Bare rooting or repotting nursery azalea

[AnutterBonsai]

Good morning all. I did some major pruning, maybe three months ago, on two nursery azaleas im developing for bonsai. They have budded pack prolifically (on one more than the other) and have been growing healthy.

There is currently an issue in which I have noticed they both are quite root-bound and having major issues on one where the leaves are starting to look less healthy than before.
Could I go ahead and try to either bare root them or perhaps cut a third off the roots now and take as much soil off and replace them with new soil to avoid potentially killing them with root bound issues?

Thanks. Below are pics of their current state.. the one most root-bound is the tall one with the single trunk.

They are both Encore Azaleas.

 

[Maiden69]

Wait till spring for repotting. According to Peter Warren, the only time you can bare root an azalea is when removing it from the field when it is strongest. Is the root ball intact? Both my encore top soil felt tight, but the root ball was not intact, basically not root bound. I did moved one into a root pouch without disturbing the soil. I plan on repotting when it is growing strong, which for me means no pruning at all till repot, then bare root (as much as possible) and top prune at the same time to balance in spring.

My encores were chlorotic when I bought them. They are both Sangria.

 

[AnutterBonsai]

Wait till spring for repotting. According to Peter Warren, the only time you can bare root an azalea is when removing it from the field when it is strongest. Is the root ball intact? Both my encore top soil felt tight, but the root ball was not intact, basically not root bound. I did moved one into a root pouch without disturbing the soil. I plan on repotting when it is growing strong, which for me means no pruning at all till repot, then bare root (as much as possible) and top prune at the same time to balance in spring.

Thanks, I heard that from Peter as well. One of them is definitely quite root bound, the single trunk one. The other is not completely bound.

 

[0soyoung]

What is 'bare rooting' and azalea?

One can simply pop it out of the current pot and

• put it into a bigger one (backfilling with the same substrate/soil) OR
• cut away some wedges of root and put it back into the current pot (backfilling with the same substrate/soil) OR
• cut away some of the outer roots and put it back into the current pot (backfilling with the same substrate/soil) OR
• take it out of the pot and wash away whatever soil will come out by a 'gentle' stream of water from a garden hose, plus one of the previous root treatments, and pot it with your choice of new substrate. At worst, you'll need to put it in shade for a few days.

 

[Shibui]

I have dug azaleas at all times of the year down here and all have survived so spring is not the only time that these can be repotted.
It is really difficult and probably not worth while to bare root azalea. You can cut back the root mass, rake out the remaining roots and then pot up into fresh soil. Azalea roots tend to be fine and fibrous. Root pruning often consists of tearing off chunks of matted fine roots.
The only reason for completely bare rooting or washing the roots is if the old soil proves to be really fine or soggy.

 

[AnutterBonsai]

Thank you all, much appreciated on the advice!