am saying that so you have the option of not destroying to many fine roots.
If you go easy on it now in two years you will be able to be more aggressive but cleaning out the old substrate now will make that process a LOT easier.
CWTurner
I also have a
big azalea and was equally reluctant to make the big root cut. Now I sort of wish that I did that before putting it in a grow box.
Since this is
your azalea, I say cut it.
I would wait for it to start growing so any stored energy is moving up the tree (should be any day now) then get the saw out. The roots below the cut don't seem to be all that useful. Good luck!
BarrosInc Yep, I would reduce the roots a bit too.
Mellow Mullet
I would leave it, as Grimmy mentioned, it will be harder to clean out later, but not impossible. I have left some of the original nursery soil in some of mine for at least five years and then gone back and cleaned it out.
The problem I see is that you cut a lot off the sides and not much off the bottom. I think if you take more off the bottom, you won't have much left. If I did anything, I would slip it into a wider container so you can get so you can grow some fine roots out to the sides, the attack the bottom and old soil next repot.
Save your money, you don't need kanuma, akadama, or magic pigeon poo from Japan to grow azaleas, my grow just fine in lava, pumice (or DE if you can't get pumice), and fir/pine bark. There are some, I think John G., is one of those, who grow their azaleas in high quality "potting soil". Use the difference that you save on kanuma to buy you a nice pot, or some beer.
Grimmy
If you have the Canadian Sphagnum (already broken down fines) and add it, it will be far more effective then Akadama which can take a couple of year to net the PH balance that helps. They are basically shrubs that require no care in the ground but potted really don't need a lot- just proper conditions
Leo in NE Il
While it usually doesn't stop me from commenting, I hate being asked to guess what a tree will tolerate from photos. Not having the tree in front of me I am likely to either feel it is weaker than it really is, or feel that the tree is stronger than it really is. So keep in mind I am guessing. Use your judgement.
You have gotten great advise from Mellow Mullet (John), & Grim, I know it is not going to warm up in Chi-town, or South Haven MI, until the end of the week, so today is Tuesday, You could re-re-pot the tree. I would love to just pull out a saws-all and cut it flat at or just a little higher than CWTurner's line, but I am afraid there is not enough green stuff up top to keep all the branches healthy and not enough fine roots down below to keep all the branches healthy. Most of your heavy branches are stubs without fine leaf producing branches, so they need to get enough from the roots to back bud more. What could happen is if you did the saw it to a flat bottom, you might loose a number of the major branches. And the ones you will loose will most likely be the ones you wanted to keep the most. I would likely just put it in a much wider pot and leave it for 2+ years, let it get bushy again as John suggested.
I've been growing azaleas and blueberries in 3 parts pumice, 2 parts seedling grade fir bark for orchids, one part Canadian peat and a handful (maybe 1/8th part) hardwood sawdust to feed the endomycorrhizae that the blueberry is obligated to have to be healthy. (sawdust won't hurt, but probably is not needed for azalea). I do add a tablespoon of elemental sulfur powder per gallon of mix. Roughly 15 ml per 4 liters, both by volume. This helps keep mix acidic and counteracts my use of tap water in summer. Re-apply sulfur once a year. My water is about 220 ppm total dissolved solids, roughly 180 mg total alkalinity as calcium carbonate. Medium alkalinity by most standards, I could probably skip the sulfur for azalea, but got in the habit of adding it for the blueberries which require a media that is significantly more acidic than that required by azalea. So far azaleas seem to like the blueberry mix.
@Dalsom is right on his recommendations, this is the ''traditional'' way to grow azalea, if you have a reliable source of Kanuma, and it fits in your budget. I actually have a couple azalea in straight kanuma, because last year I found Kanuma locally and cheap enough. I heard that my local guy is out of stock on Kanuma again. If I need more I'd have to drive 55+ miles to Hidden Gardens. So I do have the majority of my azaleas in the mix above.
You can get orchid grade douglas fir bark from First Rays (mail order) or Roberts Flower Supply (west of Cleveland closer to Akron) but he does all the orchid shows in Ohio, including Columbus, Western Shores, Greater Cleveland, and Toledo.
http://www.orchidmix.com/ tell him I sent you and it will get you zero discount, but might get me a discount later. Robert's also sells winter hardy Cypripedium orchids, all from seed, not collected, mostly hybrids involving out native species hybridized with Asian Cyps.
So as I think about it, I'm about 75% certain I'd go with John's recommendation to not do any more root removal this year, 100% sure I would go with the suggestion to move it to a much wider container. And about 25% in favor of CWTurner's idea of sawing the bottom flat now, rather than in 2 or 3 years. If you feel all the trunks you want to keep long term have enough branches that will leaf out already formed, then go ahead with the CWTurner plan, otherwise I would wait the 2 or 3 years. It is up to you.
Augustine
I too would be very conservative. It was dug and went directly into winter, it cannot be very strong. Super trunk - keep it alive.
That's a buttload of solid advice right there!!!
Thanks to all!
Mark
