Azalea flowers: when to plant and how to care for them

Azalea

Grow azalea is not easy, this plant has some vagaries. If you care for it correctly, then it will delight the eye with wonderful flowering. To do this, you need to familiarize yourself with how to plant azalea flowers and how to care for them.

Content:

What season to plant, how to choose soil and prepare for planting?

Initially, you need to choose the right place for planting. Azalea will not be able to fully develop in direct sunlight. Therefore, it is necessary to plant it in shaded areas. It may also depend on the type of plant. The flower prefers acidic soil. It will not be able to grow on loam or calcareous soil. If you plant it in such soil, the plant will not take root and will die.

Therefore, it is worth paying attention to the soil, as sometimes the owners choose a good place, but the flower dies because the soil is unsuitable. If there is no necessary land at your summer cottage, you should not give up. You can make the top layer yourself. To do this, peat or a special mixture intended for azaleas is added to the soil.

Once the location has been chosen, it’s time to start landing. This procedure is carried out in the spring. First you need to dig holes.It is worth calculating so that the seedlings fit into them 15 cm deeper. It is worth creating drainage at the bottom.

Suitable temperature conditions, lighting and watering

Azalea flower

You should adhere to these rules:

  1. Watering is especially important for azaleas. The plant does not tolerate drying out of the soil. But you also need to make sure that water does not stagnate.
  2. It is better to use warm water for watering. It’s better to defend it from the beginning. Rainwater is also ideal.
  3. Experienced gardeners advise acidifying the irrigation liquid. To do this, add a little citric acid to the water. This method will not reduce the acidity of the soil. But do not water the plant with too cold water. In autumn, it is necessary to reduce watering.

To grow azaleas, it is recommended to use peat soil. priming. But if it dries out, it turns into a hard lump, so there is poor water absorption. In this case, you should place the pot in a container of water for a couple of hours. If the flower has already reached enormous sizes, then you can use a tray with great depth. It is forbidden to loosen the soil, as the plant has a thin rhizome. Therefore, it is easy to damage it. Azaleas are often grown in cool greenhouses.

In this case, you can put ice on top of the soil in winter. It will slowly melt, and the soil will gradually become moist. But you should not carry out such manipulation in a warm room, since the temperature difference will negatively affect the flowering of the plant.

Azaleas have certain temperature requirements. In winter, the temperature should be about 12-14 degrees. But if you provide proper care, then the plant can develop at 22 degrees.If the flower was placed in the garden in the summer, then it is moved indoors until the heating season begins. Azalea does not tolerate direct sunlight.

Video about growing azaleas:

In summer, open air has a positive effect on it. The main thing is that the sun does not scorch it. Experienced gardeners immerse the plant and pot in the ground. Summer rain is beneficial for the flower. If the climate is mild, then you can grow some varieties in open ground. In winter, it is worth creating protection from frost.

Care after landing

You can’t just plant a plant and not take care of it. Azalea needs attention:

  1. Particular attention should initially be paid to watering. After planting, 3 weeks should pass when the plant is watered with acidified water for the first time. This watering is repeated once a month. It is necessary to ensure that the soil does not dry out, especially during drought. Otherwise, it will affect the creation of future buds.
  2. Experienced gardeners advise spraying the entire bush if the weather is too dry.
  3. It is worth remembering that the plant has a superficial rhizome. Therefore, there is no need to weed. Weeds should be removed carefully by hand.
  4. When 4 weeks have passed after planting, fertilizers are applied. Then fertilizing is repeated every 3 weeks. Complex fertilizers, which include all mineral fertilizers, are suitable for this manipulation.

It is necessary to form a bush. If it grows strongly, pruning is carried out. Young azaleas should not be disturbed. In adult plants it is done pruning after flowering. Azalea branches are poisonous, so all procedures should be carried out with gloves.

Cultivation and care activities

Light is vital for azaleas.When it fades, all inflorescences with pedicels are cut off. This must be done carefully. Foliage that has turned brown is also removed. After this, new shoots will begin to form. When there are 4 pairs of leaves, then the tops are pinched. This procedure is carried out 3 times a year. The last time it is done is at the end of summer. As a result, the plant will bloom more intensely.

Azalea pink

If a shoot forms near the bud, it should also be cut off. In the spring, weak shoots are pruned. The bush needs to be replanted. If the plant has not reached three years of age, this procedure is repeated annually. Older azaleas are replanted every 2 years. By the way, the flower prefers wide pots. In autumn, it is worth protecting the bushes from frost. At this time, the soil is mulched, increasing its layer by 5 cm.

Some types of azalea require denser cover. Often the flower suffers from calcareous chlorosis. Symptoms of the disease include yellowing of the foliage. To protect the plant from this, it is necessary to promptly add peat and acid solutions to the soil. So if you stick to everyone rules of care, then you can grow a beautiful plant. But do not forget that azalea is quite demanding. She could die from minor mistakes.

Azalea flowerAzalea pink