Sumo mame rhododendron

Remi

this is a tiny little rhode i'm going to try for a mame informal upright.
Its about 3 inches tall. it was origanally a fist sized bush but i did some major hacking away.
any tips on working on such tiny trees would be appreciated. particularly techniques for producing very small thin branching. i've never worked on something this small before lol.

Attached Images

sumomamerhode.JPG (36.3 KB, 240 views)

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Bonsai Barry

It will be interesting to see if you can reduce the leaf size significantly. Otherwise, the beauty of a sumo tree with a lot of ramification will be lost.

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Remi

That was something i was thinking about aswell... I dont know any techniques for reducing leaf size on rhodes. If anyone has had some positive or negative experiences with this matter i would love to hear about it.

anttal63

defoliation, keeping roots confined and particular attention to how much water and fert i would imagine. not talking from experience.

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Mcspeed

If this is a rhodedendron V. Azelea fugetaboutit, a leaf will be more than the trunk. A blossom would probably kill it. If it's an azelea on the other hand, it's a great start.

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Remi

it is a small leaved rhododendron. The largest leaves wer maybe twice as big as the ones currently on the plant. the cultivar is 'wren' i believe it has yellow flowers.

mike_p

The rhododendron family is closely related to the azalea family, but as a general rule, don't like to have their roots messed with. Proceed with caution.
The link is to an image of rhododendron Wren.
http://www.banwnursery.co.uk/images/R.%20Wren.JPG
The attached image is a sumo shohin satsuki azalea I've been working on for several years. Height is about 5 inches from pot rim.

Mike

Attached Images

.sumoshohin.jpg (60.7 KB, 64 views)

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vince

That is a nice looking Shohin.
Is it sitting on a rock or Lava?
I know they don't like their roots buried to deep, when did you last repot it.
Also, what type of compost/soil do you use. Cheers.

PatArizona

If this were my Boughie...

My goal would be one of the following: (1) HOKI-ZUKURI, broom style; or, (2) SHIZEN-ZUKURI, a natural shape. From John Naka's Techniques I, page 135, numbers 269 and 270.

Pat

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