Watch This Before You Buy an Azalea Bonsai

All right, in this video I want to talk to you guys about azaleas. If you've just gotten into bonsai or you've been doing it for a while and you're curious about azaleas, give me some time. You're going to learn a little bit more about azaleas and rhododendrons for that fact. So let's get started. Okay, so azaleas are one of the most beautiful bonsai you can actually add to your bonsai collection, but it can get a little confusing with all the different cultivars that are out there, the species that are out there as well. So azaleas are technically rhododendrons. They're small leaf rhododendrons called azaleas. They're part of the same family and I believe the scientific name for them is rhododendron indicum, which represents the small leaves. But not all azaleas are built equally. So some actually stay very bushy and these are usually used for landscape. And back in Japan what they noticed was the satsuki azaleas, which a lot of the bonsai people know about, developed these really big thick trunks and they've been crossbred through the years that there's about a million different cultivars out there. So you're going to have all different varieties of colors and variegation in the flowers. I truly believe that we get a little bit caught up in all these cultivars and it's largely due to the nursery trade. Every time they have a different flower, slightly different leaf, they'll call it by a different name. And so there's actually books out there with about a thousand different cultivars. So if somebody asks you, hey so what species is this? Or what cultivar is this? I'm like, well your guess is as good as mine. There are some cultivars out there that are better for bonsai than others. So this right here, this tree, as well as this cascading tree that I have on my left actually started out as a Yardadori. So let me show you some clips and pictures of how this thing started off. I mean it was a dig about probably seven to eight years ago where I pulled out just a row of these smaller leaf Rhododendrons, so the Indicum, and have developed them over time, first starting with the root system. Then now it's almost time to start styling this tree. But this is one of the better ones that I pulled out that turned into a really nice looking bonsai. All right, I just unloaded all the trees. Gnarled trunk. This one is huge. Odie. Still in there. Okay. Okay, so this particular tree I've kept in a nursery pot for years before I repotted it into this unglazed ceramic pot. And it's interesting because you would think the convention is that deciduous bonsai or flowering bonsai would go into a glazed pot. But over in Japan, unglazed pots are usually what they use. To be honest with you, if you decided that you wanted to put your Azalea into a glazed pot, go with it. Go with what makes you happy. So small leaf Rhododendrons are part of the Lepidophyllum family. That's L-E-P-I-D-O-T-E. And Azaleas are just a subgroup of Rhododendrons. So somebody says, hey, do you have Azalea? That's fine if say, hey, if you have a small leaf Rhododendron, it's almost the same thing. So let's talk about Satsuki Azaleas. So the translation is fifth of the month. And the reason being is because between May and June are when these Azaleas go into bloom. Now all Azaleas are part of the Rhododendron family. But not all Rhododendrons are part of the Azalea family. So you'll see here in the landscape, Rhododendrons that are really big leaf, they tend not to be great for bonsai. And not all Azaleas will develop this larger size trunk. So in reality, you'll see a lot of these. This is kind of a small little Azalea. Now they're meant to be bushes, right? Flowering bushes. So some will stay very small. Some will stay very bushy and sprout out from the base. But not all will grow large, thicker trunks. That's the kind you want to actually develop into bonsai. So Azaleas are generally hardy. They go from anywhere from zones three through nine. They don't like it when it gets too hot. So if you're in Arizona or kind of Southern California, you do need to put them in full shade because these guys are heavy water drinkers. Now if you have an Azalea and you don't like the water or it's too dry in your area, put a drip tray underneath your Azalea and make sure that thing is full almost every single day in the summertime. Because the roots are very fine and so they drink a lot of water. And if you don't water it, you're going to see very droopy leaves. And that's a good indicator that it's underwater. Let's talk about the soil, okay? So for soil in bonsai, we use Kanuma, which is kind of like Akadama except it's a little bit lighter color, very light in weight, and it's generally more acidic. So Azaleas like more acidic soil. Anywhere from four to about five and a half is ideal for them. You know, if you're fertilizing these guys as well, you want to use the Azalea fertilizer because it's a little bit more acidic and it just does so much better for these trees. So you want to use acid loving fertilizer like Epsoma or Holitone. Generally you want to do it in the spring or after it flowers. So let's move on to the next thing here. So after Azaleas or Rotodendrons flower, you kind of want to cut off those dying buds. And you can see on this tree here, this tree's already flowered. It was really beautiful. Had purple flowers, kind of a dark blue, almost purplish flower when they go into full bloom. And a beautiful Azalea is one that is completely covered in blooms. So I have a trick for getting more flowers on my trees is actually using comfrey tea. And I have a video for that somewhere in my library. Go find it. Okay, so what do you do after the flowers have all dried up and they're all in bloom or the blooms are done? You actually want to go through and cut off all of the blooms. All of the blooms. Because the energy that goes into producing seeds is now taken away from producing new growth. And so it's a tedious task, but one that needs to be done. So we are in the beginning of June and this tree is completely done. So what I do is I go through and I cut off all of the blooms here. And plug into your favorite music, something that can, or maybe your favorite podcast, because this is going to take a while to do. And sometimes you got to do it in sessions. Just to break up the monotony of doing it. And if you have a tree that has a lot of blooms, it's going to take some time. Okay, so here's a nice little Azalea that I've been developing over the years. And it started off simply like one of these that came out of a nursery can. And it doesn't take too much time to develop the structure, but it does take a lot of time to develop the trunk. And not all Azaleas develop big trunks. I'll show you another one later. Actually, it's a deciduous Azalea that does develop really cool, thick, muscly looking trunks. And it's very unusual, but you can bonsai deciduous Azalea. All right. So as far as this tree goes, I've already removed about 80% of the flower buds. I kind of left the rest of that. I can kind of show you what to do. You go through, you cut them off, all of them. Because the idea here is to manage the energy of the tree into producing vegetative growth versus fruiting growth. Because at the end of the day, I'm trying to develop branches. The flowers are definitely the star of the show. But if the tree doesn't have energy to produce new branches, you're going to have a very scraggly Azalea that doesn't have the density of flowers later. So that's the idea. Cut them all off. I'll finish that off camera. All right. So there's one more tidbit about Azaleas. Unlike a lot of trees, they are basally dominant, which means that unlike most trees where you have the octant near the top of the tree, they grow healthier at the lower branches. So if you think about that, you can prune these branches a little bit harder than you can prune the top branches. And in some cases you'll see Azaleas where the tops look like they've completely died off. And I don't know why that is. Maybe it's the ability to transport water all the way to the top. Could be a factor. But keep that in mind when you're pruning your Azaleas is that they are basally dominant. Means the lower branches get more energy than the top branches at the top or the top branches at the apex. Okay. So the last thing to go over is do they back bud? Of course they do. These things love to be pruned. And if you prune them, you're going to get one, two, three, maybe sometimes six buds coming out of that cut. But when do you do it? Right now is a great time. So we're starting June, kind of mid late spring when the flowers are all done. And if you cut back to bare wood, it's not an issue whatsoever because where you cut, you're going to get a bunch of new buds. So in this tree right here, I've got this kind of longer branch that I need to get rid of. And typically what I do is I go back to where I want that silhouette to happen or what that silhouette of the tree so that it's in ratio to the rest of the tree. This one's kind of shooting out. It's not really where I want it. And you just cut that guy off and you can actually root these little rooting powder or hormones, stick it in some soil, loose draining soil, and you can actually create a new tree from this. And this is actually how a lot of the nurseries do it. They propagate, they're taking cuttings, keeping it under a misting system, somewhere shaded, not too hot. These trees will root. I get lazy sometimes and just throw it into some dirt. If something takes, great. If it doesn't, no big deal. Okay. So here's a prime example of how, depending on where you cut, you'll get a lot of new buds. And this is just a little guy that I developed a few years ago. See where I cut here. I've got all these new branches here that popped up. I mean, there's about six, seven, maybe eight of them. And this is how you develop pads. So you develop the trunk, find your trunk line, develop your secondary branches. And then from there you can develop the pads. And so the beauty about these guys is that they are a little bit more forgiving depending on where you cut. And so unlike conifers, pines, if you cut back to bare wood, you might not get a bud, but with these ones, it's almost a guarantee. Okay. I think I covered a lot of information. So hopefully you got something out of that. If you're afraid of azaleas or if you're interested in getting into azaleas, that's a good start. I'll see you on the next one. Bye.