first time poster and i have a question!

Hey to all you green fingered little tree lovers.

My name is Thiesko and i'm from holland.
My experience with outdoor bonsai is limited.
I own a few indoor trees and i'd love to start on some outdoor trees.

That said i recently moved and with the new front yard plans the old plants need to go and i found some interesting little trees to work with.

My question is are these azalia's or contoneaster's?







Thanks in advance,

Thiesko

Not Cotoneaster. Leafs look like Azalea. What do the flowers look like. Welcome to IBC Thiesko

First time mistake!

Thiesko

Thanks Sabi!

I don't know what the flowers look like i just moved to this house and the azalea's where alraidy there.

Ah !, should of remembered that. I've emailed an Azalea expert I know, he'll should know what cultivar it is, providing it is an Azalea.

Sabi wrote:...providing it is an Azalea.

?????

Oh, it's an azalea no doubt.

As for correctly naming the exact cultivar without seeing the flower, that's another story.

R

Looks like azalea to me. I would interject that maybe you should have figured that out before you dug them up or purchased them, but it looks like someone knew what they were doing. I don't have any azalea myself, but I hear they are acid loving and would appreciate some miracid or acidic fertilizer.
Good luck,
David

Welcome thiesko, I would say definitely azaleas not only by the leaves but also by the twig structure at the end of the branches,looks like a hand as you will see in the second photo of your tree on the left side a thin branch with four twigs coming from the same point at the end,this is typical growth pattern for azaleas .a good bonsai pal of mine pointed out when the time is right these branches need to be reduced to one pair for good development. Bob hill

looks like azalea...deffinately not cottoneaster. yes they need acidic soil, and well draining soil...they get root rot easily, and will quickly decline if soil conditions are soggy...you can always find fertilizer marked "for acid loving plants" or "azalea, camelia, and rhododendron"...these help lowers the ph of the soil, but you can acheive the same results other ways as well...

nice little tree by the way, has good potential...

thanks guys i'll be watching and caring for these little ones and cant wait for them to start butting!

Thank a lot guys for your replies!

I have them in a well draining soil-mix and for the fertilizer i've gone and got me some azalea special liquid fertilizer that i will use at half strength!

this is just me...but, i would only do the half-strength dosage while it is recovering from the shock of being dug up...when it starts pushing out new growth, i would start using full-strength general purpose 20-20-20 fertilizer, and only use the azalea fertilizer as a supplement to lower the soil ph...really, if you want to get technical, you should test the ph of the water that drains out of the bottom so you have atleast somewhat of an idea what the ph is like...

Just Mike wrote:this is just me...but, i would only do the half-strength dosage while it is recovering from the shock of being dug up...when it starts pushing out new growth, i would start using full-strength general purpose 20-20-20 fertilizer, and only use the azalea fertilizer as a supplement to lower the soil ph...really, if you want to get technical, you should test the ph of the water that drains out of the bottom so you have atleast somewhat of an idea what the ph is like...

It seems like there are a lot of different opinions on this. As long as you aren't feeding the plant more than the recommended dosage of fertilizer, what risk does it pose to the plant in recovery? If anything, the added nutrients should help a weakened plant recover. This is just personal experience, but I feed newly collected or root pruned plants the same as everything else and I have yet to notice any signs of over fertilization on them.

Hello Thiesko.
Did you dug this azelea now out of your garden?
In that case you better place them free from any frost.
I hope you saved a decent rootsystem, they do not like to be changed all at once from soil conditions.
I think miracid would be good but after the treebuds are going to move in spring and temperatures are getting warmer.
I hope the tree survives all the stress.
Sunip

thanks again guys,

looking back at moving the azalia's and cutting them back i should have taken the time to learn more about azalia's!
After reading some articles about azalia care i found that they do not like strong root and branch pruning!

As Sunip said " i hope the trees survive " ! ( i'll give them my best )

thiesko wrote:thanks again guys,

looking back at moving the azalia's and cutting them back i should have taken the time to learn more about azalia's!
After reading some articles about azalia care i found that they do not like strong root and branch pruning!

As Sunip said " i hope the trees survive " ! ( i'll give them my best )

Welcome Thiesko! Fingers crossed mate, and may the force be with you and your Azaleas!

Cheers,

Andrew

PeacefulAres wrote:

Just Mike wrote:this is just me...but, i would only do the half-strength dosage while it is recovering from the shock of being dug up...when it starts pushing out new growth, i would start using full-strength general purpose 20-20-20 fertilizer, and only use the azalea fertilizer as a supplement to lower the soil ph...really, if you want to get technical, you should test the ph of the water that drains out of the bottom so you have atleast somewhat of an idea what the ph is like...

It seems like there are a lot of different opinions on this. As long as you aren't feeding the plant more than the recommended dosage of fertilizer, what risk does it pose to the plant in recovery? If anything, the added nutrients should help a weakened plant recover. This is just personal experience, but I feed newly collected or root pruned plants the same as everything else and I have yet to notice any signs of over fertilization on them.

the reason i suggest only doing a half dose isnt because it will harm the tree...and this is a theory, but i have a suspision that the original myth of "do not fertilize for 3 weeks after repotting" has to do more with saving on fertilizer than it does with potential harm to the tree...after a repot, the tree really isnt doing much in the way of taking up nutrients...so, most of the fertilizer used right after re-potting will mostly be washed away before the tree ever really gets a chance to utilize any of it...restricting fertilizer for a short period after repotting may encourage the roots to "search", and in doing so help settle the plant into its pot with new root growth...i have no proof of that of course...for me, i have found it largely a waste of fertilizer to fertilize right after repotting...now, that has to do with bonsai culture and well draining soil of course...when it comes to garden plants, the only reason i can think to not fertilize right away would be that the soil is already very rich and you dont want excessive salt build up...but that doesnt really apply to us too much.

Andrew Legg wrote:

thiesko wrote:thanks again guys,

looking back at moving the azalia's and cutting them back i should have taken the time to learn more about azalia's!
After reading some articles about azalia care i found that they do not like strong root and branch pruning!

As Sunip said " i hope the trees survive " ! ( i'll give them my best )

Welcome Thiesko! Fingers crossed mate, and may the force be with you and your Azaleas!

Cheers,

Andrew

this depends...it really does...some cultivars are weaklings, and others are practically bullet-proof...it also has a lot to do with after-care...try to keep the humidity high and dont over-water it, and you may be surprised how tough these plants can be...with that said, i wouldnt reccomend doing major root-work and major pruning every year, or it will likely decline...you should probably give this one 2-3 years of recovery before doing anything else to it...just my opinion...

Hello,
Another point is that the tree will not take much water with the rootsystem after repotting.
Only misting wen there is foliage, is a must.
Sunip