Deciduous Azalea Techniques

[Azz]

@Azz if I had to guess I'd say the water being too Alkaline might have been the primary issue. I have all my plants that aren't in their nursery stock containers in training pots with Kanuma with a bit of Yamagoke (moss) interspersed at the root level and used as a top dressing. From your pictures it looks like your plants are pretty leggy, can you give us a side profile of the trunk? What substrate are they sitting in?

My Northern Hi-Lights was pretty leggy, but after repotted it in Kanuma and hard pruned it back to just the primary branch the new growth that grew in was shorter in internode length. From there I think the key is to keep an eye on the "eye spots" because those will be where the new growth with sprout from, and as your plant grows out you prune back to allow growth from those eyes that are positioned where you would like growth to be.

But let me warn you, by "hard prune" I mean you take off all foliage, if you spare any, I've seen where the plant won't kick out nearly as much new growth lower down the plant, it will merely try to get by with what it presently has.

So before you make any big moves on your plant, I'd caution you to make some decisions on your goals for the plant and how happy are you with where it is at. If you want a larger trunk, you are better growing it out for a while and utilizing techniques to encourage trunk development. If you are happy with where the trunk is, and if you have a good primary branch, then go ahead and start the hard prune and refinement techniques. (Which is why I was asking to see the side profile of the trunk)

Keep us posted!

Yea, after seeing your posts I was planning to cut everything off for the hard prune. Not 100% sure yet to where but somewhere around the marked lines.

It isn't a very thick or very expensive bit of material. I mainly got it cause it was cheap, a species I have never used before and in an effort to see how well I do keeping it alive over winter as I am not from a cold nation and the last few years my bonsai learning journey has been about that. I also don't mind letting it re-grow to where I can control the growth. So my goals are mainly to cut it back to where I like how it looks and to regrow it, maybe keep it as a smaller tree as it seems the leaves on mine are really small compared to others I have seen (maybe I am being duped by pictures), 3-4cm and very thin have been the biggest I have seen so far (I have also fertilized it heavily) and they seem to be hardening off and not growing anymore.

As for soil, just the standard nursery mix I am guessing. I only got it about a month ago and have been waiting for it to flower before doing the cut.

 

[NorthernLightsBonsai]

****356 Days Later: A Bonsai Project Update****
As I approach the one-year mark of this bonsai journey, things are getting exciting, though the patience required for bonsai remains a humbling challenge. Here’s the latest on my plants, including a new addition that has me thrilled.

Northern Hi-Lights
My star performer. This plant is thriving in its training pot and will remain there for another one to two years. I’m focusing on letting it grow out, with only structural pruning as needed to shape its future form.

Candy Lights (aka “Ugly Duckling”)
I’ll be honest—I grew tired of staring at this one, trying to envision its potential. I decided to remove it from its training pot and plant it in my back garden. For the next one to three years, I’ll let it grow relatively undisturbed to thicken up and gain strength.

Electric Lights - Red
This plant has serious potential, but it needs time to develop. Like Candy Lights, I’ve planted it in the back garden to focus on growth and thickening. I’ll check in periodically for minor directional or corrective pruning, but its main goal is to bulk up over the next few years.

Golden Lights
This one produced only a couple of flowers, which I left for about a week before giving the plant a hard prune. I repotted it into a Kanuma-filled training box, following the same protocol as last year’s Northern Hi-Lights: I removed all foliage, pruned back to the best primary branch structure, applied Top-Jin and Cut Paste to large cuts, and added a top dressing of Yamagoke to protect the surface roots. The plant is now recovering under a black plastic trash bag for the next couple of weeks.

Lilac Lights: The Newcomer
During a recent family vacation, I stopped at the only nursery in Minnesota I could find selling the Lilac Lights cultivar—and I’m so glad I did. This was my priciest azalea purchase yet, but the 5-gallon nursery pot housed a more mature specimen than others I’ve found in the Twin Cities. Its small leaves and flowers, paired with a well-structured trunk, make it a fantastic candidate for bonsai. I’m incredibly optimistic about its future.
I followed a similar pruning and repotting protocol as with Northern Hi-Lights and Electric Lights - Red, but left one small branch with a couple unopened flowers and leaves. I’m crossing my fingers that it survives the repot and buds out vigorously. Additionally, I took cuttings from this plant, applied rooting hormone powder, and planted them in the substrate from the original nursery pot, hoping to propagate more Lilac Lights azaleas.



Outside of these developments my only future plans include sourcing a better fertilizer and putting up my 40% shade cloth to help my plants do better in the coming summer sun.
I'll follow up later in the season with updates...
Is anyone else out there having any results good/bad/indifferent??

 

[Underdog]

Mine didn't flower this year. I'm gonna have to review this thread and my pics. Seems it had to bloom on yr old wood last time.

 

[NorthernLightsBonsai]

Mine didn't flower this year. I'm gonna have to review this thread and my pics. Seems it had to bloom on yr old wood last time.

Was it after a hard prune/cut-back? My Northern Hi-Lights from last year didn't flower at all this year, which I attribute to all the foliage was post-hard prune new growth from last season, and I believe the flower buds are developed on the previous years growth. So in my case, cutting all that off, I'm left with just the new foliage to grow and hoping for flowers next year.

 

[NorthernLightsBonsai]

Yesterday, I welcomed my bonsai projects back from my brother, who kindly cared for them while I was up north. To celebrate their return, I built a new shade cloth structure for my bench, giving my plants some much-needed protection as summer approaches. While setting it up, I took a hard look at my Northern Hi-Lights azalea, which is showing vigorous growth but no flowers this season. This got me diving back into the early pages of this thread, re-reading the trials and triumphs of fellow bonsai enthusiasts. Now, I’m at a crossroads with my best-developed specimen and could use some advice from the community... Do leave it alone to grow out and thicken the primary branches or do I prune it back to try to shorten the node length?
Here's how it started earlier this Spring:



Here's how it's going/growing now:



I’m torn about the next step. Should I let it grow freely to thicken the primary branches, or prune it back to encourage shorter internodes and better ramification for that classic bonsai look? Reading back through pages 3–6 of this thread, I came across discussions from @0soyoung and @Leo in N E Illinois about “chasing the green.” They suggested trimming vigorous shoots back to one or two leaves on new green growth to promote back-budding.
For example, on the lower branch of my Northern Hi-Lights, if I cut back to just above the second leaf—where the internode length is nice and short—will this encourage back-budding? And will the remaining green stem and leaves harden off for future growth next season? Since it’s early June, is there still a chance this new growth could produce flowers next year, given that azalea flower buds typically form later in the season? I’d love to hear your experiences and recommendations!



My last question, with my other Northern Lights azaleas—Candy Lights, Electric Lights Red, Golden Lights, and Lilac Lights—having finished their flowering, I’m shifting focus to promoting healthy growth. I’ve been using Southern AG MaxAcid (30-10-10) for both my azaleas and cedar, but I’m running low and wondering if there’s a better option. Does anyone have a tried-and-true fertilizer recommendation for their deciduous azaleas bonsai protocol? I’m aiming to support vigorous growth while keeping the plants healthy in Minnesota’s climate.

 

[Underdog]

Not yet had time to review my notes and this thread but, I think I left some shoots alone and cut back others which makes me think yr old wood....
leave a couple apical shoots alone and prune the rest.

 

[NorthernLightsBonsai]

Not yet had time to review my notes and this thread but, I think I left some shoots alone and cut back others which makes me think yr old wood....
leave a couple apical shoots alone and prune the rest.

@Underdog I followed your advice and pruned all the shoots except three of the longer shoots that were the logical apical shoots of the primary branches/trunk and a couple smaller compact clusters, hopefully ensuring some flowers next season and some branch thickening. All the others got pruned down to two smaller leaves in hopes to encourage back-budding/splitting/ramification.

Will report back later this season.

 

[Azz]

I was also wondering how to deal with pruning to shorten the internodes.

I also did a hard cut back on my Hi-lights on the 1st of June. Still not seeing signs of growth, gonna give it another couple of weeks. How long did it take for you to see new growth?

Yesterday, I welcomed my bonsai projects back from my brother, who kindly cared for them while I was up north. To celebrate their return, I built a new shade cloth structure for my bench, giving my plants some much-needed protection as summer approaches. While setting it up, I took a hard look at my Northern Hi-Lights azalea, which is showing vigorous growth but no flowers this season. This got me diving back into the early pages of this thread, re-reading the trials and triumphs of fellow bonsai enthusiasts. Now, I’m at a crossroads with my best-developed specimen and could use some advice from the community... Do leave it alone to grow out and thicken the primary branches or do I prune it back to try to shorten the node length?
Here's how it started earlier this Spring:

View attachment 601231

Here's how it's going/growing now:

View attachment 601232

I’m torn about the next step. Should I let it grow freely to thicken the primary branches, or prune it back to encourage shorter internodes and better ramification for that classic bonsai look? Reading back through pages 3–6 of this thread, I came across discussions from @0soyoung and @Leo in N E Illinois about “chasing the green.” They suggested trimming vigorous shoots back to one or two leaves on new green growth to promote back-budding.
For example, on the lower branch of my Northern Hi-Lights, if I cut back to just above the second leaf—where the internode length is nice and short—will this encourage back-budding? And will the remaining green stem and leaves harden off for future growth next season? Since it’s early June, is there still a chance this new growth could produce flowers next year, given that azalea flower buds typically form later in the season? I’d love to hear your experiences and recommendations!

View attachment 601234

My last question, with my other Northern Lights azaleas—Candy Lights, Electric Lights Red, Golden Lights, and Lilac Lights—having finished their flowering, I’m shifting focus to promoting healthy growth. I’ve been using Southern AG MaxAcid (30-10-10) for both my azaleas and cedar, but I’m running low and wondering if there’s a better option. Does anyone have a tried-and-true fertilizer recommendation for their deciduous azaleas bonsai protocol? I’m aiming to support vigorous growth while keeping the plants healthy in Minnesota’s climate.

 

[NorthernLightsBonsai]

I was also wondering how to deal with pruning to shorten the internodes.

I also did a hard cut back on my Hi-lights on the 1st of June. Still not seeing signs of growth, gonna give it another couple of weeks. How long did it take for you to see new growth?

@Azz, I hard pruned my Golden Lights back on May 27th, it budded out pretty quickly, and now is covered in developing mini-leaves. My Lilac Lights I hard pruned on May 31st, and I just started to see the buds swell last Friday (June 13th) but it's progressing very slowly, despite following the exact same protocol. I suppose it's indicative of individual plants being unique, and also us not being able to perceive all the variables that will make one plant better for a hard prune opposed to another in terms of stored energy, health, etc...

What I've been doing that I think helps is I set up a little recovery center on the work bench in my garage with a cheap amazon grow light overhead, and borrowing Harry Harrington's Black Bag Method (<--Youtube Link) I put a tomato plant support cage around/over my trunk, cheap black garbage bag (semi-transparent) over the top of it all, poked a small hole up towards the top, and have been using a spray bottle to mist it every day or so to up the humidity and hopefully encourage recovery and bud growth. As the buds develop into leaves more and more I'll increase the size of the hole, and eventually start bringing the plant out to my bench outside (covered by 40% shade cloth), but through the later parts of June and the midwest sun/heat of July I'll be very cautious with the young growth, I got my Electric Lights -Red to a point a bit further along and still managed to kill it by subjecting it to too much sun/heat too soon. So I'll err on the side of caution and take things slow.

As long as you have kept your Hi-Lights properly watered, it should still be alive, and give all the little bud eye's a good look over for signs of swelling. Give it a couple weeks of the black bag+mist treatment, and I bet/hope you'll be alright and see results.

Keep us posted.

 

[Azz]

@Azz, I hard pruned my Golden Lights back on May 27th, it budded out pretty quickly, and now is covered in developing mini-leaves. My Lilac Lights I hard pruned on May 31st, and I just started to see the buds swell last Friday (June 13th) but it's progressing very slowly, despite following the exact same protocol. I suppose it's indicative of individual plants being unique, and also us not being able to perceive all the variables that will make one plant better for a hard prune opposed to another in terms of stored energy, health, etc...

What I've been doing that I think helps is I set up a little recovery center on the work bench in my garage with a cheap amazon grow light overhead, and borrowing Harry Harrington's Black Bag Method (<--Youtube Link) I put a tomato plant support cage around/over my trunk, cheap black garbage bag (semi-transparent) over the top of it all, poked a small hole up towards the top, and have been using a spray bottle to mist it every day or so to up the humidity and hopefully encourage recovery and bud growth. As the buds develop into leaves more and more I'll increase the size of the hole, and eventually start bringing the plant out to my bench outside (covered by 40% shade cloth), but through the later parts of June and the midwest sun/heat of July I'll be very cautious with the young growth, I got my Electric Lights -Red to a point a bit further along and still managed to kill it by subjecting it to too much sun/heat too soon. So I'll err on the side of caution and take things slow.

As long as you have kept your Hi-Lights properly watered, it should still be alive, and give all the little bud eye's a good look over for signs of swelling. Give it a couple weeks of the black bag+mist treatment, and I bet/hope you'll be alright and see results.

Keep us posted.

Will give it a crack! Thank you. I did a scratch test today and its still nice and green, been making sure it is watered also. Besides that its been in its normal spot out on the balcony. We did have a week of cooler and cloudy weather though so maybe that has also slowed it down? Another tree I have (hawthorn) took around a month and a half and now its exploding. Maybe the weather here is just funny.