Japonica azalea possible bonsai ?

[Bonsainoob88]

Hello everyone, after a bit reading up on this very helpful site I decided to try and get a few bonsai on the go . So today at the garden centre I was enticed by some japonica azalea plants .

I have seen a few of these as bonsai and thought it might be worth a go as I love the flowering bonsai . I am a total noob and dont know where to start or even if its possible with these plantsi picked up. If not I'll just have to dig another hole in the garden and get wrong off the mrs again

The plant in question is actually 5 plants crammed into 1 pot . So I'm sort of guessing I will need to wait till the plant is dormant to separate the roots. But not sure where to go from there onwards.
All help appreciated

 

[0soyoung]

I think you can repot/divide/prune-hard right after blooming.

Alternatively, one can repot/divide in spring and also just about any time after the summer solstice until shortly after the fall equinox.

Flower buds are set sometime in late summer early fall (around the time of the fall equinox). Flower buds are metamorphosed vegetative buds at the tips of branches, hence a branch will not lengthen any more once a flower bud is set. Growth will resume from axillary buds below the fat flower bud, just as it will if the tip was pruned off.

 

[Bonsainoob88]

Ok thanks for advice .
Couple of questions just so I know what you're saying in Lehman's terms.

1 . I thought the summer solstice and the fall equinox would be the same thing, right ?
2. So I wait till all the flower heads have dropped/stopped blooming then divide plants and prune hard ?
3. Prune hard ? Is that where I cut the Branches which the flowers bloomed from shorter . How short do I go ?
4. What is axillary buds .

Sorry for what may seem like silly questions but if I get this stuff into my head now It will stay there , I'm a quick learner and eager to learn from the bottom up .

 

[0soyoung]

1 . I thought the summer solstice and the fall equinox would be the same thing, right ?

The summer solstice is the day with the longest daylight hours. It is 21 June in the northern hemisphere, 21 Dec in the southern. The equinoxes are when daylight hours = dark hours = 12 hours, which happens 21 Mar (spring) and 21 Sep (fall in the northern hemisphere).

2. So I wait till all the flower heads have dropped/stopped blooming then divide plants and prune hard ?

yes.

3. Prune hard ? Is that where I cut the Branches which the flowers bloomed from shorter . How short do I go ?

You will see obvious nodes = point where the stems branch. You can cut back to these and usually it will sprout anew. If you do nothing, it will just tend to get longer and longer and longer --> hence the term 'cutting back'.

4. What is axillary buds .

At the base of every true leaf, there is a bud where it meets the stem. These are axillary buds (as opposed to apical buds at the branch tip). As I said before, the ones closest to the flower bud produce new shoots. The others (further down) tend to go dormant, but they leave a roundish scar on the stem often called and 'eye'. Pruning to just above one of these eyes will usually release that dormant bud to produce a new shoot - most likely when pruned right after flowering.

Simply, if you prune a branch, the nearest buds will be released and those closer to the roots will remain suppressed/dormant.

 

[Bonsainoob88]

Thanks for this very helpful information it will help massively. Now I just have to wait till bloom is over and grab my snippers . Then I just need to keep pruning to keep plant small , then I have a bonsai

 

[Shibui]

Then I just need to keep pruning to keep plant small , then I have a bonsai

You may need to add a number of years into that calculation.

That plant is a mass of stems coming out of the ground. It may have a larger trunk down in the soil but it is likely that all those stems will have some roots of their own so you can cut off and plant separately if you want. If there are a few small roots growing from the trunk but the trunk is thicker down further it is fine to snip off spare roots and bring the trunk up above soil level.
Azaleas are very good at growing new shoots when you prune so it does not really matter where you cut. New shoots will soon sprout all over any stubs you leave. Azaleas can be pruned almost any time, including when they are flowering but most people prefer to enjoy the flowers and prune soon after.
Pruning too late will remove all the flower buds for next spring as pointed out above but flowers should not be #1 priority when developing the trunk and branches. Allowing flowers can slow down the development phase so initial pruning should focus just on building a good trunk and branches. Change pruning times after that to allow flowers each year.

 

[Bonsainoob88]

You may need to add a number of years into that calculation.

That plant is a mass of stems coming out of the ground. It may have a larger trunk down in the soil but it is likely that all those stems will have some roots of their own so you can cut off and plant separately if you want. If there are a few small roots growing from the trunk but the trunk is thicker down further it is fine to snip off spare roots and bring the trunk up above soil level.
Azaleas are very good at growing new shoots when you prune so it does not really matter where you cut. New shoots will soon sprout all over any stubs you leave. Azaleas can be pruned almost any time, including when they are flowering but most people prefer to enjoy the flowers and prune soon after.
Pruning too late will remove all the flower buds for next spring as pointed out above but flowers should not be #1 priority when developing the trunk and branches. Allowing flowers can slow down the development phase so initial pruning should focus just on building a good trunk and branches. Change pruning times after that to allow flowers each year.

When i said that it was tongue in cheek I realise this is not an over night thing

I think that it is 5 plants in one pot , which I plan to divide and prune hard once the bloom is finish , but I dont know for sure. It didnt even occur to me that it could be 1 plant with multiple stems.

So you're saying that this could possibly be 1 plant once I take the plant out of pot ?

 

[Shibui]

Azalea frequently do this. If planted a bit deeper in the pot all the branches now sticking up through the soil will all produce roots and become trunks. Even if there was not branches when it was potted up they are really good at growing new shoots from the trunk so when they are potted up into a larger pot new shoots will sprout out of the trunk and push up through the soil to become new trunks.
Some azalea varieties are better at this than others. The 'Gumpo' group do this a lot and become crowded clumps of trunks after a few years.
I don't know what you will find when you explore under the soil but I fully expect to have lots of skinny stems with a few roots and a few larger trunks with roots. With a bit of luck you may also have one larger trunk at the centre that you can make use of.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Nice flowers on that azalea.

 

[Lazylightningny]

So you're saying that this could possibly be 1 plant once I take the plant out of pot ?

Have you had a chance to dig down in the soil and see if this is one plant?

 

[Bonsainoob88]

Have you had a chance to dig down in the soil and see if this is one plant?

I was going to wait until the flowers stopped blooming as someone reccomend me to do

 

[Bonsainoob88]

Hi everyone I thought I'd give an update on the azalea. The flowers were spent on a few stalks. I'm still researching what kind of soil to use and finding it tough to find any consistent info from previous posts. Hence i dont have any yet so going to wait to separate the plants .

I pruned one of the azalea as shown in picture , not really sure how far I should of went down the plant but It just looked so leggy and I went down pretty far so I hope it will be ok . I left a one of the long stalks on the plant to leave a bit foliage at top after pinching flower bud off as shown in other picture.
I would like to remove said stalk too but not sure if it will kill the plant if it's got no foliage?
I'm going to probably remove a bit more as shown in pic with green outline .
Any comments , suggestions appreciated.

 

[Tiki]

Heres some light video entertainment for you.

 

[Forsoothe!]

I think it's a mistake for a newbee to repot and prune hard in the same year. I predict poor results. Better buy another one and try to find one that only has one plant in the pot. If this has five stems coming from the soil, it is five individuals. 100% utilization; zero shrinkage. It is never one buried too deep in the US. It is a handful of saplings in one pot to insure the grower that he can sell that pot when the silly season begins, no matter what happens. Sloppy, but effective if your intent is to be sure that you absolutely, positively sell every pot you process.

 

[Bonsainoob88]

Hi everyone, hope all is well ! I divided plants up , repotted in some eracacious compost for now in some nursery pots. They have only been in 1 week and backbudding nicely. I am getting sorted with substrates for my various plants . For My azaleas which I plan to repot in the winter I have decided to go with 50% pumice, 25% peat moss , 25% orchid bark or pine bark . And also going to mix in some miracle gro slow release fertiliser aswell to keep acidic and fed. All I can find on amazon ect is pre mixed soils and reptile bark. I'm assuming the reptile bark is the same thing and I should buy it for my mix . At the moment i am a bit confused what to buy . Cheers guys

Edit: I will repot shortly after the fall equinox as suggested before

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Orchid supply companies stock excellent grades of bark at cheaper prices than "reptile bark". They also have long fiber sphagnum, and a number of interesting pots that can be used as training pots. I have had good experience with Chula Orchids.

https://www.chulaorchids.com/

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

If you can get the peat that is still "chunky" and has not been milled to a fine powder. Sunshine is one brand that is not milled.

Use a piece of window screen, to sieve your mix. discard anything that goes through the window screen.

 

[Bonsainoob88]

I am in the uk so shipping will be too expensive from USA. I have trawled the internet tonight and cannot find any fine pine bark or orchid bark . I can get bark compost and orchid bark reptile substrate . But cant find anything else. I cant believe the struggle to find this bark ! I've ordered akadama, peat moss and pumice in the last day but finding the right bark is starting to frustrate me .

 

[Bonsainoob88]

Ok I think I'm sorted , I ordered from www.kaizenbonsai.com for any uk growers who are also struggling. It looks like They have a good range of products on there guys .

 

[Bonsainoob88]

Here are some pics of 2 of my azaleas since dividing up and potting up in some eracacious compost. They have only been in for about 2 weeks, they seem to have rooted very well and budding all over on all 5 plants .
My potting substrates will all be here soon along with a toolkit.
What are peoples thoughts on repotting AGAIN with the mix I've chosen just after fall equinox? Or am I better off just leaving in the eracious compost for over winter and next season?

I have just bought a satsuki azalea aswell I will include an image , the soil looks pretty nasty but the plant ain't too shabby . So I was also going to leave that till after the fall equinox and repot with the good stuff. But should I just do it as soon as I can ?

Cheers