The content of the article: ASAS83In order for the plant to be healthy and richly bloomed, its owner will have to be patient, have a lot of theoretical and practical skills, and also create comfortable conditions for living decoration of the window sill.
Attention azalea flower is required from the first days of stay in the house. Often a bush brought from the store, covered with a lush hat of flowers, literally in a few days or weeks, begins to wither, drops flowers and foliage, and then dies. Some azaleas cannot recover from flowering and also dry out.
Facing a similar situation, a novice gardener blames himself or argues that the azalea is a one-time flower and cannot be kept at home. This opinion is wrong! With proper preparation and zeal, beautiful azaleas are actively blooming, growing and even multiplying.
Azalea after purchase: risks and necessary measures
In order to ensure a long and happy home life for a flower, you should carefully inspect the azalea immediately after purchase.
Nursery producers of domestic plants care little about the development of the root system and the further growth of azaleas. Artificially brought to the stage of flowering and planted in transporting pots with a small amount of peat mixture shrubs are additionally processed with retardants, synthetic substances that introduce the culture into a kind of sleep. Fertilizers of prolonged action are added to the soil mixture, the stock of which maintains the freshness and flowering of the plant for 2-3 months. The roots, often damaged during transplantation, do not develop at this time. The plant is at risk of pests and fungal infections.
Not surprisingly, moving from the store to the windowsill, the new pet weakens over time and may die. The initial inspection of the azalea after the purchase is aimed at identifying existing and developing problems and deciding on further actions:
- The feature of the azalea is that a specific microflora is formed around the root system of the plant, the violation or removal of which threatens the problems of growing the crop.
- The excessive moisture of the soil, leading to the rotting of small roots and azalea root neck, is just as dangerous.
If after purchase, problems with the root system are found in azaleas, the condition of the soil is suspicious, there are traces of mold or salinity, it is better to cross the plant into another container, removing damaged tissue and poor quality soil.
You should not transplant azaleas covered with flowers or buds. Transferring to another substrate will be a strong or irretrievable stress for a culture that spends all its strength on a multitude of colors.
If we are talking about saving a shrub, before transplanting, it is better to carefully remove most of the flowering crowns and colored buds.
It is dangerous to transplant azalea in winter, when the plant is at rest, vital processes, including regenerative ones, are inhibited. It is better to try to wait for the resumption of the growing season and move the revived shrub to fresh soil.
Transplant azaleas
Regular transplantation of azaleas is carried out when mass flowering is completed. Such a measure not only does not harm the culture, but also helps to update it, give it strength and lay the foundation for subsequent growth.
The procedure for room rhododendrons has its own peculiarities. First of all, you should pay attention to the shrub root system.
When the azalea is carefully removed from the pot, the florist most often finds a dense, earthy-like clod that looks like a black-brown sponge. It is completely riddled with many large and small roots, and traces of salts and dead tissue can be seen on the remaining fragments of the soil. Therefore, azalea transplantation is always preceded by treatment, including:
- removal of residues of the old substrate;
- update root pruning;
- treatment of root system with growth stimulant and zircon.
All tools, be it a knife, pruner, or scissors, which are used to cut a coma, are pretreated with an alcohol-containing liquid or calcined above the burner.
Due to the excessive density of the root system inside the pot, the azalea is deprived of some nutrients, and the access of moisture and oxygen is deteriorating. To remedy the situation, a lump with azalea roots of approximately a centimeter is cut from the bottom, at the root collar and on the side surface. Along the way, remove the remnants of the soil.
In this form, the azalea flower is placed in a container with clean warm water, to which, according to the instructions, a root growth growth stimulator and zircon are added, which has an immunomodulatory and fungicidal action. During the time when the florist prepares a nutritious soil mixture, the azalea roots are saturated with moisture, and stimulating preparations will show their effect.
Unlike many indoor plants, azaleas prefer to grow in acidic soil. Therefore, the mixture is prepared for them specifically. To do this, take:
- specialized soil for azaleas;
- chopped steamed bark;
- sand;
- dried sphagnum moss;
- charcoal;
- perlite and vermiculite.
The resulting mixture should be loose and airy. The pot for transplanting azaleas does not need a deep one, the main thing is that there is enough space for a thick layer of drainage from fine expanded clay and comfortable placement of the root system:
- A small layer of substrate is poured on the expanded clay.
- The azalea flower is installed in the center of the tank, around which fresh soil is gradually poured so that the root neck of the bush is not affected.
- The substrate is compacted and, after transplantation, the azalea is slightly watered with a solution in which its root system is soaked.
The best place for a shrub after the procedure performed is a well-lit, but not under direct sunlight window, where the plant is not threatened by drafts, and there are no heating devices nearby.
In the next 3–4 days after transplantation of azaleas, the soil is not moistened, and then watering is gradually resumed using filtered or distilled water at room temperature. In 1-2 months, the plant must undergo acclimatization and compensate for the loss of the root system.
Since the condition of the azalea flower is still unstable, it is better not to feed it, and sometimes add zircon to the irrigation water.
Reproduction of azalea shrub with layering
For breeding azaleas at home, you can use cuttings rooted in the spring. To do this:
- shoots in the lower tiers of the bush bend to the ground;
- with a sharp knife on the wood make a transverse incision, which put a match or a toothpick, so that the cut is not connected;
- the incision site is fastened with a wire pin to the loose substrate;
- raise the apical part of the shoot so that it takes a vertical position, and fix it with a peg.
Layers in the place of its attachment to the ground sprinkled with substrate and watered. Several months pass before the formation of the root system and the separation of the young azalea flower from the mother plant. This usually happens by autumn, and by next spring the seedling will be ready for transplanting into a separate pot.
Propagation of azaleas by dividing the bush
In this way azalea can be propagated, in which many young shoots are formed, the root system is developed and healthy. The procedure is carried out in the springtime, when the culture activates not only growth, but also protective forces.
Propagation of azaleas by dividing a bush is risky in damage to small, but extremely important roots for the plant. Therefore, the procedure should be very careful with the use of a sharp disinfected knife.
Divided azalea parts after transplanting into their own pots restore strength for at least a year and require special attention and care.
Reproduction of azalea flower by cuttings
As the cuttings take the tip of the shoots of last year, 7–9 cm long and with several fully formed leaves. The cut is made diagonally with a sharp knife or blade. The bottom three leaves are removed, leaving a small portion of the cutting. All other sheet plates are shortened by half.
In order to reproduce azaleas at home, it was easier to plant, before planting cuttings a couple of centimeters into the ground, immerse them in a solution of root growth stimulator. This treatment lasts 4-6 hours.
Rooting of planting material is carried out in a loose substrate with an acidic reaction. Depth cuttings no more than 2 cm at a distance of 3-4 cm from each other. In a greenhouse and dim light, future plants will have to spend 1.5–2 months. The whole period of the cuttings is necessary:
- contain at a temperature not lower than 25 ° C;
- moderately watered;
- sprayed with warm, settled water;
- ventilate to prevent condensation and mildew.
To form a uniform crown, the landing capacity is turned from time to time. Azalea flower cuttings are taken out of the greenhouse when their own shoots begin to form on them. Then the young azaleas are transplanted into their own small pots and pinched, which will lay the foundation for the future plant crown.
After rooting and from 2 to 3 years to obtain an adult flowering plant. Since azalea noticeably weakens after flowering, it is better to remove the first buds from young specimens.
Growing azaleas from seeds
Obtaining blooming azaleas from seeds is extremely difficult and troublesome, but possible. For this, small seeds are mixed with dry sand and sown on the surface of the substrate. The best time for the procedure is spring.
Under the film, future plants spend three weeks at a temperature of 18–22 ° C and constantly humidity within 90–100%.They are regularly sprayed and ventilated to prevent drying or mold. When real leaves are formed on the seedlings, it’s time to dive azaleas. And the seedlings that have reached a size of 10–12 cm are transplanted into their own pots.
