How to make a beautiful azalea bonsai

Transplanting azalea into pots

Select pot

When planting rhododendrons, you should choose a slightly deeper oval or rectangular pot, and the material can mainly be purple clay pottery or glazed pottery. Try to choose a darker color for the pot to contrast with the color of the flowers. It is best not to have any flower decorations on the pot. If you want to plant a cliff-style bonsai, you can choose a deep thousand-tube pot. If you want to plant an exposed-root style, you can choose an oval shallow pot.

Use soil

If you want the branches of azalea to grow strong and sturdy, it is advisable to use fertile and loose leaf mold or mountain soil from pine forests. Mountain soil is rare for family farming, so you can also use sun-dried, freeze-soft pond mud or paddy field soil and add sand to mix them evenly.

plant

Pot it in early spring, or plant it after the flowers fall. If conditions permit, you can dig up wild azalea stumps from the mountains and plant them directly with a small amount of original soil. After returning home, cut short the taproot of the azalea and put the discussed chicken manure or bean cake at the bottom of the pot (if you dislike the smell, you can buy base fertilizer).

Azalea bonsai pruning and shaping

prune

Usually, azaleas need to grow for 3 to 4 years after being potted before they can be shaped. It can be shaped in the same year it is excavated. Please note that the branches of azalea are fragile and cannot be tied excessively. You can only shape the trunk appropriately and tie it with brown silk. When pruning, be careful to cut off weak branches and prune heavy branches.

modeling

Here comes the point.

The shaping of azalea should follow the principle of thick first and thin later. The main trunk should be properly tied and the other branches should be mainly pruned.

Common shapes:

Common tree shapes include straight trunk

Curved dry type

Slant stem type

Of course there is also the exposed root style

Cliff Style

Root-type shape

With the artistic shapes mentioned above, you can create a beautiful bonsai by viewing the flowers, appreciating the trunk, looking at the roots, and discussing the shape according to the plant and your own abilities.

Maintenance of azalea bonsai

Placement

Rhododendron likes a warm and humid environment and requires good ventilation. Usually, the plant can be placed in a bright place. The main purpose of planting rhododendrons in pots is to enjoy the flowers. Appropriate shading should be provided at noon in summer, but rhododendrons should not be placed in a completely shaded environment, as this will cause them to grow too tall and affect flowering. In winter, move it to a sunny place indoors, maintain the indoor temperature above 0℃, water it appropriately to ensure that the soil in the pot is moist.

Water and fertilizer conditions

Rhododendron likes moisture, so keep the soil in the pot moist during the growing period, but do not allow water to accumulate. For bonsai with thicker trunks, sprinkle water around the plant to increase the air humidity and prevent the leaves from drying out. For exposed-root bonsai, you can cover the surface of the soil with a layer of soft grass to prevent the tender roots from being burned by the scorching sun.

Azalea bonsai uses the method of applying thin fertilizers frequently, once every 15 days, to prevent the occurrence of chlorosis. When fertilizing, add a small amount of black alum to the fertilizer solution to ensure bright leaf color. Apply phosphorus fertilizer 1 to 2 times before flowering to promote colorful flowers.

Repotting

Bonsai also needs to be repotted in time. Repotting should be done every 2 to 3 years, in early spring or late autumn. When repotting, remove 1/3 of the old soil, cut off the old roots, and replace with new soil. The roots of azalea bonsai are basically on the surface of the soil, so the surface soil needs to be retained when repotting.