Deciduous Azalea

rowan57

Hey all, i just bought a deciduous Azalea and know roughly where i want to go with it. It still has one flower which is almost over, but when that flower has gone is now a good time to do a drastic cut back? and will it back bud happily on old wood?

thanks for your patience, im sure many people have asked these things before, but i like to make sure before i do anything too drastic.

Cheers
Rowan

__________________
In literary and art criticism there are two criteria, the political and the artistic....

Words and actions should help to unite, and not divide, the people of our various nationalities

I often talk to myself because i am the only one who truly understands me.

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rowan57

Any ideas at all?

Cheers
Rowan

__________________
In literary and art criticism there are two criteria, the political and the artistic....

Words and actions should help to unite, and not divide, the people of our various nationalities

I often talk to myself because i am the only one who truly understands me.

Walter_Pall

Rowan,

prune as hard as you can - now is the best time. It will always come back!

Walter Pall

rowan57

Cheers, does it matter if i have had to do a bare root repot because of the state the roots were in in the soil i got the azalea in? i will be waiting at least 5 days or so because im going away for a couple of days, but i should be able to get some time to work on it next week.

Cheers for the help
Rowan

__________________
In literary and art criticism there are two criteria, the political and the artistic....

Words and actions should help to unite, and not divide, the people of our various nationalities

I often talk to myself because i am the only one who truly understands me.

Walter_Pall

Rowan,

why in the world would you barreoot an azalea. You will kill it.

Walter Pall

rowan57

I wasnt going to but then i had it out of the pot to study the roots (with soil intact) and the root ball was very small and in this "field" soil, which was very heavy and barely drained, so i took a bit of the soil away to see what the root ball was like (i though it might not be so good because the plant is a bit leggy) and i found a lot of rotten roots (damn garden centres) which i could simply brush away with my hand they were that rotten, so i had to get right into the root ball to get rid of anymore rotten roots. I was very gentle, using a chop stick and my hands, it was only out of soil for a few minutes and then i put it into really nice good quality soil so hopefully (cross fingers) it might be ok, i havent really had any experience with Azaleas as bonsai so its kind of learning to walk all over again.

If it dies its not a massive loss, it was only £8, and yet another learning curve learned

Cheers
Rowan

__________________
In literary and art criticism there are two criteria, the political and the artistic....

Words and actions should help to unite, and not divide, the people of our various nationalities

I often talk to myself because i am the only one who truly understands me.

rowan57

Ok, it was fine when i came back after the weekend so today i have done the chopping and put some of the chopped of bits in a pot with rooting hormone. will hardwood and softwood cuttings of azalea root at this time of year?

thanks for the help
Rowan

__________________
In literary and art criticism there are two criteria, the political and the artistic....

Words and actions should help to unite, and not divide, the people of our various nationalities

I often talk to myself because i am the only one who truly understands me.

rowan57

Ok quick update, two positive buds (in good places) on the azalea so far, so i have good hopes about this now, i will post a picture at the weekend.

Cheers
Rowan

__________________
In literary and art criticism there are two criteria, the political and the artistic....

Words and actions should help to unite, and not divide, the people of our various nationalities

I often talk to myself because i am the only one who truly understands me.

Kaho-Kaho

Rowan, your Azalea should be fine and this is the ideal time to take cuttings. Just make sure to protect both the repotted plant and your clippings from direct sun and wind, and never let either dry out.
Good Luck !

~Kaho~