Developing Azalea Material through Drastic Pruning

[Eric Group]

Here were before pics of the two trees... First the Kurume: Satsuki:

 

[JoeR]

Looks good, make sure that the ends are sealed up well. In two to three weeks it should be covered with new buds. You could slip pot it into a larger pit but I wouldn't mess with the roots any more. Eventually, I would remove the big branch, lowest on the right.

John

I used wood glue as a cut paste, I think it's going to work.

I considered removing that branch too but I left it on in case I make it into a semi cascade branch or something.

The roots on that one are killer

I'm going back ASAP to get more...

 

[Eric Group]

This one is clearly turning into the "Azalea challenge" thread... so here are my entries for today:
View attachment 73964
Worked both of them today from 3 gallon nursery cans (like the one the guy on the right is sitting on)
Satsuki- forgot the named variety... Some Woman's name. I was surprised the guy said it was Satsuki, because her name was very American... Kind of country sounding actually like... Nora or.. something. These guys bloom with large Heirloom looking blooms except they have Vibrant colors with white and DARK pink as well as swirled blooms all on the same tree! One of two multi-colored blooming varieties I got this year! View attachment 73965
Kurume- Hampton's Beauty. All the blooms were faded from this guy- brown and crispy.. I do not know what the little white spots are on there. when I try to scrape them off the bark scratches off.. it is not scale, doesn't appear to be harming the tree... Just ugly.. I will eventually probably have to get some kind of metal brush after them or something.. I bought this one because it has a big ole thick trunk with great movement! that first branch is a ltitle thick, but I am going to let it get kind of long and I think it should look good eventually.. Left it longer on purpose, and left a few little branches with leaves on them because these guys are maybe not as happy about the ahrd prune as Satsuki... I just feel safer leaving a few branches with foliage.

View attachment 73966
These two make about... 6-7 Azaleas I have cut back major like this just this Spring! I have a couple more I am going... Two are Miyuki, I just cannot bring myself to chop them yet! they are so beautiful, STILL blooming their faces off, bright green delicate foliage... They are probably my favorites.

For those not familiar, these are Miyuki blooms- these are the Satsuki you see in books and magazines.. A couple pics from the same plant: All one trunk, not different trees stuck int he same pot, not grafted... :
View attachment 73967 View attachment 73968

I remembered the name he told me! "Hilda Niblet"- which again didn't sound like a Satsuki variety name to me, and everything I have looked up on it.. Sort of reinforces my notion it is NOT Satsuki... But, who cares really? It will have a little bigger leaves and Blooms... Maybe not as fine of a twiggy growth structure... But it has really cool multi- colored blooms, blooms early in the season, and I plan on putting the other one the ground somewhere in my yard anyway! Just wanted to pass along the name of this variety I couldn't come up wi when I posted this one...

 

[GrimLore]

It will have a little bigger leaves and Blooms...

Isn't that the one grown as ground cover under trees and such? If so those flowers are LARGE

Grimmy

 

[Eric Group]

Isn't that the one grown as ground cover under trees and such? If so those flowers are LARGE

Grimmy

Most azalea as grown as ground cover and traditionally developed naturally as understory trees, right?

It isn't any less of a vertical grower than other Indica hybrids from what I can tell... But, yes, as I said... The blooms are pretty large- again, right on par with most Indicas... I kind of knew the guy wasn't on point when he called it a Satsuki, but they are real pretty when blooming, so I don't care that much!

 

[GrimLore]

Most azalea as grown as ground cover and traditionally developed naturally as understory trees, right?

LOL, I know you know that but it is my understanding that Hilda Niblet is sold as a dwarf rarely exceeded 1 foot in height making it very well suited for a border plant in many situations.

Grimmy

 

[Eric Group]

LOL, I know you know that but it is my understanding that Hilda Niblet is sold as a dwarf rarely exceeded 1 foot in height making it very well suited for a border plant in many situations.

Grimmy

No sir, this seems to be a very normal sized Azalea. The Miyuki are very low growers it seems, but even those have some good vertical thick trunks on them. The Hilda I am planning to put in the ground is just a multi trunked normal Azalea with a bunch of branches coming up out the ground, not seemingly a good specimen for Bonsai... But they were both 2-3 feet high, not terribly horizontal growers like the really dwarfed varieties and the leaves were of a normal Indica size..

I have read the same thing about the Hilda Niblet in online material ( low spreading growth habit with a max height of 12 inches and a 3-4 ft spread...) but if you see the pic above this tree was WELL over 12 inches high, had a strongly vertical growth habit and a thick, vertical trunk. The blooms on mine were a bit more vibrant a carried in color than anything I has pics of online as well, so I suspect this is some sort of specialized hybrid or perhaps even completely incorrectly named! Obviously there was some confusion going about it as he called it a Satsuki which it certainly is not.

 

[GrimLore]

Obviously there was some confusion going about it as he called it a Satsuki which it certainly is not.

Interesting - it will remain Azalea indica 'Mystery' for now

Grimmy

 

[Alain]

Really nice post!

it gave me a craving to try that in emergency
I 'drastically pruned' an azalea 'Rhododendron hybrid' yesterday and potted it in kanuma.
I hope it will work!

 

[barrosinc]

besides kanuma (not available here)... what substrate are you guys using for these?

 

[Mellow Mullet]

I use lava, pumice, turface, and fir bark; 40% on the fir bark.

 

[GrimLore]

I use whatever is laying around inorganic mixed with about 30 - 40 percent plain old topsoil from the farm supply. The inorganic gives it the air and the topsoil retains some moisture. They like being damp but not wet and in our climate it works well for me.

Grimmy

 

[Alain]

I used Kanuma because I had it and also because this azalea is already in a bonsai pot.

However I have another one in a training pot and for this one I use the mix I use for all my trees in training: 8 parts perlite + 8 parts pine bark mulch + 1 part sphagnum moss (i.e. Brent Watson's mix)
Except that I add Vigoro acid lovers fertilizer instead of osmocote 14/14/14 like I do for my other trees.
It seems to like it.


BTW: my chopped like crazy azalea from the picture above is in process of pushing really hard to make some buds!
It's not done yet but it's in the right direction toward success!

 

[lieuz]

This video was so helpful I forwarded this to my coworkers who are new at bonsai who doesn't understand how a bush or a tree can attain miniature stature. This was a great help in describing to them what time and persistence can accomplish.

 

[sorce]

@johng

I bought a post flowering azalea yesterday. Popped all the old flowers off. Nasty.

It's kind of neglected, health about 7/10 for a depot tree.

It's kinda too large for my space so I wanna chop the top and bottom.
We been 85 then 50 degrees, then 85 then 60, with all rain. You think It'll be ok?

Thanks

Sorce

 

[sorce]

+ 1 part sphagnum moss (i.e. Brent Watson's mix)

Hey Alain.

You talking peat? Or chopped Sphagnum?

I don't know if you caught any of my posts with hatred towards Sphagnum in elm pots. Be careful, it has a killed 5 of my elms in 3 winters.

No more!

Sorce

 

[GrimLore]

It's kinda too large for my space so I wanna chop the top and bottom. We been 85 then 50 degrees, then 85 then 60, with all rain. You think It'll be ok?

If you chop it now and reduce the roots make sure you can keep it in a shaded/filtered area. They can take 4 weeks to bud back even when healthy. That being the case you will probably need to Mulch that one in heavily for the Winter you have.

Grimmy

 

[Alain]

Hey Alain.

You talking peat? Or chopped Sphagnum?

I don't know if you caught any of my posts with hatred towards Sphagnum in elm pots. Be careful, it has a killed 5 of my elms in 3 winters.

No more!

Sorce

It's fine sphagnum peat moss (I think, I'll have to check the bag). All my trees seem fine with that. As I said I got this recipe in Brent Watson's website and also you could see in the mix description that it's only 1/17th of the soil.

 

[sorce]

It's fine sphagnum peat moss (I think, I'll have to check the bag). All my trees seem fine with that. As I said I got this recipe in Brent Watson's website and also you could see in the mix description that it's only 1/17th of the soil.

Yes. I've used that and rocks with success. But the Sphagnum kills the Ulmus. Just checking!

SoSorce

 

[johng]

Yes. I've used that and rocks with success. But the Sphagnum kills the Ulmus. Just checking!

SoSorce

Hogwash...
I use sphagnum moss on all my trees including elms. To say it kills ulmus in such a general way is wrong.

Sorry