I don't know of any organic fertilizers that will provide enough
acidity to support an azalea's needs.
I use an acidic compost of peat, chipped bark and kanuma for my trees in
development. My feeling is that the compost's acidity should persist
from one repot to the next.
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.
This was from a nursery man specialising in Satsuki's and his own
experience. I dunno, it sounds a little kooky to me too, but I'm going
to give it a try for one season.
The wiring I still have problems with is that of setting the trunk shape
after initially growing a tall, thin 2 to 3 year plant from cuttings.
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.
Interesting stuff Jim. Wish I could find Satsuki's around here with that
sort of development.
If your trees have been healthy and blooming well, I'd not change
anything, if I were you. Just be careful wiring.
Health and blooming have been very good but in the interests of
developing better initial trunk shapes I feel a little experimentation
isn't going to harm anything. My care and development of Satsuki wiring
skills is developing. I've progressed through using raffia and single
wiring to vet's tape with triple wiring and now self amalgamating tape
with triple wiring.
Any leads on cheap sources of self amalgamating tape anyone?
Cheers
Kev Bailey
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