Alex Kennedy's "Floral Treasures Of Japan" says that plants
should be
fed from March onward especially for plants expected to flower
heavily.
This is in order to build up their strength.


Well, he was asking about azaleas established and growing in the
ground.

It made sense to me so I have followed this advice for the past
three
years with very good results. I use Miracid - the blue liquid
acidic
fertiliser available here in the UK but will be amending my
regime this
year, as I hear that the brittleness of trunk and branches may
be
lessened by fertilising with organic pellets. I'll get back to
you all
on the results.


I don't know of any organic fertilizers that will provide enough
acidity to support an azalea's needs.

And, since plants use the same elements no matter how they are
delivered (organic vs. inorganic) I cannot imagine how anything
in an "organic" fertilizer -- pelletized or not -- would cause
any difference in the brittleness of azalea stems. May I ask:
Where did you "hear" this? It certainly isn't anything that is
echoing around here.

I live in the absolute heart of azalea country, and my shrubbery
azalea -- many of them "indica" and some of them more than 30
years old now, and nearly as tall (and several times as wide) as
I am, and all "fertilized" organically via rotting mulch around
and over their roots have the same brittle stems as my potted
Satsuki azaleas that get Miracid.

If your trees have been healthy and blooming well, I'd not change
anything, if I were you. Just be careful wiring.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Our life is
frittered away by detail . . . . Simplify! Simplify. -- Henry
David Thoreau - Walden

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