DawnMichele
Seedling
Hello everyone. My Dad bought me a beautiful Satsuki Azalea from Brussels Bonsai. I don't know much about them. I live in Florida and we have really hard water. Is that OK for them?
Satsuki Azalea
- Thread starter DawnMichele
- Start date
Glaucus
Omono
Keeping it outdoors and rain is probably best. Yes correct, they do not like hard water. But acidic soil and (fertilizers with) chelated iron can help alleviate it's bad effects.
Probably, the biggest issue is peak heat in summer. Especially when combined with direct sunlight or a dry strong wind.
Florida is pretty good for azaleas, but a bit on the hot side for satsuki. The better azaleas are the Formosa-group Southern Indica's, which are the Hirado azaleas. Namely, R. pulchrum aka George Taber. But these are poor bonsai subjects as they have huge leaves and can grow several meters tall.
Probably, the biggest issue is peak heat in summer. Especially when combined with direct sunlight or a dry strong wind.
Florida is pretty good for azaleas, but a bit on the hot side for satsuki. The better azaleas are the Formosa-group Southern Indica's, which are the Hirado azaleas. Namely, R. pulchrum aka George Taber. But these are poor bonsai subjects as they have huge leaves and can grow several meters tall.
DawnMichele
Seedling
Thank you for the info. I appreciate it. Could I use bottled water? It does get HOT here in Florida. I will keep it on my lanai and in the summer I will keep an eye on it with the heat.
Charlo
Yamadori
Similar to you I have very hard water, but I live in a desert. I now collect rainwater and store it to water my plants. Before that I had used bottled water for azaleas, but since they like to be more on the acidic side make sure and do not use alkaline water. Do you have a mostly shady spot for it outdoors?
Deep Sea Diver
Imperial Masterpiece
Plenty of rain in Sarasota. Rainwater is slightly acidic. It would be best as both folks above recommended.
Bottled water, besides being expensive and a whole lot of plastic waste, the water source would need to be checked ahead of time for pH and if choline or chloramine was added.
Cheers
DSD sends
Bottled water, besides being expensive and a whole lot of plastic waste, the water source would need to be checked ahead of time for pH and if choline or chloramine was added.
Cheers
DSD sends
just.wing.it
Deadwood Head
I thought Satsuki needs winter time.
Gabler
Masterpiece
Apparently not?
The Barber
Chumono
I think the kill temperature is something like 29 degrees on a lot of the cultivars I was told by a friend that has probably 70 well developed satsuki, if remember correctly. They may require a short dormancy but not at winter temps we think of it up north.
just.wing.it
Deadwood Head
Hmm. 10-4 on that!
SFDrake
Sapling
Here's my azalea in south florida right now, also a gift from Brussels. Healthy and growing right now in afternoon shade. We will see what happens with 95 and humid in the summer....
Glaucus
Omono
I don't think that the azalea that Brussel's sells are satsuki. Satsuki generally benefit from short but cold winters. Even on Yakushima island south of Kyushu, they grow at an altitude where it snows.
The satsuki that come from the Kurume research station are more adapted to warm weather. But it has to be warm and humid. Which Florida should have.
But, there are other evergreen azaleas that are subtropical or even tropical.
I don't think satsuki will starve themselves by growing and growing, when in a climate without winters. But, without a good dormancy, they for sure flower continuously, rather than just in spring.
If they would be in a better health with a short but cold winter, and milder summer temperatures, but the same humid and lengthy growing season, that is up to date.
It seems satsuki do fine on places like Hawaii and the Azores and Canary Islands.
The satsuki that come from the Kurume research station are more adapted to warm weather. But it has to be warm and humid. Which Florida should have.
But, there are other evergreen azaleas that are subtropical or even tropical.
I don't think satsuki will starve themselves by growing and growing, when in a climate without winters. But, without a good dormancy, they for sure flower continuously, rather than just in spring.
If they would be in a better health with a short but cold winter, and milder summer temperatures, but the same humid and lengthy growing season, that is up to date.
It seems satsuki do fine on places like Hawaii and the Azores and Canary Islands.
Deep Sea Diver
Imperial Masterpiece
A really good question. There are a number of pieces to the answer to this imho.
First. Recall all satsuki are hybrids which a have been crossed and crossed again over the years. There are very few that remain, at least in popularity, for ex Matsunami, that haven’t been crossed in the past 600 years.
So there are lots of Satsuki cultivars, with many different genetic backgrounds… as @Glaucus alluded to earlier. Some are more southern, some more mid, some more northern. Some, I think have been crossed with tropical azaleas
Not knowing the genetic history or even the name of the azalea…. and even if it’s really a satsuki (many are labeled as such are sold at Brussels that I personally believe have little satsuki in the mix) then we have no clue of its heritage.
The last piece is there are no documented chilling hour requirements known for some azaleas thatI could find US side of the pond. I’ve seen articles on horticultural bulletins that state 2-6 weeks. Haven’t seen anything that lists by cultivar or even by key parent cultivars… for example Kozan group of cultivars. Quite some exists in Japan.
I have wintered over multiple satsuki ships for two winters on lights and heating pads at 70F. For this short time there were no adverse affects, or altered blooming time. But we live at 47N. So day light signal is stronger here than Florida.
Just a few thoughts.
Cheers
DSD sends
First. Recall all satsuki are hybrids which a have been crossed and crossed again over the years. There are very few that remain, at least in popularity, for ex Matsunami, that haven’t been crossed in the past 600 years.
So there are lots of Satsuki cultivars, with many different genetic backgrounds… as @Glaucus alluded to earlier. Some are more southern, some more mid, some more northern. Some, I think have been crossed with tropical azaleas
Not knowing the genetic history or even the name of the azalea…. and even if it’s really a satsuki (many are labeled as such are sold at Brussels that I personally believe have little satsuki in the mix) then we have no clue of its heritage.
The last piece is there are no documented chilling hour requirements known for some azaleas thatI could find US side of the pond. I’ve seen articles on horticultural bulletins that state 2-6 weeks. Haven’t seen anything that lists by cultivar or even by key parent cultivars… for example Kozan group of cultivars. Quite some exists in Japan.
I have wintered over multiple satsuki ships for two winters on lights and heating pads at 70F. For this short time there were no adverse affects, or altered blooming time. But we live at 47N. So day light signal is stronger here than Florida.
Just a few thoughts.
Cheers
DSD sends
Glaucus
Omono
Brussels may also have their own proprietary azalea varieties. As they are located in Mississippi, and also having greenhouses, they would benefit in mixing satsuki with Belgian indica. Nuccio's also did about 20 to 30 of these, which they could also be using. Like 'Nuccio's Wild Cherry'. Their mallsai type azaleas seem to have solid pink flowers and more rounder leaves. They are quite a big operation. So their mass produced cheap azalea bonsai are likely of some type of variety like this. And not a more cold-loving variety like Kozan from Japan. Belgian indica azaleas are party based on azaleas from China, mostly the mountains around Hong Kong, and R.scabrum from the Okinawa islands. These are quite southern. But not as far south as Florida, I believe.
But they are definitely subtropical, almost ranging tropical. And 50+ years inside European greenhouses, and then 100+ years in the Deep South, selected for these types of genes.
It not being a satsuki may actually be good.
But, I see they also sell way larger trees, almost certainly imported from Japan. Putting 'satsuki' in front of 'azalea bonsai' increases their price. So that is what they do. Even if they are not known cultivars from Japan.
But they are definitely subtropical, almost ranging tropical. And 50+ years inside European greenhouses, and then 100+ years in the Deep South, selected for these types of genes.
It not being a satsuki may actually be good.
But, I see they also sell way larger trees, almost certainly imported from Japan. Putting 'satsuki' in front of 'azalea bonsai' increases their price. So that is what they do. Even if they are not known cultivars from Japan.
DawnMichele
Seedling
Hello. My lanai is shady.
DawnMichele
Seedling
Gorgeous!!!
DawnMichele
Seedling
We had our share of rain in 2024.
DawnMichele
Seedling
Thanks everyone for all your help. I appreciate it. 
WIlliam_Butler_Yeets
Mame
Just to chime in on the water issue, it may make sense to look into getting a home reverse osmosis unit. I use one for my carnivorous plants and it paid for itself in a year, saving me form having to buy jugs of distilled water
gooeytek
Shohin
Just let it get rained on, it'll be ok.
