Hi, my azalea is done flowering and I'd like to cut it back to get smaller internodes. If I remove the leaves on a branch will it rebud lower?
Thanks
SalcomineView attachment 309104
Really good information there! Thanks.If your weather is warm, above 25 C daytime high temps, at least 4 days a week, you can prune back azalea quite severely, even to bare branch stubs. If your environment is cool summer, where temps are often below 18 C for daytime highs, you need to keep a few leaves on every branch you want to keep. If your temperatures are "in between" the two example, I found most of the time you get good results, but not always, so I try to leave a leaf or two on every keeper branch. Warm and humid, you can cut azalea to totally bare stubs.
I use this as my guide
The author, or artist is John Geanangel. He is a very experienced azalea grower and bonsai artist. I forget whether he is North Carolina, South Carolina or Georgia, be he lives less than 150 miles from Asheville North Carolina. That means the climate he is reporting from is warm, humid summers and a moderately long growing season, maybe 180 to 200+ days between last frost and first frost. Knowing the climate from where the cultivation advice comes from is key.