Hino Crimson? Azalea

[Drewski]

Found this azalea at a local nursery. Two separate guys working there told me its blossoms were red, and the second guy also said he thought it was a Hino Crimson. So the pot is mislabeled. First picture is looking at the foliage from above. The third picture is the tree rotated 90 degrees left from the second picture, and the last is the mess at the base.

I’ll get it it out of the nursery can next spring, which leads me to the first of many questions I will undoubtedly have over the development of this tree. Should I be do a gentle bare rooting of this tree to get rid of all the old soil to get it into kanuma? And any suggestions on how to attack the mess at the base would be welcome.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Only literally hundreds of Red azaleas out there.

It could be a Hino Crimson and maybe not. I’ve got half a dozen here and can’t tell from your photos. I’ll attach a leave cluster image here. It’s as good guess as any given their popularity. Once it blooms you’ll know much better if it’s a HC.



btw: What did they label say?

As far as repotting in Bonsai soil (I use 90% kanuma and 10% similar sized pumice - but there are a plethora of mixes that will work)… repotting will also depend on what you want to do next year. My experience with 35 repots of various sizes this year out of nursery mix showed that in my area just south of you the trees took 3-4 months to recover. That test included Kurumes and Satsuki cultivars. Be aware, it’sa painstaking process

If it was my tree, I’d actually air layer before repotting. …. There are a couple possibilities, 4” below the median branch foliage is one. I think you could get it done this year. If not wait until next year. You will have to protect the tree well this winter after separation if things go well.

The stump you can prune back smoother, then next year grow out as a clump and repot in the next year once the air layer is done. Just an idea.

Also cut back the foliage….

Start by cutting it back to two branches at each junction and former flower site. These can look like a rosette of branches coming together.

Here you only want two medium sized branches parallel to the ground pointing mostly outward.. Take off the biggest branch and the smallest.
You’ll be left with something like this

If you want to push the power curve you can take each to two leaves like this. Likely won’t flower much next year, but it will


Cheers
DSD sends

 

[bunjin]

Until it blooms no chance of making an I.D. Could be a interesting literati if the nebari is cleaned up by carving back all of the stumps and sealing the cuts. IMHO Kurumes are very difficult to train in the traditional styles, but are wonderful in the garden. I only have one In a finished pot and it is still fighting me after 20+ years. H.C. has a unique color that is very difficult to capture with a camera and they are quite resilient.

 

[Glaucus]

I would try to cut the stumps back flush to the trunk. Then let it backbud all over and grow from that area, to see if that can help heal the scar. Especially by thickening the trunk you have now. Thickening of your current trunk will cause the entire base to swell and it can possibly grow over the scars. If not, you have something that is old and ugly looking. I think that is the better option over air layering the main trunk. If you have something that's old and has character, you use the 'ugly' you have.

Probably transition towards 100% kanuma. Kanuma will be good with Vancouver rains. But mix in peat first. If you plant a peated root ball into kanuma, the water drains quickly through the kanuma and may not soak the root ball. Maybe it is a good idea to shelter potted plants in peat during the rainy season.
You won't usually be able to bare root an azalea that was grown in peat. The roots will be too fine and matted. But if somehow you can, go for it. You can try to slice out pie shapes from the rootball, and fill these up with the new mix. But prioritize finding the nebari, if there is any. Then just carve down the stumps. They should be compartmentalized already. And since the main plant is growing well, there shouldn't be an issue. The main risk of removing large branches is that the roots associated with those branches die. That, and the stumps/scarring.