Luxurious azaleas conquer most gardeners. A variety of flowers, similar to rhododendron, which is grown in parks, can become the main decoration of the apartment. Consider what proper azalea care is at home.
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Azalea: adaptation period after purchase
In order for the azalea to grow well after the purchase, it is necessary to qualitatively adapt it to new conditions. Immediately after the store, the azalea is inspected for mold in the ground. If it is found, the soil is treated with antifungal drugs. Further, the plant should be gradually accustomed to a different habitat. You can not immediately put the azalea in a sunny place, as it should get used to the new quality of lighting.
Quarantine conditions
The azalea flower brought from the store should not immediately reach home plants. Even if she looks good, this does not always mean that the flower is healthy and will not infect others. In order to avoid possible infection, it is necessary to quarantine azalea for 2 weeks in a room in which there are no other plants. If there are no problems with her during this time, you can install a flower for the rest of the pets. Infection from him cannot occur, and all the problems that may arise will no longer belong to the azalea.
Do I need an azalea transplant after the store?
After purchasing the azalea, a transplant is very desirable, since in the farms where the plants are grown, special chemical stimulants are used in order for the small sprout to begin to bloom actively. Their action not only pushes the bush to open a maximum of buds, but also inhibits the development of the root and green mass so that they do not lose strength. As a result of this, the flower simply becomes a living bouquet. To change this, it is necessary to transplant the culture and provide it with the possibility of normal root development. A transplant should be carried out 10-14 days after purchase, when the azalea has adapted to new conditions.
Soil and pot requirement
The soil is best used from a flower shop, one that is specifically designed for growing azaleas. If it is impossible to acquire such soil, heather land or a mixture of peat and pine needles are used.
Pots for plants need wide and fairly deep. Plastic and clay containers are equally suitable for azaleas. Their size must necessarily exceed the one that has her pot. A drainage layer is certainly placed at the bottom, which prevents root decay.
During transplantation, it is very important not to damage the roots of the plant and at the same time, as far as possible, remove the old substrate.
Azalea: care after purchase
Azalea is very difficult to tolerate stress, one of which is a change of place. In order for this period not to ruin the flowering bush, he needs especially high-quality care. It is best to cut off all the flowers from the plant, since a lot of effort is spent on them, which does not allow the bush to fully develop. It is not a pity to do this, such a measure is necessary to maintain the viability of the plant. The same will need to be done if you bought garden azalea, which today is sometimes found in large garden centers.
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Temperature, humidity and lighting
For a plant, the optimum temperature will be 11-15 degrees during the day and 7-9 degrees at night. In warm apartments, it is almost impossible to provide such conditions, and therefore it is worth abandoning the azalea. She can only tolerate temperatures up to 20 degrees if the rest of her care is organized very competently.
- Humidity needs a higher plant, and therefore, if the apartment has dry air, expanded clay should be poured into the pan and pour water. Evaporating, it will create the necessary humidity around the bush. The main thing is to ensure that the expanded clay does not dry out.
- There is a lot of azalea light, and choosing for it requires the most lighted window.
So that a sharp change in conditions does not lead to a serious deterioration in the condition of the flower, first you need to shade it a bit and only after a couple of weeks put it on the window without protection.
Due to the nature of the temperature regime and high humidity, azaleas are often recommended not as indoor plants, but as greenhouse plants. Only there can optimal conditions for growth and development be created for them.
Watering the azaleas
If the temperature in the flower room is too high, then 2 irrigation per day will be required. Under normal conditions, azaleas are watered once every 3-4 days. This should be done through the pallet. It is recommended to spray the plants every other day, which will prevent drying out of the leaves. This is especially important for maintaining azaleas.
Water quality for irrigation is of great importance. It should be soft and cool. Optimal use of melt water.
Fertilizer and fertilizer
From spring to the end of summer, the plant is fed every week. In September, top dressing becomes less frequent and is carried out only 1 time in 2 weeks. In winter, they completely stop. To use plants for nutrition, compositions specially designed for azaleas should be used. When the process of bud formation begins, superphosphate top dressing is used, and 20 g of fertilizer is required per 1 bucket of water.
Rules for care after flowering
After flowering, the azalea goes into a dormant state. Caring for room azalea at this time comes down to regular watering. Also, after flowering, sanitary and forming pruning is performed. For early flowering plants, such manipulations are performed in March, and for late flowering plants in May. All last year's branches are shortened a little, and those that grow in the depth of the bush are cut off completely, as they only obscure the plant and do not allow flower buds to form normally.
If you want the azalea to form like a tree, the plant leaves only the central branch, which serves as the basis. All other shoots must be cut. It is important in the growth process of such a tree to regularly rotate it so that all of its shoots receive the same amount of light and grow evenly.
Azalea propagation at home
At home, azalea can be cut with cuttings or layering. The first method is complex and rarely gives positive results. Only very experienced flower growers will cope with it. Cutting and planting of cuttings is carried out from May to August.
By layering, it is much easier to propagate a bush. To do this, simply dig a small hole on the edge of the pot and, bending a branch into it, sprinkle it with earth and fix it with a rigid wire. After about 6 months, the layers will take root. After that, it is cut off with a pruner from the mother plant and transplanted into a separate pot. This method gives a 100% result.
The main problems when growing plants
The main difficulties in growing the flower in question are in creating optimal growth conditions for it. In an ordinary apartment, so that the plant does not overheat, it is necessary to constantly put crushed ice in the pallet.
Providing without illumination sufficient lighting for the azalea also does not always work. Most often it needs to be illuminated, since without this the bush does not give high-quality flowering.
High susceptibility of plants to stress complicates the content of azaleas in the apartment. A plant can be seriously ill when simply moving in a room from one window to another. Therefore, you must immediately determine the permanent place for the azalea, as soon as it has been quarantined.
Azalea pests and methods of dealing with them
The plant can easily be attacked by pests, which, if timely measures are not taken, will lead to the death of the bush.
Most often, azalea becomes a victim of such pests:
- strawberry tick. It affects the tops of shoots, buds and buds. Their development stops. The process of extinction of a flower affected by such a pest is long, and usually the grower manages to take action. To get rid of the tick, the leaves of the plant are wiped with a cotton pad soaked in a solution of laundry soap. After the plant is sprayed with a special drug against the pest.
- spider mite. Appears if the air in the room is too dry. The problem must be eliminated as soon as possible, using special compounds from the pest.
Azalea is a beautiful plant, which is intended primarily for the winter garden, and not for the apartment.
