Azalea Shohin??

[mtarros]

The tree is starting to flower now, I was going to remove the buds and just leave one so I can see what the flowers are like.
I'm guessing that removing the buds will give more energy to the new shoots and in brisbane we dont get frost so they should harden off with no issues.

Still not too sure how much I and going to cut off, but working on the apex first seems like a good idea.

[nealweb]

For me frost is not a problem but heat can be. Summer is the hardest season on my azaleas with high temps and warm drying winds so I like to cut them early when i know we won't get a sudden hot spell and give them a few months of good mild growing weather to recover before summer arrives.
I don't know about azaleas in Brisbanes climate though, its always best to talk to a local grower if possible. I know in Japan they do major rootwork and restyling from winter through until flowering time, with protection from frost. Certainly if you were going to wait until later i would be removing flowers because these will exhaust a plants energy rather than letting it build it.

[dragon]

Hi Guy's and Gal's
This is my azalia gone into flower the only problem i found is ant's love to nest in all my flowering plants so a simple
solution is to use the ant sand and a solution of bug killer
cheers dean

[nealweb]

Beautiful! Great flower, many petalled! Not sure about your 'display stand'
Nice photo too, with the sun rays coming down. I gotta get away from this computer and out into the sun too ...

[Glaucus]

I have been told removing flower buds after winter does little because the buds have already grown and jsut need to swell.

From my experience, flowering does take it's fair amount of water. So only in that respect it put stress on the plant. It doesn't make the azalea grow harder in other areas because it doesn't have to grow flowers as it already did.

[nealweb]

Interesting, its nice to get some new input and experience from around the world. The president of our club has recently had a trip to Japan where he worked for a time in a huge satsuki nursery that produces millions of satsuki bonsai and they were very insistent that there should be no flowers on any developing trees, only when they have the basic structure grown do they allow them to flower so I can't doubt its effectiveness but I did find last year with my kurume 'mrs kint' that no matter how often I pulled the buds off it just kept on producing more and trying to flower. So it was a bit weak at the start of spring which was why i thought i'd pull the buds off but instead of growing it just kept using its strength to try and make more flowers. It was very insistant, I want to show off and be beautiful! haha

Anyhow I've disbudded all of the trees that I have bare rooted or majorly chopped or am trying to grow quickly this year so I will try to watch how it goes. Its always hard to know what would have been the case if you did nothing though. I gues I should try growing some with flowers and some without to compare.

Some pics of azalea bonsai from the Netherlands would be nice

neal.

[dragon]

Beautiful! Great flower, many petalled! Not sure about your 'display stand'
Nice photo too, with the sun rays coming down. I gotta get away from this computer and out into the sun too ...

gday neal well the display stand was a warning to the plant do as your told or this is where you will end up
when i do my azalia's if it only got 1 or 2 flowers im not happy so i take the buds off and let it go for a while, and i also take the hardened
leaves of around the base of flower to allow it to blossom nice without any restrictions,currently i have around 5 azalia's and all have flowered
cheers dean

[nealweb]

Here's one i just did now, it went from a plastic nursery pot into one of Penny's beautiful natural pots.
I would have much prefered to have kept some more roots but they were all pointing up or twisted around, as you usually get with a nursery tree. I think it will be ok if I look after it well but i'll let you know if it dies and you will know not to be as harsh
The final nebari slopes downwards, not straight out from the trunk, this makes for a nice flaring base with time. The roots were cleared out from directly underneath the tree base too and all old potting mix was washed out. Its then been potted into a mix of small and medium kanuma with 20% sphagnum moss (rubbed through a sieve to break it up) and a little crushed charcoal. Then lastly the surface was covered with some more sphagnum as a mulch. Also it was well tied into the pot so it can't move around and damage the new roots as they grow back.
Maybe I could have taken more leaves from the top, I never know whether its best to reduce transpiration or to keep the leaves to photosynthesize and make food.
Anyway, wish him luck!

[Glaucus]

I didn't say it doesn't make a difference to not let an azalea in development flower. I said it is kind of late to do it now since the flower buds have been on the plant now for maybe 8 or 9 months.
Obviously it is a waste of energy to let them flower in many cases. But the energy is wasted in autumn.

When satsuki azalea and some azalea are in warmer climates, they may bloom continiously. Azalea time their blooms using a cold period. If there isn't any, they will bloom one flower at a time. They do this in Hawaii. If the azalea doesn't go into dormancy after developing new flower buds, which are removed, in autumn, then it will go on growing and it will keep growing new flower buds as well. Just speculating a bit on their response to climates with a very mild winter.

My azalea already have their new flower buds here on the northern hemisphere.

I don't have azalea bonsai. I am an azalea hybridizer myself.

[akaruhi]

Hello,

Just some points to remember, as you have had some good advice already.
1. It has had a shock from being uprooted from the garden.
2. Azaleas are surprisingly hardy provided the water is kept up to them.
3. They hate wet feet - they'll die if wet and soggy or stood in water too long.
4. You can repot from mid winter to flowering time.
5 It is best to keep ALL flowers and buds off them until you have done all their basic bonsai training. You know what the flowers are like don't you?
6. Put it into a pot and just let it grow for a couple of years - then start working on it: not before.
7. Open mix with very good drainage if you can't get Kanuma ( magic stuff that ).
8. Water copiously - the Japanese only use a small amount of fertiliser but give them loads of water.

Good luck,

Akaruhi ( Arthur Robinson )