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Soil for an Azalea

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Post  capo_regime Sun Mar 22, 2009 8:17 pm

Hello all!!

My azalea (don't know what species it is) finished flowering and i'm thinking in transplanting it to a new por. What do you think about this soil:

1/3 Kanuma
1/3 leca
1/3 peat (for aquarium filters)

Should i change anything???


thanx

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Post  Kev Bailey Sun Mar 22, 2009 10:14 pm

It depends entirely on what it is in now. With Azaleas, the important thing is not to change anything too rapidly. If it is in peat, make the move to any kanuma mix slowly. They all tend to have very fibrous roots, so care is necesxary not to damage too much when repotting.

What is the pH of the fired clay Leca?

Why use aquarium filter peat? That would be a much more expensive source than gardeners peat where I live.

One important consideration is to keep the pot size only slightly larger than the size of the rootball. Too much soil with no root tends to lead to waterlogging and root rot.


Last edited by Kev Bailey on Sun Apr 05, 2009 11:47 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Post  Penjing Mon Mar 23, 2009 7:51 am

I think 100 kanuma is better for azalea
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Post  landerloos Mon Mar 23, 2009 9:06 am

Penjing wrote:I think 100 kanuma is better for azalea

Same here, I keep all my azalea on 100% kanuma mixed with a litle bit of fine spaghnummos.
Only cuttings are planted in 100% peat for ericaseus plants.

Peter
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Post  capo_regime Mon Mar 23, 2009 9:31 am

My azalea is in an original pot (not bonsai pot) with vegetable soil and i'm doing it's first transplant to a training pot (a kind of a draining pot which in portuguese we call - "escorredor"), so i think an 100% kanuma soil will be a too dramatical change. Mr Kev, i don't know what is the pH of the leca but my intention in using it is for keeping an high level of drainage, About the aquarium peat, i'm thinking in using it instead of other inexpensive kind because i have one box of it and i don't use any in my aquarium since 3 or 4 years.


So, what kind of soil mix should i use??

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Post  landerloos Mon Mar 23, 2009 10:57 am

cut the roots back to 2/3 and fil the rest of the container with kanuma, the next years you change more and more old soil with kanuma.

Peter
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Post  capo_regime Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:03 pm

"cut the roots back to 2/3 and fil the rest of the container with kanuma, the next years you change more and more old soil with kanuma."

So, let's see if a understand:

i cut 1/3 of the old mass of roots and soil and take the remaining 2/3 (without touching in it) and make a "fake transplant" to the new container filling the remaining space (i.e., the bottom and laterals) with only kanuma. Is it what i should do???

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Post  Kev Bailey Mon Mar 23, 2009 5:00 pm

Azaleas are ericaceous plants. As I said above, if they are in kanuma now they will do best in kanuma. If they are not, use a similar mix to what they are in and only change over to kanuma very slowly, if you wish to. A changeover that is too rapid kills them. Read the Basic Satsuki Requirements section in Alexander Kennedy's "Floral treasures of Japan" for details. Tatemori Gondo in International Bonsai 2001 No3 also confirmed this. He said "DO NOT change from Kanuma soil if the tree was planted in peat moss." (his emphasis)

It also depends on where your tree is in terms of its development. Kennedy says that "Kanuma does not seem to offer a particular advantage for young plants being rapidly grown on. I have found that young cuttings consistently put on more growth in a peat-based mix than in Kanuma."

Mine are certainly happy enough in a peat based mix and have been for 15+ years.
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Post  landerloos Tue Mar 24, 2009 10:13 am

capo_regime wrote:"cut the roots back to 2/3 and fil the rest of the container with kanuma, the next years you change more and more old soil with kanuma."

So, let's see if a understand:

i cut 1/3 of the old mass of roots and soil and take the remaining 2/3 (without touching in it) and make a "fake transplant" to the new container filling the remaining space (i.e., the bottom and laterals) with only kanuma. Is it what i should do???
'

Yes thats exactly what I mean, dont forget to cut the rootball underneath aswell and put some kanuma under and poke some kanuma in the rootball.

Peter
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Post  capo_regime Tue Mar 24, 2009 3:06 pm

"dont forget to cut the rootball underneath aswell and put some kanuma under and poke some kanuma in the rootball"

Well, i did not make it..... just cut off the lower 1/3 of the root ball and filled the rest of the container with a mix of 1/2 kanuma and 1/2 peat. What do you think?? Hope the roots don't rot....

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Post  landerloos Tue Mar 24, 2009 9:06 pm

capo_regime wrote:"dont forget to cut the rootball underneath aswell and put some kanuma under and poke some kanuma in the rootball"

Well, i did not make it..... just cut off the lower 1/3 of the root ball and filled the rest of the container with a mix of 1/2 kanuma and 1/2 peat. What do you think?? Hope the roots don't rot....

I used a similar mix in the old days, but the peat when it becomes dry its very hard to get some moisture in it again.
Rootrot no problem I think, keep us posted!

Kind regards
Peter
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Post  capo_regime Sun Apr 05, 2009 3:05 pm

Hello all!!

After my azalea transplant now i'm thinking to prune it. I think the best timing for doing it is now, after the flowering. What do you think? See a picture of it and help me in my decision.

Soil for an Azalea IMAGE_519

thanx

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