[nealweb] - Satsuki azalea 'Rukizon'

[nealweb]

This was bought from John Coles Nursery about a year ago in a 250mm pot for $25 from memory.
On the 13th of May I cut it right down, bare rooted it and potted it into kanuma. This was a bit of an experiment in doing major work on an azalea at what would often be considered the wrong time of year. So far so I good. (Bear in mind i don't get any frosts where I am)
It is currently about 14cm heigh.

[nealweb]

Just to update - My tree really just needs to grow a bit and hopefully to also pop some new buds for more options so all I have done at the start of the comp is to clean him up a bit with a toothbrush and chopstick to get all the flakey old bark and dirt off and to chop back unwanted growth. I removed a straight section of trunk cutting it back to a small growth, the rest of the stub will probably be removed later. I didn't do it all in one go because there is already a large wound just behind it. Now i will just leave him be for a while and see what developes. I did try a fat cutting from the offcut to see how it goes too. I'm going to try it on my new heated propagation matt

[nealweb]

3 month update. Haven't done anything to it as it hasn't grown all that much yet...
i think the fat cutting carked it somewhere along the line

[Glaucus]

Hi Neal, I noticed you in all the azalea threads so I clicked your past posts then I saw no one replied which made me a bit sad.

You have got a real trunk of a really nice cultivar there. Good job. That's some real bonsai material.

I don't think those trunk parts cuttings can root unless you try tissue culture with some major auxin growth regulators.