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Hey guys.

I have a satsuki shrub that I’ve been wanting to chop into a bonsai for awhile and I have a general idea as to what shape I’m trying to achieve and everything, but I’m having an issue with timing. I live in zone 9a and people I’ve asked have advised me to not chop until january or early february so the azalea has some time to recover in relatively low temperatures. But the issue is that I just graduated high school and I’m going to be off to college in august, living on campus a few hours from home. If I chop the shrub and repot it into a bonsai pot before I go off to school, I’d be able to take the tree and care for it and water it and fertilize it regularly in college. But this would require me to try to recover it from trunk/root chopping in hotter, harsher weather over the summer. If I leave the tree here in hopes of waiting until january/february to chop it, I would not be able to rely on my parents to properly care for it (fertilize it, water it, etc.). I know for sure my mom would forget to water it and let it fry in the florida sun.

So I’m kind of stuck.

What gives me hope though is that ever since I made a few smaller chops around the base to thin it out, I’ve seen new buds come in even this past month in the hot weather, leading me to believe that if i chop it before I go to school in the summer I have hope that it will make a recovery. But I could be wrong. The tree is also in good health. But I’m just not sure.

What should I do?
 

Forsoothe!

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Leave it alone. Buy a fig and take that to college. They are bulletproof, and if you learn to keep it alive until such time as you can take care of hardy plants that stay outdoors year-around, and are in a position that is more stable than college. IMHO Then, collect it in the best season and give it the on-going care necessary.
 
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Leave it alone. Buy a fig and take that to college. They are bulletproof, and if you learn to keep it alive until such time as you can take care of hardy plants that stay outdoors year-around, and are in a position that is more stable than college. IMHO Then, collect it in the best season and give it the on-going care necessary.
Thank you for the opinion. I’m still a little nervous leaving it at home. Last time I was gone for a week on vacation, the plant had lost many of its leaves by the time I got back due to dehydration. I’m just worried this would occur worse in the months I’m gone and kill the plant.

What if I were to cut back the plant pretty hard (without repotting it) so it would fit in my car for me to transport it to a friend’s house near to my college? Then I would be able to care for it. Would just a hard cutback be too risky as well? I’m seeing budding on the branches that were previously cut.
 

Forsoothe!

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I misunderstood. I thought you were just considering digging it up.
 
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In my initial post I was talking about both cutting and repotting the tree so I could bring it to college. But I realize at this time of year both of those at the same time would be very stressful on the tree. But I’d be equally as worried leaving it in my parents’ hands while I go off to college. So I had brought up the idea of cutting it back hard so I could transport it to a friend’s house nearby to my college.

That should sum it up a little better for ya
 

Tiki

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Get with the Ocala bonsai club and see if someone there can "babysit" your plant for you while you are away. Totally understand not wanting to leave your trees with someone who may not be up to par on taking care of such difficult plants.
Chopping azaleas in middle of summer is tough on them. If it was in the ground id say maybe go for it, but a potted azalea I would definitely wait till January or February or when ever looks like last frost for you may be. Also not sure what your setup in college is going to look like but unless you got a decent balcony or group house with a yard you can put it in growing that thing indoors is going to be even tougher. Its not impossible but Florida outdoors (atleast central to north) is prime azalea growing territory, it would be a shame not to use it.


Update- Just read your last post, seems you have a location near by the college that your tree can be kept. So I have to ask, why chop it at all then? Is it simply too large to transport? If so, just cut what you need off to get it to fit in the overhead luggage compartment and do the major work when the time is right.
 
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Get with the Ocala bonsai club and see if someone there can "babysit" your plant for you while you are away. Totally understand not wanting to leave your trees with someone who may not be up to par on taking care of such difficult plants.
Chopping azaleas in middle of summer is tough on them. If it was in the ground id say maybe go for it, but a potted azalea I would definitely wait till January or February or when ever looks like last frost for you may be. Also not sure what your setup in college is going to look like but unless you got a decent balcony or group house with a yard you can put it in growing that thing indoors is going to be even tougher. Its not impossible but Florida outdoors (atleast central to north) is prime azalea growing territory, it would be a shame not to use it.


Update- Just read your last post, seems you have a location near by the college that your tree can be kept. So I have to ask, why chop it at all then? Is it simply too large to transport? If so, just cut what you need off to get it to fit in the overhead luggage compartment and do the major work when the time is right.
I appreciate the advice. The plant is just way too large for me to fit in my car especially with luggage, so Id need to chop much of it off. It’s almost 4 feet tall with the pot.

Question: When does chopping become tough on the azalea? Is it just when it doesn’t have enough foliage for photosynthesis? Because if that’s the issue then I could chop off the branches I wasn’t going to need anyways and save a lower hanging branch that has lots of foliage on it to allow for adequate photosynthesis while allowing for me to fit the plant in my car. If that’s not the issue, then what is? Does summer heat slow the healing process?
 

Tiki

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Its the heat. Azaleas can live in the heat just fine... but they need water. Their thin leaves dry out fast in the Florida sun, and that makes it x2 as hard on new growth as its trying to form in air that is drying it out quicker than it can keep up. Health of the tree does play an important roll in whether or not its going to survive a chop back so if (not saying yours is) a plant is lacking foliage already odds are its not healthy enough to rebound being worked hard. Certainly remove branches first that are not in your final design, that's just wasted energy that could have went to the branches you wanted to keep.

Some may tell you to do it, others will say its not necessary but Im going to advise you if the cut is larger than a #2 pencil you should seal the wounds. Technically speaking you should seal all your cuts on azaleas but tiny little sticks dont make a large difference if the die back is just a small twig as opposed to a large limb that can die back clear down to the roots. Don't matter what you use, just seal them. Elmers glue, Japanese cut paste, duct seal (my current favorite), super glue...ect you get the idea.
 
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Its the heat. Azaleas can live in the heat just fine... but they need water. Their thin leaves dry out fast in the Florida sun, and that makes it x2 as hard on new growth as its trying to form in air that is drying it out quicker than it can keep up. Health of the tree does play an important roll in whether or not its going to survive a chop back so if (not saying yours is) a plant is lacking foliage already odds are its not healthy enough to rebound being worked hard. Certainly remove branches first that are not in your final design, that's just wasted energy that could have went to the branches you wanted to keep.

Some may tell you to do it, others will say its not necessary but Im going to advise you if the cut is larger than a #2 pencil you should seal the wounds. Technically speaking you should seal all your cuts on azaleas but tiny little sticks dont make a large difference if the die back is just a small twig as opposed to a large limb that can die back clear down to the roots. Don't matter what you use, just seal them. Elmers glue, Japanese cut paste, duct seal (my current favorite), super glue...ect you get the idea.
I appreciate all the help. That makes much more sense, that the heat is harsh on new foliage.

I also love duct seal, use it all the time.
 

Deep Sea Diver

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A trim should be no issue…

If you have a place to put the tree in filtered sunlight, or 50% or more shade cloth , a cutback to leave foliage on 2-3 terminal branches/sub branches for each branch should be a-ok if watered properly and kept out of the wind…. Especially if there is salt in the air.

If you are cutting back and leaving little or no foliage…. That’s likely a non starter... maybe a 70% or better shade cloth would work, if the tree is strong already and it is cared for properly and you feel lucky pushing the horticultural power curve.

However there are large complications with cutting off big branches. Namely severe dieback. There must be good growth right above each branch cut. A stub must be left this time of year, followed by a smooth cut in early spring. If doing Multiple chops… each one increases the risk of dieback. Big branch cuts can cause big dieback, all the way down the trunk.

Cut paste, I like the Japanese stuff in the plastic can made for azaleas and pines. It has growth hormone in it. Leave the duct seal for your ducts.

I think may be time to trust your parents!

BTW: Good luck for your new year in college!

cheers
DSD sends
 

Shibui

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Down here we have pretty hot summers and I have pruned azaleas any time of year with no problems. Even really hard chops are no problem in summer because that's the time they are naturally trying to grow.
Most of the azaleas I have collected are Indica varieties but they have also been successful right through summer, even in hot weather. I think I have actually had better results with summer digging than winter so if I had to make these decisions I would go for it - prune hard and repot right now.
They are slow to recover new roots so you will need to tie it into the pot well and take care that it does not get knocked around while travelling. Outside with some shade from afternoon sun would be the best aspect but if you've been growing it for a while you probably already know that.
 

Paradox

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Dig a hole and plant it in the ground until you graduate and have a more stable situation to care for it.
 
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Down here we have pretty hot summers and I have pruned azaleas any time of year with no problems. Even really hard chops are no problem in summer because that's the time they are naturally trying to grow.
Most of the azaleas I have collected are Indica varieties but they have also been successful right through summer, even in hot weather. I think I have actually had better results with summer digging than winter so if I had to make these decisions I would go for it - prune hard and repot right now.
They are slow to recover new roots so you will need to tie it into the pot well and take care that it does not get knocked around while travelling. Outside with some shade from afternoon sun would be the best aspect but if you've been growing it for a while you probably already know that.
Thanks for the info… I was about to mention an indica that I chopped up earlier this summer that has been thriving and backbudding everywhere:

My parents didn’t want a massive indica from the front landscape so they had me rip it out and I chose to keep a chunk of it for a bonsai. The only problem was that the root ball was one massive solid chunk of wood about a foot wide and 6” tall. I only wanted about 1/5 of the bush and it was attached to the rest by solid wood. So I sawed straight through the wood to get a little chunk out and sawed a couple inches of wood from the bottom leaving lots of surface area of bare wood on the chunk that I wanted. I threw it in a pot with regular garden soil and it’s thriving with no complications. I barely sealed all the bare wood at the base.

I think people make azaleas out to be wimpier than they actually are.
 

Deep Sea Diver

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I think people make azaleas out to be wimpier than they actually are.
Down here we have pretty hot summers and I have pruned azaleas any time of year with no problems. Even really hard chops are no problem in summer because that's the time they are naturally trying to grow.

Agreed Azaleas can be tough.

So it would be great educationally to see a number of case studies of these type of projects.

Say, before/during multiple major branch summer chopping of azalea bonsai in hot climate conditions, afterwards and a couple follow posts stretching into the outyears…. And the cautions/protections noted to bring this off properly.

I think we are all always eager to learn ways to successfully push the envelope!

cheers
DSD sends
 
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