New Azalea Not Looking Too Hot

[roberthu]

So I just received this Satsuki azalea (Green Dream) I bought on eBay. Once I opened the box, I realized it is not in a good condition. While the dead dry leaves and branches could be caused during shipping, the light green leaves with veins clearly showing up is a sign that the tree was not taken care of before it was shipped. The seller is actually a well know bonsai supplier in California so I am a little surprised. I am still in the process of contacting the seller so I am not going to include the name on here. The question I have is how should I revive this little plant? I have slip potted it in 100% Kanuma and put it under a big fig tree outsideso it gets about two hours or early morning direct sun. After that it’s all shade for the rest of the day. The humidity is relatively high because it is surrounded by other plants but air still flows through. Should I start feeding iron soon to correct the leaf issue or should I wait for a few weeks? I am in Atlanta GA and the temp gets to 90F in the day and drops to 70F in the night.
Any advice is much appreciated!

 

[Forsoothe!]

Start feeding with Miracle Grow at label strength, weekly or ~10 days. I presume it's not in that plastic bag? Your site description sounds good. Don't let it suffer from drought. Leaves that are entirely dry can be clipped off at the base of the leaf, leaving the stem attached to the branch, but any leaf that is more than half green is still producing, so leave them on. Send a notice to the seller that you may have received an unacceptable plant and may ask for a refund if it doesn't revive. If it does revive with continued new growth to your satisfaction keep it. A bird in the hand, etc.

 

[roberthu]

Start feeding with Miracle Grow at label strength, weekly or ~10 days. I presume it's not in that plastic bag? Your site description sounds good. Don't let it suffer from drought. Leaves that are entirely dry can be clipped off at the base of the leaf, leaving the stem attached to the branch, but any leaf that is more than half green is still producing, so leave them on. Send a notice to the seller that you may have received an unacceptable plant and may ask for a refund if it doesn't revive. If it does revive with continued new growth to your satisfaction keep it. A bird in the hand, etc.

Thank you. I potted it in a bigger 8” plastic grow pot and filled the empty space with Kanuma. It came with 100% peat moss and the root ball was pretty small. Didn’t even fill that pot it came in. I was thinking about feeding exactly what you suggested but couldn’t be sure if the plant was too weak to take any fertilizer. I did send a note to the seller and now I am waiting for a response. Hopefully it revives. I bought it because of the green flower as stated in the listing. Fingers crossed!

 

[Harunobu]

Can you do a closeup of the veiny/chlorosis leaf?

Yeah, this looks like some stress during shipping. I assume the plastic was on there during shipping. That's the proper way to ship, of course. But should be removed and if I follow your post, it has.
But it is a bit hard to guess if it had health problems before it went into shipping. Putting it in kanuma and a shady place outside sounds the right thing to do. Forsoothe! and I have disagreed in the past about 'feeding' a plant that is recovering. He thinks fertilizer is food and will help recovery. I think fertilizer is a mineral supplement, and not food, and that it should only be given to recovering plants once they start growing properly or if there is a sign of lack of fertilizer in the past. I think you should wait for it to recover from shipping before deciding to any more interventions. I like the 'at first, do no harm' guideline. If this plant's health is suffering from being in shipping, why try all kinds of things that have worked for other issues in the past, when all you need to do is wait?

In my experience, chlorosis is usually a result of bad soil (either pH or it being compacted) or overwatering, not a lack of fertilizer. That said, I think trying epsom salt, ferric EDTA (or some other form or chelated iron2+), or iron(II) sulfate is wiser than trying to alleviate chlorosis than with full strength (as label) fertilizer. That said, there is still some risk here because you are adding salt ions to your substrate in a potted plant. It is a bit different from treating an acre of land with it. But these kinds of things I would really try is the chlorosis is a structural problem. Azaleas in kanuma should not suffer from lack of iron ions.

 

[roberthu]

Can you do a closeup of the veiny/chlorosis leaf?

Yeah, this looks like some stress during shipping. I assume the plastic was on there during shipping. That's the proper way to ship, of course. But should be removed and if I follow your post, it has.
But it is a bit hard to guess if it had health problems before it went into shipping. Putting it in kanuma and a shady place outside sounds the right thing to do. Forsoothe! and I have disagreed in the past about 'feeding' a plant that is recovering. He thinks fertilizer is food and will help recovery. I think fertilizer is a mineral supplement, and not food, and that it should only be given to recovering plants once they start growing properly or if there is a sign of lack of fertilizer in the past. I think you should wait for it to recover from shipping before deciding to any more interventions. I like the 'at first, do no harm' guideline. If this plant's health is suffering from being in shipping, why try all kinds of things that have worked for other issues in the past, when all you need to do is wait?

In my experience, chlorosis is usually a result of bad soil (either pH or it being compacted) or overwatering, not a lack of fertilizer. That said, I think trying epsom salt, ferric EDTA (or some other form or chelated iron2+), or iron(II) sulfate is wiser than trying to alleviate chlorosis than with full strength (as label) fertilizer. That said, there is still some risk here because you are adding salt ions to your substrate in a potted plant. It is a bit different from treating an acre of land with it. But these kinds of things I would really try is the chlorosis is a structural problem. Azaleas in kanuma should not suffer from lack of iron ions.

Thank you. I think I am going to wait for a week before applying anything to see how the plant responds. The other older azaleas I have in the ground are all robust and pushing new growth so if the little guy recovers I should see signs soon.
I took some photos of the leaves. Take a look.

 

[sorce]

IMO....

It's rather irresponsible for us to be shipping things during this Rona bullshit.

I thought it was quite irresponsible BEFORE that Rona.

I guess the question is, do we care more about the tree or the seller?, then if it's the seller........

Sorce

 

[roberthu]

IMO....

It's rather irresponsible for us to be shipping things during this Rona bullshit.

I thought it was quite irresponsible BEFORE that Rona.

I guess the question is, do we care more about the tree or the seller?, then if it's the seller........

Sorce

What’s Rona?

 

[sorce]

What’s Rona?

That lie they keep telling us that is messing up shipping times.

That Rone Rone..

The obedient mask wearing society game.

The Vote Adjuster.

The Wool.

Sorce

 

[Silentrunning]

The Wool.

Sorce

So you read it too. Cool

 

[sorce]

you read it too

The blatant signs? Lol.

Read what?

At this point, I have my fingers crossed for an asteroid!

Sorce

 

[rockm]

I'd bet that is most likely heat stress. Shipping from Cali, likely in a truck. Temps across the southwest at in the 110+ F range now and only ten degrees cooler in the Southern U.S. Temps in the back of a stacked cargo semi are probably north of 120F. That's killer for live things.

Having plants shipped in the middle of summer is just as bad as having them shipped in the middle of winter. They are at the mercy of whatever weather is present at a time of year when extremes are becoming more normal.

As for getting this back on its feet, keep it moist, not soggy in the shade. Wait...

 

[Forsoothe!]

Can you do a closeup of the veiny/chlorosis leaf?

Yeah, this looks like some stress during shipping. I assume the plastic was on there during shipping. That's the proper way to ship, of course. But should be removed and if I follow your post, it has.
But it is a bit hard to guess if it had health problems before it went into shipping. Putting it in kanuma and a shady place outside sounds the right thing to do. Forsoothe! and I have disagreed in the past about 'feeding' a plant that is recovering. He thinks fertilizer is food and will help recovery. I think fertilizer is a mineral supplement, and not food, and that it should only be given to recovering plants once they start growing properly or if there is a sign of lack of fertilizer in the past. I think you should wait for it to recover from shipping before deciding to any more interventions. I like the 'at first, do no harm' guideline. If this plant's health is suffering from being in shipping, why try all kinds of things that have worked for other issues in the past, when all you need to do is wait?

In my experience, chlorosis is usually a result of bad soil (either pH or it being compacted) or overwatering, not a lack of fertilizer. That said, I think trying epsom salt, ferric EDTA (or some other form or chelated iron2+), or iron(II) sulfate is wiser than trying to alleviate chlorosis than with full strength (as label) fertilizer. That said, there is still some risk here because you are adding salt ions to your substrate in a potted plant. It is a bit different from treating an acre of land with it. But these kinds of things I would really try is the chlorosis is a structural problem. Azaleas in kanuma should not suffer from lack of iron ions.

No, @Harunobu and I do not disagree on what is food for plants (made by leaves) verses ferts. Yes, we disagree on what the role of preparations like Miracid is (I misspoke above when I suggested Miracle Grow- a critical error). In "emergencies" I suggest these as kick-starting agents. A candy bar for a starving man. I am not of the "First, do no harm" in many of these cases because plants brought to the B'Nut emergency room are very often a lot closer to death than to life and I assume the worst. I go for the IV right off the bat. I would like to suggest here a tsp of Aluminum Sulphate which is sold in 6 Lb. bags and took me 20 minutes to develop a table of grams per cu in from the pounds per acre on the package. Most people with one or two plants are unable to do the math and are unable to administer the right dosage so that's a non-starter. It's a matter of what's do-able by the caregiver. Perhaps, if I hadn't blown the Miracid verses Miracle Grow thing we'd be on the same track here.

 

[roberthu]

No, @Harunobu and I do not disagree on what is food for plants (made by leaves) verses ferts. Yes, we disagree on what the role of preparations like Miracid is (I misspoke above when I suggested Miracle Grow- a critical error). In "emergencies" I suggest these as kick-starting agents. A candy bar for a starving man. I am not of the "First, do no harm" in many of these cases because plants brought to the B'Nut emergency room are very often a lot closer to death than to life and I assume the worst. I go for the IV right off the bat. I would like to suggest here a tsp of Aluminum Sulphate which is sold in 6 Lb. bags and took me 20 minutes to develop a table of grams per cu in from the pounds per acre on the package. Most people with one or two plants are unable to do the math and are unable to administer the right dosage so that's a non-starter. It's a matter of what's do-able by the caregiver. Perhaps, if I hadn't blown the Miracid verses Miracle Grow thing we'd be on the same track here.

Ah so it is Miracid you are suggesting? I only have Miracle Gro on hand but will get some Miracid tomorrow. We just had some rain last night so I can’t water it today anyway. Thank you for sharing these emergency tips. I didn’t even know Miracid and Miracle Gro were different...

 

[LanceMac10]

Look for Miracle Grow for acid loving plants. No longer called "Miracid".

 

[roberthu]

Look for Miracle Grow for acid loving plants. No longer called "Miracid".

Huh? I found it on Amazon and I thought they were different? Are you saying it’s just a name change?

 

[LanceMac10]

Amazon for Miracle grow?

Just a name change...azaleas, camillias, stewartia, rhododendron for acid-loving trees and shrubs.

 

[roberthu]

Amazon for Miracle grow?

Just a name change...azaleas, camillias, stewartia, rhododendron for acid-loving trees and shrubs.

Yeah I found both Miracle Gro for acid loving plant as well as Miracid. If they are the same I am not going to buy both them.

 

[Harunobu]

Miracle-Gro® Azalea, Camellia & Rhododendron Soluble Plant Food

How to use. Choose the dosage size. Soak the soil around the base. Wet the leaves with a fine rose on a watering can.

www.lovethegarden.com

Yes, those leaves show chlorosis. The product Forsoothe recommends contains the chelated iron. That means it has a molecule that binds iron ions contained inside. Do you know in what kind of potting mix it was originally in? Since it was slip potted, if that pH is too high, the iron supplementation will help with the chlorosis. Not doing anything to address the chlorosis may not solve that issue because it was slip potted and the roots are still in the old soil. Probably a good decision to slip pot it. But the cause of the chlorosis is likely the old soil mix.

I don't follow the idea that doing something that is generally good for a plant, namely fertilzing, will kick-start a struggling plant. I believe in creating a low stress environment for a struggling plant. And removing the causes as for why it is doing bad.

 

[Silentrunning]

Read what?

Sorce

Wool by Hugh Howie

 

[sorce]

Wool by Hugh Howie

Sounds like a plan! I'll keep it in mind.

Thanks.

Sorce