Beginner getting into azaleas....

[Drewski]

As the title says, I decided to give azaleas a try. I bought three pre-bonsai kozan satsukis, one of which is pictured below, as well as one nursery stock azalea. I’ve perused quite a number of threads, done some googling, and ran the azalea guide available in the resource section through google translate. That last bit wasn’t as successful as I had hoped. I found some info on how to get rooted cuttings developed to what I have now. And then most of the rest of what I could find was about plants that were bigger and quite a bit further down the bonsai road.

So I thought I would turn here with a couple of questions. Do I want to just let these grow for a while to thicken up? Or should I be cutting back after the flowers have finished? And if I cut back, what should my expectations about new buds be? For example, if I cut the bottom right branch back half way to the trunk, can I expect buds on the remainder of the branch? Or do I need to leave the branch intact and wait for buds before I cut it back?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Bonsaidoorguy]

As the title says, I decided to give azaleas a try. I bought three pre-bonsai kozan satsukis, one of which is pictured below, as well as one nursery stock azalea. I’ve perused quite a number of threads, done some googling, and ran the azalea guide available in the resource section through google translate. That last bit wasn’t as successful as I had hoped. I found some info on how to get rooted cuttings developed to what I have now. And then most of the rest of what I could find was about plants that were bigger and quite a bit further down the bonsai road.

So I thought I would turn here with a couple of questions. Do I want to just let these grow for a while to thicken up? Or should I be cutting back after the flowers have finished? And if I cut back, what should my expectations about new buds be? For example, if I cut the bottom right branch back half way to the trunk, can I expect buds on the remainder of the branch? Or do I need to leave the branch intact and wait for buds before I cut it back?

Thanks in advance.

I would imagine that you would still be welcomed into the latest azalea contest. I think another member just entered.

 

[Shibui]

Azaleas are really good at making new buds after pruning. It does not seem to matter how far down you prune, they still put out lots of new shoots an the branch that is left. Like many other plants they rarely grow new buds on bare wood if there is healthy growth higher so pruning is the only reliable way to get new shoots on bare lower areas.

Azaleas are frustratingly slow to thicken but the quickest way to get thicker trunks is to let them grow. The more leaves and growth you can get the quicker the trunks will thicken. The good thing about that is the way they can bud on bare older wood so when you are eventually happy with the thickness you can cut without fear and know that buds are almost assured.
Small pots restrict growth which, in turn, restricts thickening. To get maximum growth it is best to plant in the garden or in larger pots until the goal is reached. Placing the pot on the ground and allowing roots to escape through the drain holes is an alternative but not quite so effective for azalea as they tend to have mostly shallow fibrous roots.

The quickest way to get thicker azaleas for bonsai is to transplant older garden azaleas that are already thicker. They transplant as well as they respond to pruning so collecting is almost assured at any time of year.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Your tree should back bud fine whatever you do as long as you do it sooner. See final note about keeping foliage on top…

Yet…. What I’m looking at looks to be a preformed whip with branches grown out in lots of the right spots…. and a few extra ones!

I can plant whips like this in ground and expect these to winter over in Puget Sound in a good cold frame… not so sure up by you though. If you can. It’s a three to five year journey.

However Kozan are pretty darn slow grower’s… and the whips is already done with some taper. On the flip side Kozan is also a more northerly cultivar and can stand a bit more cold then most.

Alternately you can style as is. Kozan are best as miniature to medium Bonsai anyways.

To do this: Lightly wire each branch coming out of the outside of a curve and trim the branches back to about (No scale in this image!) about 1/2 to 1/3 the former length the trunk and with luck each will back bud down each branch. Then trim for more foliage and back as needed for taper.

However, be very sure to leave a good amount of foliage on top to keep the flow of fluids drawing up the tree!

Cheers
DSD sends

btw: @River’s Edge might have a better idea about growing Kozan out in ground by you.