Does anyone have experience with Satsuki Azelea care/pruning/styling? Just purchased a Satzuki Azalea in a 3-gallon growers pot. Want to grow to increase size etc. Have read that they need protection when temp drops below 45 degrees. How should it be over wintered? Any suggestions appreciated.
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I would definitely watch the two azalea videos in the library:
https://live.bonsaimirai.com/library/filter/50/azalea
Pruning and repotting. Both great and full of info, especially the one with Peter Warren.
Personally, I’ve killed 2, so…yeah. 
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@gwilson15 I have close to 40 azaleas in various stages of development. Mine are outside for the most part. I did bring 2 that are shohin size and small pots into an unheated garage when temperatures dropped below freezing. The ones that I had in growing beds and growing containers stayed outside all winter. I live in north Georgia and we do get our fair share of cold nights. Just be careful where you do keep it. I’ve read some stories of them being store with little to no light in garden sheds and have numerous issues. Definitely watch the videos 2 videos in the library with Peter Warren. It has definitely been helpful for me.
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What soil mix do you use in your growing beds and containers? Is it the same for both? Peter Warren says to remove all the soil from field and container grown trees and use 80% Kanuma 20% Pumice mix. What is your opinion on this?
I use either straight kanuma or 80/20 kanuma/pumice mix in the pots. For the growing bed and larger growing containers I have been using an organic soil mix. A good many of these plants have been dug up from landscapes and I am layering off the multiple trunks after i get the plants healthy after being dug. The largest batch i have were in a landscape around 25 years before we removed them last fall. I brought home 25 landscape plants. 23 made it through the dig/move and then winter. Next spring I will start the air and ground layering on these. I just moved into a new house about a month ago so the ones in growing beds got a second move at the worst possible time of year. So far no stress on these. I will try and get a few pics this weekend of a few that are still in the relocation recovery phase. From a horticultural perspective they like alot of water but not wet feet.
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I have a satzuki azalea in a 3 gallon growing container. Here is an idea I was thinking of doing. Put it into a 7 gallon grow bag, and put it into a larger deep hole in a raised grow bed and surrounding and covering it with mulch to protect it over the winter and leave it there to grow out next year. Do you think that is a good plan? If I were to do that, what soil mix would you suggest I use? An 80/20 kanuma/pumice mix or some variation of that, or an organic mix. This is my first satzuki azalea an desperatly don’t want it to lose it.
Where are located? Sorry if I missed that in an earlier post.
I am in Dayton, Ohio, zone 6b. BTW, just unwrapped my Azalea from it’s plastic covering, (received it a few days ago) and it is completely root bound. So dense I can’t insert a chopstick down in the soil. Also, the soil (looks organic) is extremely wet. So, guess I need to repot it ASAP. Have a bag of Kanuma ordered but won’t receive it till next Thursday. Should I temporarily repot into some other inorganic soil (lava/pumice/turf ace) that I have on hand. Afraid it may be getting root rot from the overly wet soil. Help!
Removed from pot and teased out the roots a little and put it a larger pot and surrounded with a pumice/lava/fine fir bark/spagnum moss mix until I receive my kanuma next week. Here are some pics of root ball after minor root work. Tree and roots look healthy. Also some picks of the leaf clusters. Do you see any new buds forming? Don’t know what they look like. I think I should completely remove all the field soil when I have my Kanuma as Peter Warren suggests for container Azeleas.
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Awsome. Good re-wright…
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Real healthy looking… I would stop there and wait for spring.
I got excited years ago and killed several of these…
Now, with 30 years and Mirai…, I want one. Can’t find one here. However, I have way too many other trees to focus on. 