Japanese Satsuki Azalea 'Shiko' 6 Inch Pre-Bonsai Tree

Species: Rhododendron indicum hybrid 'Shiko'
Estimated Age: About 3 - 4 Years
Height: About 6 - 8 Inches
Trunk Size: About 1/4 - 1/2 Inch
Lighting: Full Shade to Partial Shade
Type: Evergreen
Difficulty: Easy to Medium

The Japanese Satsuki is easily one of the most popular of flowering bonsai choices: featuring an excellent low, twiggy habit with lovely funnel shaped unscented flowers in primarily white, pink, red and purple shades. The Satsuki is identified by two blossoms on the end of the branch shoots plus they also have slightly hairy leaves budding out freely from even fairly old bark wood. Most of them have compact branches and are slow growing. They usually have bright to medium green shiny oval shaped leaves with a soft pointed end. Even though they tolerate colder climates better, they are sensitive to high heat temperatures and require some shade to protect it from leaf burn and petal burn from the sun. Great to take care of indoors!

'Shiko' is a lovely hybrid for those that enjoy the color purple a lot. They have single large light to deep lavender flowers with speckled dots of fuschia at the center. Their color have a good visual contrast from its shiny forest green leaves. The variations of purple give it a bit of mystery on what it will look like during the later spring months.

In general, they enjoy more acidic soil (such as Kanuma at around pH level 5.5 to 6) with good drainage to let its fine feeder roots breathe. Satsuki Azaleas don't enjoy being soaked all of the time. An infrequent deep soaking is more effective than superficial sprinkling everyday. Please water them thoroughly from top to bottom to fully saturate the soil to help keep the soil moist but not soggy. They don't enjoy dry soil nor lime. It becomes especially important in hard-water areas to water them with rainwater or filtered water only to avoid lime deposits building up in the soil.

As needed, a fungicidal spray in the spring time as the buds show color will control “petal blight”, a fungal disease that appears as discolored dots on the petals and quickly discolors and collapses the blossoms. To avoid cutting off next year’s flower buds, do major pruning of Satsuki Azaleas soon after they bloom. Shortening or removal of long slender stems with no side shoots and cutting out dead wood may be done at any time.

Depending on the individual tree, the Japanese Satsuki Azaleas may have either a single trunk or multi trunk look to them. It's in a 0.5 gallon or 6 inch pot size. This variety is a bit younger versus our other Satsuki Azalea pre-bonsai trees for sale.

Please note that depending on what time of year it is and what the recent weather has been like at House of Bonsai (located in Lakewood, CA 90713), this may or may not have any flowers. We can not guarantee that it will have flowers by the time you need to purchase it to be used as a quick gift for yourself or someone you care about due to seasonal behavior changes.

>>> 1 Gallon Pot Sized Pre-Bonsai Tree Shipping & Handling = $20.00

PLEASE NOTE ABOUT PLANT IMAGES:

The characteristics of the plant used to make a particular bonsai product vary slightly from the plant used in any examples or product photography due to the inherent characteristics of plants being a natural material. We can not control or guarantee the EXACT look of any plant you may receive in your order. If you wish to select your own, please come in person to visit our 5-acre nursery during regular business hours. Due to our limited staff and high bonsai production schedule year-round, we cannot accommodate requests by direct email, eBay messages, calls, or texts to receive fresh photos and videos of plants or to select the exact one you want to receive.

House of Bonsai is located within the 2023 USDA Hardiness Zone 10a area, with Average Annual Extreme Minimum Temperatures ranging from 30 to 35 (F) / -1.1 to 1.7 (C). On average, our bonsai trees enjoy warm temperatures and temperate weather all year round. Depending on your zip code's temperature and weather forecast when placing an order, we may delay shipping out your live plant order to diminish plant shock during transit. Please be mindful of where you live compared to where your tree is coming from by giving it several weeks to adjust to its new environmental conditions.

Please Be Aware About Our Live Plant Shipping & Handling Policy:

Due to the fragile and perishable nature of live plants, we reserve orders to be fulfilled on the following Monday to try to have the shipping carrier (such as USPS, FedEx, UPS, etc.) deliver your order by the end of the same week that your order is shipped out. We carefully prep and pack your tree(s) to better survive the transit journey to your preferred destination. Sometimes, the packages may sustain drops or get knocked around. We have over 20 years of shipping experience and use high-quality shipping materials. We don't include the price of shipping & handling costs in the product price. For simplicity, our online prices are the same as those in-store. Due to the higher costs of using high-quality shipping materials and knowledgeable handling, our shipping rates are the actual cost to safely get your order into your hands. If you order multiple items, we will do our best to combine as many into the same shipping box. If there's any unused shipping money, we will gladly fit a helpful bonsai-related item into your package that's equivalent to the leftover money. If you want to avoid this kind of service and wish to receive a partial refund on the unused shipping money, please email us at houseofbonsai@gmail.com so that our staff knows to do so once the shipping label is created. Otherwise, please visit us in person during regular business hours listed on our home page to avoid shipping costs altogether. Our staff will gladly assist in loading your items into your vehicle after purchase as a complimentary service in our front parking lot by the Stone Lantern Fenced Area.