Ok, let's start with the potting. That looks like akadama. Is it? Akadama is ok for azalea, but they prefer kanuma. It's more acidic. Use 100% kanuma.
Next, it's potted too high. On a little hill, and the soil is at the very top of the rim. It should be potted so that the soil is level in the pot, and there is about 1/4 inch of inside rim showing. When you look at it with your eye at rim level, you should see nebari, no soil.
Next, letting it bloom...
Blooming DOES take a lot of the energy away. At this point, it is a stick in a pot. Do you want a fatter trunk? If so, don't let it bloom so it will redirect that energy to growth. Maybe keep a half dozen blooms to enjoy some flowers, but don't let it bloom all over.
Next, be sure to seal any cuts you make with cut paste IMMEDIATELY when you make them. Like, within 30 seconds!
And, finally, it needs to be SEVERELY cut back. I mean to where there's hardly any foliage on the tree. Why? Azalea buds back very well when cut back. You want more branches coming off the trunk, with foliage close to the trunk.
OK, thanks for the input. I have been growing azaleas for sometime now, but I am always interested in other's opinions.
It is potted in a mixture pumice, lava, turface (I know *gasp*), and fir bark. They seem to prefer this mixture too, if you take a look at all of the roots in the OP, that is one season's growth. What you see on top is a top-dressing of Turface to hold the moisture until I get some sphagnum moss to put on top, at which point about half an inch of what you see is coming off. I don't waste my money on Akadama or Kanuma, neither is necessary to grow azaleas or any other bonsai in my area. Too much rain, it turns to mush at the end of one summer, so much so that no water will pass through it. When the Turface is removed, the mound will be gone and the soil level will be lower in relation to the rim of the pot.
I have to disagree with you on the energy sapping of blooming. While I am sure that blooming does require energy, cutting the buds off will not make the trunk fatten up any faster. It just won't, I have several in large pots, and even in the ground that are pruned to the extent that there is little or no blooming and the trunks are no thicker that the ones that I let bloom. It just does not matter. The tree does not automatically redirect energy that would be used for blooming to trunk thickening. It has more to do with seasons and temperature. Just what I have observed from years of growing them, heck, I live in a city that goes by the moniker of "The Azalea City". That does not make me an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I know what I have seen. Is there any scientific evidence that backs this up? I think it is just a myth, same as "don't use copper wire on them, it will kill them".
Cutting off the buds might make it put out foliage faster, but azaleas put out so much anyway, so what is the point? Let it bloom, enjoy the flowers. If you are going to cut all the flowers off, might as well get a boxwood, similar look, and a lot less fickle than an azalea.
While it is important to seal the cuts on an azalea, thirty seconds is a bit extreme, as long as you seal them after a pruning session, it will be ok. I usually cut one back, and seal all the wounds when done. Bonsai is supposed to be relaxing, too much pressure with the thirty second rule.
I agree, it does need to be cut back hard, and as I mentioned in the opening post, it will be
after it blooms. Isn't it amazing how well they back-bud and grow foliage? In fact, all of the foliage on this one was grown in one season (last spring until now). When I got the tree last year, it was pruned back in a fashion similar to the one in your picture. I regularly prune most of my azaleas back pretty hard each season. Everything that doesn't contribute to the design has to go. If you don't prune, they will just get leggy, with long branches and foilage at the tips, typical azalea growth.
Thanks for the "stick in a pot" critique. I actually plan to keep this one small, once it is pruned after it flowers, the branches will be in more proportion to the trunk, and it actually has a nice flare at the bottom. I do not have the resources to acquire a fifty+ year old satsuki with a fat trunk that came from Japan, besides half the fun is creating your own.
Thanks again,
John
Oh, that is a nice one that you have in the picture, I probably would have trimmed a few more branches, that just me though. What variety is it?
The victim, with a refreshing beverage for scale, I know, I am a cheap-scape. I prefer frugal.....
The pot, just a mass produced Chinese model, but it is nice and deep. I think I paid 6.00 for it at the club auction. I did say frugal, right?
The roots trimmed and ready for the new pot.
