Growing runks for Mame/Shohin sized Azaleas?

[Glider]

Yes, that's it. That's what Attila was saying. Having removed the terminal, the shoot you select should extend. You occasionally see on nursery azaleas those very long single stems that seem to be strangely over-long and at odds with the rest of the plant? That's usually the result of the tips being taken off through rough handling; like an accidental application of the technique Attila describes.

 

[Attila Soos]

However, at the time the branches stop growing, these clusters of cells at the terminals are tiny. There is no way of telling them apart for all practical purposes (i.e. without a microscope), so yes, by removing the terminals, we are removing the embryonic clusters that form both flower buds and the next season's shoots, but we also halt the production of the inhibitory hormones which triggers new growth in the stem. It basically tricks the plant into an 'oh, it's not the reproductive phase, so it must be a growing phase' state, so buds just behind the terminals take off and continue to extend.

Glider,

Wonderful detailed explanation, better than I could have ever explained.

Yes, the terminal bud will produce two different kind of buds, the flower buds and the vegetative ones right behind them(which will take off only after the flowers are gone). But since you cannot tell them apart, just pinch the whole thing off, and the plant will have nothing else to do but quickly produce new vegetative buds and grow some more, in order to achieve its goal: to produce the flower buds again for reproduction. In other word, the plant will keep chasing the carrot, which is the flower bud at the end of the growth.

A very important detail to keep in mind is the timing of pinching off the terminal bud. You pinch it only after the growth ran its course. If you pinch it too early, then you've just stopped the growth in full swing, and instead of growing a few more inches, the plant will stop and spend some time developing new vegetative buds before resuming growth again. It is easy to see when the growth has stopped, from the color of the last pair of leaves at the end of the branch.

Kai,

You are right (as Glider was saying), you have to choose a new leader every time, which is good, since this will create natural movements in the trunk line.

 

[Attila Soos]

Alright, some very good information here and it seems we have established Attila as our resident Azalea expert, so I have a question:

I have a nice shohin azalea that infortunately was blown off the benches last fall and broke a couple of branches. I was hoping these would bud again but no luck so far but the branches are still green when scratched. The tree is very healthy (didn't let it flower and it has been fed well) so I am thinking of cutting back hard on the rest of the tree to try and get some budding in these 2 areas as well. Is this a good plan and would now be the right time to do this? I'll take a pic tomorrow so you can see how far along it is.

Thanks Ian, but I am not an expert by any standard. I do have an expert next door, who can always feed me with valuable information.

First, this is a good time to cut back hard the healthy and vigorous branches. You can actually cut back all the way till end of July.

As to those broken branches, I am not sure what their status. If they are still alive, then they should show new growth by now, or in the near future. No need to cut those further back, since you just want to see whether or not they will survive. Two things could happen: either they will start pushing new growh by the end of June, or they are in the process of dying (still green but the plant has given up on them). You just have to wait and see.

 

[painter]

am i the only one who needs visuals to aid in this discussion?
i think i kinda got it, but pictures would make this complete.

 

[Kai]

Inspiring, thank you Attila and Glider.

Thank you Glider and Attila, this is truly appreciated. This thread have been seriously and deeply a true learning experience for me. All my first questions have been answered in a most satisfying way. I always work from cuttings and grow a trunk, so this will be really helpful for the comming years

 

[chappy56]

Along these same lines; how soon after a repot can you cut back hard an Azalea? I recently repotted one and want to cut it back but was afraid after a root reduction just how far I could get away with cutting one back?

Along these same lines; how soon after a repot can you cut back hard an Azalea? I recently repotted one and want to cut it back but was afraid after a root reduction just how far I could get away with cutting one back?

 

[Glider]

It depends largely on your reason for cutting back. The hardest cut back done on azaleas is usually the complete removal of all branches to generate new ones once the trunk has been developed. If you want to cut back that hard, then I would wait until the tree is growing vigorously again after its repotting. In real time I suppose that would be no sooner than the year after you repotted it.

leaves are the food factories so: No leaves = no root growth. Conversely, roots supply the raw materials to build and maintain leaves, so: No roots = no leaf growth. You need to find a balance between the two extremes. If you have taken a lot of root out with the repotting, then the tree will need energy to grow more root and I would not take too much of the top out. If it was only a root 'trim', then you could afford to take more out, but again, only after the tree has shown signs of good recovery.

The above applies within the normal bounds of repotting/root pruning. Things change at the far extremes. If you have taken too much root out, then there won't be enough to support the top and you'd need to cut back quite hard just to keep the tree alive.

A short version would be: If you want to prune the tree hard, then wait until it is vigorous (however long that takes). That way you know it will have the energy to back bud well. If it has been repotted into a good mix (or well sifted kanuma), the nature of azalea roots means it will be some time before you will need to repot again, so you have time to play with.