Hi all,

I'm new to bonsai-ing. I have always wanted to have a beautiful Satsuki Azalea and now I have finally got a pair. Now for my questions about indoor environment for them. Since I live in Sweden where the winters are horrible and summers rarely warm, but always pretty windy where I live, I am thinking of keeping them indoors all year around...

I use two grow lights and give them 15-16 hours of that light everyday.
I water them as suggested and give them feed (both biogold and rhododendron furtilize).
The temperature where I keep them varies just a bit, from 64 to 76 F.
I keep the area at about 55-60 % humidity.

Would you say that this could be a good environement all year around or would you suggest any changes?

Of course I could probably take them outside a fe days in summer, but somewhere I read that they don't like to be moved around and with all the wind...

Thanks for giving med advice!

"Please remember that although these plants can be brought indoors for short periods at flowering time they are outdoor varieties"

Source:
www.bonsai4me.com/AdvTech/ATCareCalendarforSatsukiAzalea.htm

To be able to create bonsai, you will need vigorous trees that are in their natural environment - or at least in a climate where they are known to do well.
Azaleas will not do well indoors. It is not just the light, but also the temperature, humidity, fresh air.

Keeping them indoors will be challenging, trying to make bonsai out of them probably hardly possible.

Thank you Auk!

I have of course read that article, but there is at least one false information in it and on other places it is said that they can be kept indoor. That's why I was asking...

Oh yes, the false information is that they hate lime. It is actually quite the opposite. The problem they have is that they are specialized in taking up the kalcium on the expense of other nutritions. So that's why we should not feed them with to much kalcium.

Kind regards,
Eric

h00etn wrote:

Oh yes, the false information is that they hate lime. It is actually quite the opposite.

Hummm...
Every and all literature on Azaleas state the same information: Azaleas love (need) acidic soil to thrive.
If they love acidic, them hating lime is the logical conclusion, isn't it?
I'm curious, as azaleas in Japan, specially Satsukis, are grown in Kanuma (acidic) soil.
For decades.

Clicio wrote:

Hummm...
Every and all literature on Azaleas state the same information: Azaleas love (need) acidic soil to thrive.
If they love acidic, them hating lime is the logical conclusion, isn't it?
I'm curious, as azaleas in Japan, specially Satsukis, are grown in Kanuma (acidic) soil.
For decades.

You are obviously wrong.
It should be for centuries, not decades

Apparently. that's just it. It lives in natural in soft water areas in Japan (riversides) with low kalcium percentage in the ground... Therefore it has become expert in taking out what little kalcium available. So when we water it with western hard water (with a lot of kalcium) and/or use soil with high pH, it so to speak gets to much kalcium and on at the same time not assimilating enough of the other needed substrates (and therefore not getting a balanced NPK). So that's why we shouldn't give it so much kalcium! So the problem with too high pH is not that Satsukis don't like it but because they love it!

h00etn wrote:

So the problem with too high pH is not that Satsukis don't like it but because they love it:

I see.
You are saying:
- they love high PH soil with little calcium.
- if the soil has a lot of calcium they can't take it (they die?)
- so it's best giving them an acidic (high PH) soil so they don't take as much calcium
- and they thrive

So...
My conclusion is, for all practical effects, satsuki azalea bonsai love acidic soil.

Clicio,
Well, they love calcium too much so to speak and having to much of it kills them (since they can't get the other important stuff) - and yes I am drawn to the same conclusion - but not because they don't like it!
Cheers!

Clicio wrote:

- so it's best giving them an acidic (high PH) soil so they don't take as much calcium

LOW ph !
LOW ph!
LOW ph!
I will never ever post anything in a hurry anymore (repeat 200 times).

h00etn wrote:

the problem with too high pH is not that Satsukis don't like it but because they love it!
:

That makes perfect sense. For the same reason it is not true that polar bears do not like the tropics. They have evolved to stay as warm as possible in icy temperatures. It's not so that they don't like heat, they love it!