2 small satsukis

brentwood

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I bought these on a whim, know they're long term projects - any suggestions for starting that? I've seen suggestions for 3-5 gallon squat pots, can probably find those - is that reasonable? I bought kanumi, too early to worry about that? Do pick the main trunk, trunks now?
I should have probably gone bigger, but is this a 10 year project or worse?

Gumpo white and momo no haru from Mr Maple in 1 gal containers....

Thanks!
B
 

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brentwood

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Thanks for showing these, I’ve been wondering about these from mr maple. They are decent size little plants for the $
They're on sale for $20 right now, got here in 2 days...
 

Glaucus

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Here in the Netherlands, the azalea you can buy grown for landscaping are of an extremely high quality.
These are also clearly grown for landscaping. But I would say that the quality does not compare at all with the best landscape plants I can buy in Europe.
If I order plants from Esveld, Hachmann, Stolwijk, azaleashop or pflanzmich, they are utterly pristine.
Putting it in the garden for a year, and the plant looks way different.

These plants that you show do not have the same quality. Maybe DeepSeaDiver or Pitoon can comment, but maybe only Nuccio's has landscape azaleas of a similar quality?
Doesn't mean they are a bad buy, especially for rare cultivars at 20 euro.
I would also consider White's Nursery, but they do not ship, so you'd have to visit.

Yeah for bonsai purposes, it will take some time to transition to a single trunk. At the point where the roots start growing but the plant is not budding yet, remove a whole bunch of branches.
The fat ones, keep a 2 to 3 cm/ 1 inch stub, even if you want to cut it flush eventually. Keep one leader as the main trunk. Remove all the thin useless bald branches.
One reason why the branches low on the plant are so bald is because they were shaded out back the plant hadn't dropped their spring leaves yet.
But likely also cold weather. I see some dead branches that are very similar to dead branches I have on some of my less hardy satsuki as a result of the cold winter weather we had in Europe early 2021. Branches that are bold, you might cut flush with the trunk. Do not leave small stumps (as they will be hard to cut flush later) and do not cut concave (as one would do with thick-barked species like pines).

These plants may have terrible reverse taper just below the soil line, though. So you may have to be creative. But, they have flowers so there is always a way forward.
They seem to be in large pots so maybe not likely to be pot bound. I have good experience growing azaleas out in the field/full ground, rather than pots.
But do consider checking the roots. Old soil in a potted plants that starts to compact and becomes impenetrable to both water and air can make the roots of azaleas unhealthy.
 
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Bob Hunter

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This was a 3 gallon, Cut off 2/3 of root ball Bare root the rest spread out roots when planting next Trim and leave future branches Do not pot in a big pot, up-pot every 3 years If you do it now do not let it freeze.
IMG_1764.jpgIMG_1765.jpgIMG_2271.jpgIMG_6342.jpg
 

Deep Sea Diver

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Greetings! I don’t know if you have attempted any work on these, so I may be late for advice. But here it is.

The Gumpo White I’d turn into a clump azalea bonsai. There are too many tightly interlocking trunks and Gumpos have really hard wood for styling. Try this link.

The Mom’s no Haru is a good bonsai subject. It has more pliable wood, but also on the hardish side, but these make nice single trunk styles. You have a couple choices.

a. Go ahead and make it a clump

b. Choose a single trunk design. In this case two options.

1. The safe route. Choose the best trunk and cut rest off completely, then design the remaining trunk.​
2. The advanced option - separate the trunks. This involves water washing and carefully separating each trunk. Often one can save two of three in the process, but it’s iffy for novices and tricky for anyone. Plant each remaining trunk with minimal cutting back. Baby all year. Then cut back more in summer, always leaving growth on the stem.​
In any case make cuttings of each and grow these out.
Good luck,​
DSD sends​
 
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brentwood

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Greetings! I don’t know if you have attempted any work on these, so I may be late for advice. But here it is.

The Gumpo White I’d turn into a clump azalea bonsai. There are too many tightly interlocking trunks and Gumpos have really hard wood for styling. Try this link.

The Mom’s no Haru is a good bonsai subject. It has more pliable wood, but also on the hardish side, but these make nice single trunk styles. You have a couple choices.

a. Go ahead and make it a clump

b. Choose a single trunk design. In this case two options.

1. The safe route. Choose the best trunk and cut rest off completely, then design the remaining trunk.​
2. The advanced option - separate the trunks. This involves water washing and carefully separating each trunk. Often one can save two of three in the process, but it’s iffy for novices and tricky for anyone. Plant each remaining trunk with minimal cutting back. Baby all year. Then cut back more in summer, always leaving growth on the stem.​
In any case make cuttings of each and grow these out.
Good luck,​
DSD sends​
I did repot these, gumpo as a clump, got one plant out of the red, Leaving two for now at least... The red feels like one plant, think I'd have to cut a trunk to go single, the straight one seems like the obvious choice

Thanks!
B
 

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Deep Sea Diver

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Good Morning. Looks like you’ve been busy. Here are a couple thoughts so far.

@Bob Hunter has got the basic cut down for a gnarly clump using a thicker trunk.

The initial work on big box nursery azaleas is all about making tough choices. It constantly surprises me on how little top hamper I have left after I’m done. But when I’m done, I do not want to go back and major cut again in a year. It just makes me feel like I’m constantly taking backward steps! I’ve done it, yet never feel good coming back and cutting again!

Nowadays big box and commercial nurseries almost always come with three little guys in one pot, trimmed to have at a one cartwheel of branches on each trunk. Three trunks triples the number of tough choices as the end game rarely will finish with more then one trunk and a tree that is smallish.

Here’s a quick image..bad angle…. of a single tree a couple years after being teased out of a bunch… branches simplified, some lower branching in three directions kept while teasing out a trunk line, which is starting to take shape. This year will be a grow out year, with work on uncovering the nebari….but one can start to see progress. It will take at least three years before this starts to look bonsai ish.

image.jpg

A clump can solve part of the multi trunk issue, but needs to be buried deeper to take advantage of the cluster of branching. Then the crisscrossing branches should be pruned out. Again, this is an example of a multi trunk beginning clump on a @sorce pot I think. Next will be a total branch chop down lower, then again a bit higher etc. A much different look then the single trunk clump. …Three to five years more for this guy to look convincing with successive up potting and nebari development. .
image.jpg

Looking at your progress you get an A for effort, you’ve already made some tough choices, but you aren’t done yet. imho, two trunks is one too many to successfully style. Three is ok for a clump. Yet one single tree, or one as a clump buried deeper works really well.

btw: There are speciality azalea nurseries that provide low cost azaleas that have single trunks. Riverbend gardens, Nuccios nursery, etc…

btw: here’s John G’s correct link.

cheers
DSD sends
 

brentwood

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Ok to just chop the red as in this pic, clean up under the soil next repot?

B
 

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Deep Sea Diver

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Sure, as far down below the surface as practicable. Sometimes you can even tease the soil back.

Coincidentally, here’s another’s small clump, a Chinzan, I’m wirIng right now.

DFD4CA2C-CDBA-4EA3-A6D1-FB54E0DE9BE8.jpeg

btw I just wired a Momo no Haru earlier, I think I did say the wood gets hard fast? Be careful. 😉

Cheers
DSD sends
 

brentwood

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I'm the immortal words of Clark Griswold, I'm gonna go for it!

B
 

brentwood

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Just had to share, settled in nicely to its new soil, blooming nicely.. will cut these off soon, start letting it just grow for a couple seasons. Super happy with it, especially at the price point

Brent
 

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Pitoon

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Right after flowering I would cut back hard to remove all the leggy growth. This would activate all the dormant buds. From this point you can start fresh selecting buds in the right locations. Leave some leaves at the apex to keep the sap flowing. Remember to seal all your cuts to prevent drying out.
 

Glaucus

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You had bad experiences? They seem like they may source plants from different nurseries and are themselves mostly an online sales platform.
They do list some azaleas for extremely large amounts of money. Reminds me of back in the days where some science textbooks would be listed under different names, where some were 20x the price of the same item under another name.
 
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