Recently bought an 3 gal. Satsuki Azalea. Not sure if I should remove all the nursery soil and pot it into a larger container with Ryan’s suggested 80/20 Kanuma/Pumice mix or wait until next spring to repot. Concerned about it surviving the winter months.
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Just wait it out. The key to bonsai is patients.
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Dr. Bonsai ready to see some “patients” 
Sorry I couldn’t resist, I didn’t have any patience 
Any comments or thoughts about what to do with my Azalea?
our temps here in Germany are about 20°C now. and since my azalea needed a repot and some styling I did it last Sunday.
I hade some issues with my trees planted in Akadama. The Akadama was breaking down too, leaving a muddy mass in the pods after 7 month only.
So the Azalea is my first tree in a new soil mix used by Walter Pall. 70% Fibotherm (very cheap 50L 20€) the rest is a mix of cocos and Kanuma (Kanuma is actually not used by Walter)
It was no need of hard root work so it should be fine.
before
.
after
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Interesting nebari root structure.
I know, no crossing roots, but in this case both of these crossing roots had so many fine roots that
I wanted to save theme for the health of the tree. …maybe in one of the next repots I will correct this.
Lmao my spelling is terrible
I have a similar question to the original post. I have five azaleas I have picked up in the past couple months that are in nursery containers. I am wondering how much of the nursery soil I should remove when I repot them in the spring. After watching the two streams with Peter Warren, I’m still confused if I should bare root them or not because of how sensitive the area directly under the trunk can be. These are small azaleas in 1 and 3 gl containers. Thanks!
Hi @Gables
Azalea has fine roots, which means it can move a lot of water. They are also basally dominant with growth. If you leave nursery soil under the trunk, where you want the sheen to form, there is a chance it will stay too wet, cause rot, and weaken the crown. On the other hand, if the tree is established, you may not want to work too hard on the roots.
They are not conifers and do not rely on micoriza to the same extent.
Build strength, protect over the winter, then get out as much nursery soil as you can at repot. I could be wrong.
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