Collected Azalea - Advice/Guidance Appreciated

[Hack Yeah!]

Thanks everyone for the guidance. My good friend is redoing his landscaping, so picked up two more very interesting, very old azaleas this weekend! All three are under wraps, and praying at least one of them makes it!View attachment 194400

Did the bagging help?

 

[Harunobu]

Really have doubts about how bagging would help backbudding. What is the mechanism? Isn't it all about growth hormones? I mean, that is why pruning works.
You guys really think that making the wood softer by increasing humidity will help new buds grow through the bark?

And no point in 'but he has backbudding now'. We have no idea if the bagging had an effect on that, positive or negative. That the budding appeared during the bagging doesn't mean much.

 

[Stan Kengai]

Really have doubts about how bagging would help backbudding. What is the mechanism? Isn't it all about growth hormones? I mean, that is why pruning works.
You guys really think that making the wood softer by increasing humidity will help new buds grow through the bark?

And no point in 'but he has backbudding now'. We have no idea if the bagging had an effect on that, positive or negative. That the budding appeared during the bagging doesn't mean much.

Tony Tickle, a well-known collector in the UK, has An article demonstrating his bagging technique. While he does not offer a direct comparison of bagged and non-bagged specimens, his plants rooting from the trunk provide some evidence that the technique does have an effect on the plant. I'm not saying that bagging is always effective or will work with every species, but it can work in some instances. So why not give it a try?

 

[Harunobu]

But that is not about backbudding. That is about the roots not drying out after collecting: bagging -> higher humidity -> roots don't dry -> roots don't die.

Why 'give it a try' if there is no way to explain how it ought to work?

 

[bonsaivienna]

Update - so I’m not sure if the bagging helped/worked. Two of the three are goners, and after much care and attention, I’ve gotten some very sparse signs of life on the third. I have this one in a small “greenhouse” that’s helping to keep it from drying out, and under a shade cloth.

Question - is there any hope of new shoots coming out of the main stump at this point? I find it odd/curious that all of the growth is really coming out of only two spots.

Thanks all! Still holding out hope for this guy...

 

[0soyoung]

Question - is there any hope of new shoots coming out of the main stump at this point?

Azalea bark is relatively thin. You should be able to easily scratch through it with a thumb/finger nail. Alternatively use a knife blade.
To your question.

• If you find a layer of green cambium underneath, yes, there is hope.
• If not, no, there is no hope for that region of the stem
  • maybe check another spot toward the other side of the stem, maybe lower down too.
    • no green cambium = no hope

 

[Kendo]

How is progression of Azalea? This soils look wrong.