Question
What time of year should I transplant my azaleas?
Is there anything special I should do to them before I transplant.   I live in Massachusetts.

Answer
Late Summer/Early Fall is almost always the best time to do any planting or transplanting of Shrubs or Trees.  Metabolism is slowing down; dormancy is setting in.  When these switch gears in the other direction next Spring, it's best they do it with new cell growth in fresh Soil in a new location.

But transplanting in 2008 is a little different from the same exercise done 25 years ago.

For one thing, we know that the roots of most shrubs and Trees build complex relationships with underground Fungi to supplement their diets.  Those Fungi are called Mycorrhizae, which you may have heard about.  An Oregon company called Mycorrhizal Applications grows them and sells them commercially:

www.mycorrhizae.com/index.php?cid=386

Mycorrhizae were discovered in 1885 by a German scientist.  He grew Pinetree saplings in 2 kinds of Soil: clean, sterilized Soil and natural Forest Soil.

The Seedlings grown in Forest Soil grew by leaps and bounds.  The ones in the sterilized Soil were healthy, but small and slow growing.

There was no name for this invisible phenomenon until the 1990s.  Agricultural departments love to study these things, and Mycorrhizae were the new kids on the block.  They quickly determined that 95 percent of all plants grow naturally with a hookup to these complex water-and-minerals pumps.

Mycorrhizal Applications describes the work these Fungi do: 'When they connect with the roots of plants, they can increase the plant's ability to take in water and food by 10 to 1,000 times.  They help plants strengthen their immune system.  They emit chemicals into the Soil to unlock hard-to-extract micronutrients like Iron and Phosphorus.  They produce organic glues that make the Soil more clumpy and porous, improving its structure and resiliency.'

Mycorrhizae play a critical role in a successful translant.  Your Azaleas have them now.  Uprooting them will break those bonds.  You need to re-build them asap when you move the plants.

What this means, Marie, is that one of the first things you should have ready to use when you set about transplanting your Azaleas is a treatment, saved for moving day, of Azalea-friendly Mycorrhizae.

Another recently developed product is Harpin Protein.  Any time you have a plant that's stressed by drought, or disease, or insects, or repotting, it's just what the doctor ordered.

Cornell University researchers discovered Harpin Protein just a few years ago.  They decided to market Harpin Protein under license.  Harpin Protein heals damage you may not even know about.  It should be sprayed on the Azalea leaves and the excess watered in.  It does not damage microbes and it is completely benign as far as fruits, vegetables and the people who eat them, as well as plants like Azaleas that may be suffering in silence due to an unknown cause.

Inorganic fertilizer, pesticides, and especially Fungicides do major damage to the Mycorrhizal population.  If this one plant happens to be the recipient of more chemical salts (from packaged fertilizer), it may not be damaged, but the Mycorrhizae are.

What you should NOT do is fertilize your Azaleas.

How come?

Well, if you think back, you'll probably recall how they've never quite settled the debate about whether it's better to transplant and fertilize OR to transplant and hold off on fertilizing.  Some people figure the plant needs all the help it can get after it's moved.  Other people maintain that a transplant needs time to recover from the shock of the move.

Now it turns out that two things (that we know of) are happening.  One is the problem with the Mycorrhizae.  The Fungal Hyphae that reach out to the roots of the transplant are totally broken.  That means the transplant has suddenly lost its connection to moisture and nutrients.  Mycorrhizae are far, far better at feeding a plant than the plant's own root system.

But there's one other thing that happens when a plant starts healing.  That's where Harpin Protein comes in.

This Protein is NOT a fertilizer or an enzyme.  Harpin is a trigger for cell and tissue repair on green plants that was isolated at Cornell University, where much plant research is conducted.  Cornell got a patent, then licensed their findings out.  The result is the product on the shelf called 'Messenger'.  This stuff is a great tonic not just for any transplant but for any plant in trouble, whether it's got the common cold or a major blight.  I bought a Messenger re-fill today at our local garden center, Hicks Nurseries on Jericho Turnpike/25.  I'll apply it to a shipment of houseplants that is scheduled for delivery this week.

Get some for your Azaleas.  Have it ready to spray onto the leaves.

Assuming you have a loamy, chemical free Soil ready to take possession of your Azaleas, Harpin Protein and a container of Arbuscular (aka 'Endo-') Mycorrhizal Fungi are ALL you need.  I guarantee it.

Thanks for writing.

THE LONG ISLAND GARDENER