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| Hi all! I just purchased a Azalea pre-bonsai treebush and have some questions about dormancy. This tree grew up in southern California and I live at 9600' feet in Colorado! By the looks of this guy, I would have to guess.......it's still summer in Cali, lots of nice green leaves. It's snowing with 115 mph gusts here!
I know, I know you can't usually grow Maples, Gingkos and other fun plants here because of the short summers and super cold winters but I disguise my exact location to my tree's by raising them in a greenhouse and wintering them in a designated tree fridge. My question to anybody with some insight is, how should I go about introducing this plant to a real dormancy period?? I know it would slow it's growth down considerably during the winter in California. I'm going to have to halt it's growth for the first time in its life. Does anybody have any recommendations for me and my nice little tree? |
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| Well first off I would find out exactly what variety of azalea you have to give you a better idea of its growth habits and cold tolerance (zone hardiness). Not all Azaleas need a Dormant period since some are semi-tropical varieties (which is probably not the case for you though). I would allow the tree to be outside and experience a few frosts so that you know it has kicked in its dormancy precautions before finally placing it in a outdoor shelter, unheated garage or your fridge. If you kept it in a outdoor shelter, other than protecting it from damaging high winds (which will dry out the cell membranes which due to inactivity during dormancy will not be able to replenish itself) and temperatures around or bellow 20 degrees for more than a few days you should be fine. |
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