So much potential.

[JesusFreak]

Azalea slanting style. Nebari is legit too. Pretty stoked. When should I start
Feeding

 

[A. Gorilla]

I dont see nebari, per se, but there is some taper at least. Consider a future chop at the first junction with that first nub and dont get preoccupied with all that non-tapering length.

Feeding immediately will do no harm.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Nice azalea log, LOL. This is a serious trunk, and can become an interesting tree. I think if you think of this trunk as reaching out over a river, or a pond, the image can make sense. I would maybe have made it slightly more upright, but you can always adjust that the next time you repot. Its been 8 days since you posted this, if you haven't, go back and seal those cuts. Azalea can end up dying back or picking up serious rots through cut ends that are larger than 1/4 inch diameter.

Other than that, just water, no fertilizer needed. If you are splashing around fertilizer on your other trees, no problem if the azalea gets a dose. If you are using an acid fertilizer to help bring the pH of your municipal water down, then do fertilize any time you use municipal. water. If you are not adjusting your water, don't worry about it. The azalea really does not need fertilizer until after it has made new leaves.

So no further pruning until late autumn. Then you do branch selection, decide which of the new branches will be your "keepers".

 

[JesusFreak]

I was really just going for the slanting style with this. But yes I will consider more upright once it’s time to repot. Should I chop even further back? I sealed the same day I cut back and transplanted.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

When creating any style of tree, it is helpful to decide what the "causal forces" are to create the image. You are creating an image from nature. Or an image that carries the emotional impact of an image from nature. Bonsai can be stylistically quite abstract. There are the slant trees that got knocked over in a windstorm, here the roots and the anchoring of the tree will look unstable. There are slanting trees that are simply reaching for light, for example, over a pond or river. Here the base of the tree will show evidence of being stable, well rooted. A flowering azalea reflects vigor and health, so a stable base would be in synch with a tree vigorous enough to be covered with flowers. A tree clinging to the rocks at the top of a cliff or bluff, reaching out over the void would have a different, slanting look. And then there is windswept, which often includes a slanting trunk.

I would do no further cutting back this year. Let the tree recover. Good that you sealed the cuts. Later, probably several years later, you will carve the cut ends to make them appear more natural. This trunk is too large in diameter to ever heal over and disappear the cuts into smooth taper. At least in less than a 20 year time line, so carving would be the way to finish those cut ends. But you need to let the tree develop for a couple years first.