Making methods and shaping techniques of rhododendron bonsai

Rhododendron belongs to Ericaceae Ericaceae deciduous or semi-evergreen shrubs, branches more and thin, densely yellow-brown flat bristles; single leaves alternate, often set on the branch end, leaves ovate elliptic or obovate, both sides have bristles, 3~5 months open rose safflower, corolla funnel shape, 2~6 cluster branch top, full of flowers, brilliant like brocade, is a very good bonsai flower plants.

Common Species of Rhododendron

1. Rhododendron amurense, also known as rhododendron amurense, yellow rhododendron, deciduous shrub. Leaves long elliptic, densely pilose; flowering in April to May, golden yellow, bell-shaped or funnel-shaped, very beautiful.

2. White rhododendron, semi-evergreen shrub. Branches are thicker, leaves lanceolate; white, 3~4 cluster top branches, double petals, large flower type, vigorous tree vigor.

3. Red Mountain, deciduous shrub. Leaves ovoid, often 2 - 3 leaves clustered on branch ends; flowers usually double terminal, first leaves open, corolla funnel-shaped, rose-red. South of the Yangtze River Basin and Taiwan.

4. Shiyan Rhododendron, also known as Cinnabar Rhododendron, evergreen shrub. Sometimes flat, branched and dense; leaves elliptic or obovate, shiny surface; flowers 2~3 terminal, funnel-shaped, deep orange-red.

5. Horse honeysuckle, evergreen shrub. Leaves ovate or elliptic-ovate, surface dark green, glossy; flowers solitary, purple-white, pink spotted, corolla funnel-shaped, deeply lobed near base.

6. Muntjac horn rhododendron, evergreen shrub. Often 3 branches whorled, leaves gathered on top of branches, leathery, ovate elliptic, shiny surface; flowers solitary leaf axils, often gathered on branch ends, pink; flower buds, leaf buds are purple.

7, cloud brocade rhododendron, also known as Tianmu rhododendron, evergreen shrubs. The branches are stout and smooth; the leaves are long elliptic, leathery, and the surface is bright green and shiny; the flowers are large and fragrant, rose red, and terminal umbel racemes, with 6 to 12 flowers. Produced in Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan and other provinces.

8. White Rhododendron deciduous shrub. Branches dense, leaves ovate elliptic, densely hirsute on the back, surface thick green; flowers were white or slightly reddish.

The Growing Environment of Rhododendron

Rhododendron is widely distributed in the Yangtze River Basin and Pearl River Basin provinces, west to Yunnan, Guizhou, acid soil is the most common mountain tree species.

Azalea love light, suitable for cool and warm climate, pH 4~5 acid soil requirements, calcareous soil and clay soil are not suitable for growth. Avoid the sun, also not resistant to water stains, but must pay attention to drought prevention and moisture.

The reproduction method of azalea

Rhododendron can be used sowing, cuttage, grafting, tillering and other methods of propagation. Generally based on cuttage, procedures are simple, flowering is also fast. The cutting time is better in plum rain season. Cuttings used in the same year, after the formation of new buds, cutting at the base, the most likely to survive. If the old twigs are used as cuttings every other year, it is more difficult to take root. Rhododendron cuttings, seedbed soil should be used acidic mud or dried, weathered pond soil, rotten leaf soil, such as wood in the box home mud cuttings can also be.

Precious rhododendron species, in order to ensure survival, available moss wrapped in its incision, forming a ball, inserted into the soil about 3~4 cm deep, easy to take root, after insertion to set up a shed shade, spray several times a day, keep the seedbed moist. After about 2~3 weeks, the incision can gradually heal and root. After the cuttings take root, the light time can be increased. After about 2 months, thin cake fertilizer water can be applied to promote its growth. The next spring can be planted in pots.

Sowing and propagation can be sown in wooden frames or earthen pots. The bottom of the pot should be padded with vermiculite or leaves to facilitate drainage. The pot should be placed with mountain mud or rotting leaf soil mixed with appropriate amount of sand, which should be flush with the mouth of the pot (slightly shallower than the mouth of the pot). Then sieve a layer of fine soil. Sow the seeds on it, no longer cover it with soil. Cover it with glass. It is best to line it with newspaper to keep it moist. After about 3~4 weeks, it can germinate and emerge. At this time, the glass cover should be removed, the light should be received, and the water should be sprayed appropriately. When the seedlings have 3 to 4 leaves, they should be planted again.

Making of potted plants of rhododendrons

1. Selection basin: Rhododendron generally adopts a slightly deeper oval, rectangular or circular basin, and the texture can be purple sand pottery or glazed pottery. The color of the basin should be darker, contrasting with the color, and it is best not to have floral decorations on the basin. In case of cliff-type cuckoo, deep thousand-tube basin can be used; open-root cuckoo can be used in shallow elliptical basin.

2, with soil: Rhododendron should use fertile and loose rotten leaf soil or pine forest in the mountain soil. Potted plants are also commonly dried, frozen loose pond soil or paddy soil, mixed with appropriate amount of sand.

3, planting: can be planted in the early spring pot, or planted after falling flowers. If the Department of excavation mountain wild stumps, because the root with mycorrhizal, need to take the original soil planting. When planting, the taproot can be cut short, and chicken manure or bean cake can be placed at the bottom of the pot as base fertilizer. The leaves are also trimmed appropriately.

Bonsai shaping of azaleas

1, processing: azalea seedlings on the pot, generally 3 to 4 years can start processing. Azalea branches more fragile, not excessive climbing tie, only the trunk main branch for appropriate shape, with brown silk climbing tie better. All other branches are pruned. When pruning, attention should be paid to adjusting the strong and weak branches, strong branches heavy shear, weak branches light shear. Climbing is generally carried out in spring, and the branches are sparse and soft during the growth period, so it is easy to climb.

2. Tree shape: The common tree shape of Rhododendron has straight stem type, curved stem type and oblique stem type, and can also be processed into exposed root type, cliff type, attached stone type, root type, etc. Through artistic modeling, to achieve flower viewing, appreciation of the stem, to see the roots, on the shape of the four have a beautiful bonsai.

How do you keep a cuckoo's nest?

Rhododendron in China is generally known as azalea, pomegranate, rhododendron, etc., beautiful colors, even leaves are very good-looking, so often as bonsai cultivation viewing. So how do you raise potted rhododendrons? Let's take a look at the cultivation methods and maintenance techniques of rhododendron bonsai.

How to raise cuckoo potted plants

Azalea bright, delicate drops rich, is a rare flower cultivation plants. Azalea culture is not difficult, and general flower culture, azalea culture methods, mainly should do a good job of selecting pot soil, timely watering, attention to light, reasonable fertilization, timely pest control work, in order to culture a strong branch, blooming exuberant azalea.

1. Transplanting

With the growth of many years, roots quaint strange azalea old pile production bonsai, more in late autumn and early winter or spring flowers before the excavation transplant, transplant more with soil, trunk and taproot to be properly pruned. First planted in tile pots or underground green, soil should be good drainage of sandy soil, late autumn and early winter dug piles planted with sand will be buried, only a few branches exposed, after pouring water covered with plastic bags for heat preservation and moisture. After planting, keep the soil moist without ponding, and gradually remove the sand from the trunk after the rhododendron sprouts steadily. In the process of green, water should be sprayed regularly on the leaves and trunks to increase the humidity of the air, but the roots should not be too wet, especially to avoid ponding, otherwise it will cause rotten roots. In summer, avoid the sun.

2. Use the basin

Azalea potted plants can only choose dry pots (the bottom of the pot has eyes, no water), can not choose water pots. The shape of the basin is not limited, square, round, oval, rectangular, hexagonal, octagonal can be, to art, diversity. The color of basin asks beautiful, harmonious. In addition to cliff-style modeling, it is generally not appropriate to use high barrel pots, shallow as well, but deeper than the basin, the height of the basin is generally about 10-15 cm, to bury the shallow roots of rhododendron. Basin texture is not limited, simple south mud basin, Qu Ya pottery basin, shiny enamel and porcelain basin can be.

3. Watering

Azaleas like wet, always keep the basin soil moist, but also not too wet. Flowering water needs a little more, summer should pay more attention to spraying, spraying branches and leaves in the morning and evening, but also spraying pot soil. In autumn, the amount of watering should be reduced as appropriate to prevent the emergence of autumn shoots and affect the formation of flower buds in the coming year.

4. Fertilization

Rhododendron like fertilizer, but its roots are very thin, so fertilizer must not be thick, too much fertilizer too thick, will cause wither phenomenon. It is best to adopt "thin fertilizer and frequent application" and timely and appropriate fertilization to make rhododendron large and beautiful, plant robust and disease resistant. In the growing period, except for the rainy season, thin fertilizer can be applied once every 2 weeks. Fertilizers available decomposed bean cake, vegetable cake, fishy water, bone meal, chicken manure and so on. Chicken manure is dried and rubbed into powder, scattered on the basin soil, nutrients seep down with watering, the effect is very good. If you find that the tip of the leaf is withered, mostly caused by hypertrophy, you should immediately remove fertilizer and change the soil, and wash it several times with water to reduce fertilizer. No fertilizer is needed after autumn.

5, pruning

Generally potted rhododendrons are mostly for the purpose of viewing flowers, do not pay attention to modeling, let their natural growth, so many branches and chaos, not only hinder growth, but also affect the quality of flowers. In order to keep the tree beautiful, we should prune it according to the modeling requirements, improve the ventilation and light transmission conditions, promote the growth and improve the flowering quality. Rhododendron in the annual flowering, it is best to remove all flower pedicles, reduce nutrient consumption. Pruning is carried out during dormant period, cutting off cross branches, upright branches, fallen branches, inward branches, opposite branches, etc. to adjust branch width and display beautiful tree shape.

6. Turn over the basin

Rhododendron should be turned over every 2~3 years, better after flowering, early spring and late autumn can also be turned over. Remove old soil when turning pots, cut off a small amount of old roots, and replace them with loose decaying soil or mountain mud. Put a small amount of chicken manure and bean cake on the bottom of the pot as base fertilizer. Since most of the roots of rhododendron are distributed in the top layer of soil, the topsoil should be preserved when turning pots.

7, pest control

Azalea pests are mainly large moth, net bug and azalea leaf wasp damage, available trichlorfon 1200 times spray kill, or in the tender leaves to take the method of killing eggs and larvae. Common diseases are leaf spot disease, rust, etc., available zinc or bordeaux mixture control.

Caring skills for cuckoo bonsai

Rhododendron, also known as rhododendron, pomegranate, azalea, according to the mountain red, Tang Rhododendron, evergreen or flat evergreen shrubs. According to legend, ancient cuckoo, day and night whining and hemoptysis, dyed flowers all over the mountain, hence the name. Azalea flowers in general spring, each cluster of flowers 2-6, corolla funnel shape, red, reddish, apricot, snow green, white and so on, luxuriant and gorgeous color. Bonsai made of rhododendron has the characteristics of vigorous and simple root, fine and dense leaves, green leaves, pruning resistance and various colors.

Tip 1: The maintenance management before the rhododendron bonsai is finalized is mainly to continuously improve the shape, adjust the shape and layout of the trunk and branches, and promote the overall image to be perfect. At the same time, should always pay attention to the winding of the wire, whether will be embedded in the trunk cortex, to be released in time. The posture has been basically fixed, can be removed, slightly not in place, remove the iron wire, use palm rope to lift it in place. Because rhododendron germination is strong, pruning can be biased, especially plastic pruning, should be carried out drastically.

Tip 2: After stereotypes, mainly to maintain the tree. Stripping buds and buds should be frequent. All branches of rhododendron disturbing tree shape should be cut off to keep the layers clear. The azalea branches and leaves left should be adjusted by picking, pruning, controlling water and fertilizer, etc., and should not be excessively exuberant to avoid bloating and losing control. Azalea bonsai also has the requirements of flower viewing, pay attention to the uniform distribution of flowers, but also consistent flowering. Only in this way can the image be perfect and have extremely high commodity value.

Tip 3: Azalea likes warm and humid semi-shade environment, requiring good ventilation. Usually can be placed in bright light maintenance, summer and early autumn high temperature season to shade, avoid sun exposure, otherwise strong light will burn azalea leaves, but also can not be too shaded, so as not to azalea excessive growth, affect flowering, can be placed under the shade shed or tree shade maintenance.

Tip 4: Keep the soil moist during the growth period of rhododendron, but do not accumulate water. Pay attention to drainage in rainy season. When the air is dry, sprinkle water on rhododendron and surrounding ground to increase air humidity and prevent rhododendron leaves from drying up. Can also cover a layer of soft grass on the surface of the basin soil to prevent the sun from burning the fine fibrous roots on the surface of the basin soil.

Tip 5: Apply decomposed thin liquid fertilizer every 15 days or so. In order to prevent the occurrence of yellowing disease, a small amount of black alum can be added to the fertilizer solution to make the azalea leaves green and bright. Adding 1 to 2 times of phosphorus fertilizer such as bone meal and calcium superphosphate at budding stage can promote azalea to be big and colorful.

Tip six: winter azalea into the indoor sunshine, maintain 0℃ above the soil does not freeze, and control watering, so that the pot soil slightly moist can be. Prune once a year after flowering, cut off diseased branches, dry branches, cross branches, overlapping branches, thin branches, excessive long branches, and appropriately cut off too long branches of rhododendron, so as to make rhododendron beautiful in plant shape and reasonable in branch distribution, and strengthen the growth of rhododendron in bore. Every 2 years or so in spring or late autumn pot turning once, pot soil should be rich in humus, fertile loose slightly acidic sandy soil.

Tip 7: In the growing season, if there are some cracks in the branches of rhododendron, you can apply yellow mud to the wound, wrap plastic film, and soon heal and recover. The old cuckoo piles need to be pruned, but some cuckoo branches can also be properly twisted. In order to improve the ornamental quality, the old pile of Rhododendron pilosum which has grown for many years, thick branches and beautiful shape can be used as rootstock, and the excellent variety of Rhododendron can be used as scion, and the grafting method can be used for grafting. Also according to the stump situation, gradually remove part of the soil, the root will be raised from the soil surface, so that its hanging roots exposed claws, simple and vigorous.

Conclusion: The above is the cultivation method and maintenance skills of bonsai rhododendron shared by Xiaobian.

Lingnan Bonsai-Rhododendron

Bonsai is a garden art treasure with a long history in China, and Lingnan bonsai is one of the five schools of bonsai art in China (Su School, Yang School, Sichuan School, Hui School and Lingnan School). Lingnan bonsai was produced in Ming and Qing Dynasties, and its unique style was formed after the founding of the People's Republic of China. The planting range of potted plants in Guangzhou as the center throughout the Pearl River Delta and central and southern Guangxi region. Guangzhou bonsai is an important part of Lingnan bonsai. Lingnan people, especially Guangzhou people, love bonsai. Planting bonsai has become a part of people's life. Many families plant and decorate bonsai on rooftops, balconies, living rooms and studies to beautify the environment and adjust their lives. It can not only relax their eyes, but also cultivate their temperament and bring endless fun.

Lingnan potted landscape creation, more local materials, the selection of subtropical and tropical evergreen fine leaf species, generally known as Guangzhou "tree head" stumps mainly, its varieties as many as more than 30 species, such as Murraya (orange), fig, Fujian tea, water pine, dragon cypress, elm, Gypsophila paniculata, boxwood, Podocarpus, rhododendron, finch plum, mountain orange, Acacia tree and so on. The composition forms of Lingnan bonsai include single tree type, or double dry type, cliff type, water shadow type, one multi-dry type, attached stone type and combination type, etc. In addition to tree stump bonsai, there are stone bonsai. Stone Mountain Bonsai materials are quartz stone, calcite, coral stone, sand stone and so on. Yingshi is a specialty of Guangdong Yingde, which has the characteristics of wrinkle, thin and transparent, so it is mostly selected by Shishan bonsai production. In recent years, Guangzhou bonsai artists have developed magnificent tree shape, tall and upright, verdant with beads and natural wild style.

Lingnan bonsai production, display and appreciation, there is "a scene two pots three several frames" said, that is, in addition to the scene, the selection of pots and several frames is also very important. Lingnan bonsai multi-purpose Shiwan painted pottery basin, there are disk, square basin, polygonal basin, oval basin, rectangular enterprise, high-body basin, etc., pay attention to water absorption and ventilation, color harmony, moderate size, simple and elegant. A few have floor-standing type and case frame, multi-use mahogany and other more expensive wood production, so that it is harmonious and interesting. Speaking of Lingnan bonsai, I would like to introduce you to the three characteristics, three styles and three heroes of Lingnan bonsai.

The Lingnan School of Bonsai has three characteristics that are different from other schools. First, the creative technique is unique, imitating nature, highlighting branch skills, shaping or composition layout comes from nature and is higher than nature, striving for the organic combination of natural beauty and artificial beauty, so Lingnan Bonsai is known as "living Chinese painting". Second, focus on the modeling and selection of the landscape and basin, and strive to harmonize the basin with the landscape. III. Good at pruning without showing knife marks. This technique is the biggest feature of Lingnan bonsai, so people generally think that Lingnan bonsai is purely cut with knives and scissors. Through pruning and cutting leaves, plants grow and develop according to human will. With the passage of time, artificial cutting traces gradually disappear, and all kinds of shapes are as natural as nature.