Hello to all,
its not my first bonsai but i love it
and i want to take good care of it,
its a lovely Azalea(around 15 years), i have it since December,
and it was quite small and delicate,
now its seems like growing really fast-has several new leaves,
and the new ones are really big.
So i am a little bit confused with the pruning,
as now is almost May and i suppose Azalea will bloom in a while,
i understand that its not yet time to prune yet, right?
i need to wait after the blooming period, is this true?
Also, the soil seems a little compacted,
how can i care for it? when is the perfect timing-considering the blooming stage?
i attach some photos so you can have a look,
thank you in advance for your help

Prune it after blooming.
Repot it with a better (acidic) soil in the beginning of next spring.

thank you for your message!
You think its not too late repotting it almost one year later?
i was thinking if its ok for the roots.

MERMAID MOTHER wrote: You think its not too late repotting it almost one year later?

If it's healthy, wait.
If the tree is really root bound and the soil looks too bad, and drainage is poor, then now is still possible.
But..
It will probably not bloom if you repot now.

ok i understand,
seems healthy though
so maybe i will wait and hope its ok,
because i really want to see it bloom and
now the time has come!
generally looks very healthy, and has new little leaves,
maybe i will take it outside more often to have fresh air
and to help the soil.

MERMAID MOTHER wrote: maybe i will take it outside more often to have fresh air
and to help the soil.

Careful with the summer sun.
Azaleas like dappled shadow, but fresh air is always welcome.

Clicio wrote: Prune it after blooming.
Repot it with a better (acidic) soil in the beginning of next spring.

Best time for repotting an Satsuki is right after flowering, before the new leaves come out. When 70% of the flowerbuds are open, remove all the flowers and flowerbuds and prune the tree and than repot in Kanuma (if the tree is healty). 2 Weeks later you can feed well, with e.g. abrakas and fishemulsion. For watering I can recommend rainwater, which contains no Ca., which is hated by Satsuki's...

Odd. I do not see any flower buds in your plant. I do not have satsuki anymore. If I remember correctly.. They have buds all winter. Then flower, and growth starts after flowering. You sure it will flower?

Are you using regular tap water to water the plant? it looks like there are some calcium deposits on the trunk base. you may want to check your water hardness, as azaleas don't really like hard water.

I don't see any flower buds from the picture either. leatherback, are you saying if growth has started, that it probably won't flower?

tubaboy wrote: I don't see any flower buds from the picture either. leatherback, are you saying if growth has started, that it probably won't flower?

Almost. Flower buds of azalea are formed the year before. So if you do not see thick terminal buds on the branches, you have no flower buds, so it won't flower. Most azaleas I have seen, first toss out the flowers, then start vegetative growth. These put together: I see no flower buds & the plant is full of young growth => for me, no flowering, except for the off bud that might be on one branch or another.

But as said, I do not grow satsuki anymore. (I do however have european azaleas in my collection)