Azalea wintering
Question: I have a flower on the balcony, the temperature on which is about 8-12 ° C. Is it not enough? Or adjust? At what temperature should you remove the flower from the balcony?
Answer: Minimum for azalea 5-6 ° С. Therefore, now do not leave it on the balcony at night. Of course, spray on the balcony and generally at a temperature of about 8 gr. not necessary, since under such conditions the evaporation of moisture is very low. Water only when the top layer begins to dry out, keep in mind that if you bring it into the house at night, where it is much warmer, the soil will dry out faster. And now, while you have azalea on the balcony, beware of excess dampness.
Question: How to organize cool maintenance in the apartment? Almost all my rooms are warm, there are no low winter temperatures, with the exception of a few days a season, when it is freezing outside at 20-25 ° C. But do not wait for such days?
Care for Azaleas - in the Encyclopedia of Houseplants section.
Answer: In general, azalea, the plant is not for everyone, since it is a big problem to create a cool wintering. Soon it will not be possible to keep it on the balcony, even glazed and well-insulated, because at subzero temperatures, it will be only 10 degrees warmer, but still cold. Another thing is if you have a heated balcony or with plastic windows .
In the apartment, the only way out is to make a third frame on the windowsill. It might just be a sheet of glass framed on the edge of a window sill about 60cm high, it obstructs the warm air from the battery. In addition, on the window you seal and insulate only the first for the winter - the outer frame, and leave the second unglued and, if it is too warm on the windowsill, then open it slightly. If the windowsill is wide, then you can put a small old aquarium on it, with one wall taken out. It is advisable in the fall - during the laying of flower buds - to maintain a temperature of about 6-8 ° C, and then, after two months, by the time of flowering, increase to 12-15 ° C.
Question: There is a lot of humidity on the balcony due to the condensate that appears on the glass due to the difference in external and internal temperatures. Do I need to increase humidity (peat, expanded clay, moss)?
Answer: If you contain azalea in the range of 8-12 ° C, then it is enough to keep it on a tray of water and spray a couple of times a week, if the temperature is slightly higher - about 15-17 ° C, then you can spray once a day. At a higher temperature, you need to spray at least 2 times a day, not forgetting to close the buds and flowers.
Azalea after flowering
Q: Should azalea shed all leaves after flowering?
Answer: Azaleas have species with falling leaves after flowering, and there are species that do not lose leaves. If it is a "deciduous" species, then after flowering it is removed to a cool dark place until new shoots appear in spring. Those azaleas that do not lose leaves either are kept in a cool place, but in the light.
How to transplant azalea
Question: How to transplant adult azalea correctly. And what if the lower part of the stems was exposed and lost the leaves?
Answer: Adult azalea should not be transplanted, but transshipped. Try not to disturb the root system, because at the tips of the roots there are myrocytic mushrooms. Fungus mycelium filaments - hyphae help them extract scarce food from very poor soils. Use acidic soils for transplantation, you can take ready-made Azalea in the store. At the bottom of the pot there must be drainage 1/4 in height.
In old plants, the lower branches of the bush are exposed. In this case, it is advisable to carry out rejuvenating pruning. The best time to do this is spring. Using a pruner, trim each trunk over the first pair of leaves. This surgery promotes the awakening of dormant kidneys. Over the summer, the pruned bush will acquire its former splendor and spreading. Remember, the root system of azalea is not very deep, which means that the pot is needed not so much deeper as wider than the previous one.
Is it possible to cover azalea with ice
Question: Is it possible to cover azaleas with ice?
Answer: The difference between the ambient temperature and the temperature of the watering water, for the normal development of the plant, should be no more than 8 degrees. A higher difference leads to stress and even death of the plant. It is more efficient to lay ice on trays on the windowsill between pots, but it melts quickly.
What water to pour on azalea
Question: Is it possible to water azaleas with tap water, if not, then what kind of water is needed?
Answer: Azaleas do not tolerate hard or chlorinated water. If you water azaleas with ordinary tap water, then over time the soil snaps and an unscheduled transplant is required. Water from the tap can only be watered by those in whose area the water is very soft and is not chlorinated, but is disinfected by ozone. In other cases, you need to use rainwater filtered by household filters or at least well maintained for 3-4 days. Before watering, water can be acidified with natural lemon juice or citric acid. The degree of acidification can be determined by taste - the water should not be acidic, but have a slightly acidic taste. On a liter watering can - a few drops of juice or 2 grains of citric acid per 1 liter of water.
How to water azalea
Question: How often to water azaleas, and is it necessary to water flowering azaleas more often?
Answer: Azaleas are very demanding on air and soil moisture. The frequency of watering depends primarily on temperature, and not on the state of rest or flowering. The main indicator is the state of the soil. The substrate must be loose and the pot shallow so that the need for watering can be easily determined by lowering your finger into the ground. It was by lowering it into the ground, and not touching it from above. The soil should be slightly moist all the time. Azaleas do not tolerate both overdrinking of the soil and its swampiness and dampness. From both, the plant can drop leaves and flowers. If the plant is dry, then it is difficult to impregnate the entire earthen lump with irrigation - water seeps between the walls of the pot. Therefore, it is better to water the plant by immersion in a basin with water. To make the soil wetted more evenly, periodically loosen the top layer of the earth.
Damp, wet or dry can be determined by each person. The problem is that some believe that if it is wet inside and dry on top, then you need to water and water as usual. As a result, the plant is poured. If the soil inside the pot is still moist, and the upper 2-3 cm is dry, you need to water, but it is better from watering can, so that the soil is moistened evenly and very economically, in order to moisten these 2-3 cm, and not the whole pot.
Another case is when there is still water in the pallet and it seems that the soil has not dried out. In fact, it can already completely dry out or moisture remains only in the drainage layer. Therefore, the surest way to determine the need for irrigation is to touch the ground with your finger by immersing it in it for about 3 cm. Do not forget that water for irrigation should be at least 18-20 ° C. Thus, the frequency of watering at different times of the year is different. For azaleas wintering on a 10-degree loggia, it can be once every two weeks, and on hot summer days and twice a day .
Soil for azalea
Question: What soil is suitable for azaleas?
Answer: To prepare a substrate for azaleas, a special soil "Azalea," "Garden of Miracles" or "Terra Vita - Living Earth" is used, with the addition of 1/4 part of fine gravel (very coarse sand - particle size 2-3 mm, in no case dust-like). If you compose the soil mixture yourself, then it can contain heather (coniferous) land, with the addition of 1/5 part of the sand or without impurities. But remember that coniferous land is the poorest on nutrients, so regular feeding will be required. This (more nutritious mixture) mixture is also suitable for growing azaleas: 1 part of coniferous land, 1 part of leaf, 1 part of peat, 1 part of small gravel.
In any case, the soil should have an acid reaction pH from 4.5 to 5.5 (in extreme cases, about 6, but not higher). Pots for azaleas choose not deep, but wide - plates, because the root system is superficial.
Azalea after purchase
Question: I just bought azalea, what should I do now?
Answer: First of all, choose a place for azalea - cool and protected from direct sunlight. How soon you need to transplant depends on the condition of the plant. If it looks healthy, it is better not to touch it for the first two weeks. Put in a place protected from direct sunlight, but not dark, moisten the air around the azalea, preventing water from falling on flowers and buds. If the plant, in your opinion, is not well developed or looks sick, has yellowed or dry branches and leaves, if the roots stick out of the pot, then it is better to transplant it right away.
Taking the plant out of the old pot, you need to examine the roots. You can "soak" an old pot in a basin of water at room temperature or slightly warmer, but by no means in cold water for about half an hour. Even cool-loving azalea can get a shock when suddenly in cold water.
Now shake off the lagging ground from the roots. There is no need to uncover anything and try to remove the old land. Peat usually grows firmly to the buff roots of azaleas. But if there was decay or damage to the roots, they will fall off themselves at the slightest rinse in water.
The pot must be chosen proportionally to the root system (1.5-2 cm larger in diameter. Too large a pot can lead to the fact that the azalea will grow poorly. If the old land has not separated and the roots remain almost in the same volume as they were, then just take a pot one size larger than the previous one.
It is better to do transshipment several times than to put it in a very spacious pot at once. Now put a layer of expanded clay in the prepared new pot, fill in a thin layer of soil, place the roots of the plant in the pot and fill in the remaining soil. You don't need to compact the soil too much, it must breathe. After transplanting, you need to water a little for the first week to only slightly moisten the soil. Since damaged roots can rot.
Pruning azalea
Q: How and when should azaleas be cut?
Answer: After the end of flowering, azaleas are transplanted, and then cut off after two weeks. Azalea is cut so that the crown forms a cap. At the same time, they shorten all the shoots of the last year and overly growing ones that move forward, thin out densely growing shoots, and remove branches with weak growth.
Old strong specimens can be cut very hard and planted in the ground in a shady place for the summer.
For azalea to bloom abundantly, pruning should be carried out immediately after the end of flowering, if you prune plants later, then flower buds do not have time to be laid and the next flowering will be weak.
How to form azalea
Question: How to form azalea from a cutting?
Answer: Usually azalea is good and fast to get busy during the growth period. Therefore, in an entrenched handle about 10-15 cm tall, the top is trimmed or pinched. After the lateral shoots appear and reach about 3-4 cm in length, they are pinched again. In order for the azaleas to bloom the next year, the last pruning or pinching is carried out no later than the beginning of June. But if the azalea is already large, reached a height of 20-30 cm, then it is not necessary to pinch it, and pruning is needed only to regulate the density of the bush (when the branches grow inside the crown and interfere with each other), otherwise neither pruning nor pinching is needed, since we grow azalea for flowers. But when the azalea has faded, you need to pluck the pedicels of wilted flowers.
If the branches of the azalea are stretched out, bald (leaves dropped from the base), then it can be radically cut in spring or at the end of winter (to the desired height) so that it grows new shoots, more numerous and with new foliage. After mass pruning of the bush, do not forget to slightly reduce watering, as you reduce the evaporating surface of the leaves, and the need for moisture is slightly reduced. If you have very bright windows or have additional light, then cardinal pruning can be carried out in the fall, but keep in mind that after such a procedure, azalea will not bloom for a long time, first it will increase shoots, then it will form buds.
Azaleas - fertilizer, top dressing
Question: How and when to feed azaleas correctly?
Answer: You can use universal fertilizers for flowering plants, for example, Uniflor-Bouton or Kemira-Lux. For good flowering of plants, the dose of nitrogen in these fertilizers is much lower, and potassium and phosphorus are increased. Of course, it is best to use special fertilizers for azaleas. They do not contain chlorine. After the end of flowering, until the end of August, you can feed with fertilizers such as "Uniflor-micro," where the dose of nitrogen increases and there are enough chelates of iron and magnesium to prevent leaf chlorosis.
Question: how to use ferovite for azaleas?
Answer: Ferovite (manufacturer Nest M) is an iron chelate, it is used for spraying on a sheet, if azalea has signs of chlorosis - yellowing of leaves between the veins. Dilute 1.5 ml per 1 liter of water and spray the plant with the resulting solution, covering the buds and flowers from moisture. The preparations "From yellowing of leaves" by Agricola and Micro-Fe (Orton) have a similar effect. The result is usually noticeable after 2-3 treatments. Leaves that have already turned yellow will not restore green color, but young leaves should grow pure green.
Phytosporine for azalea
Question: how to use phytosporine for azaleas so that they do not rot and do not get sick?
Answer: Phytosporin is a drug containing a culture of plant-friendly bacteria Bacillus subtilis. These bacteria suppress pathogenic (pathogenic) fungi and bacteria, but they "work" only in a slightly acidic environment, at a soil pH of 5.5-6), if azalea is planted in a more acidic substrate, then phytosporin may be useless (its activity is suppressed by acidophils). Therefore, it makes sense to check the soil (or focus on the soil indicators declared by manufacturers).
If azalea is planted in acidic soil, try to avoid unevenness in watering, i.e. set yourself a certain interval when the soil in the pot dries up enough, but does not dry out completely (ideally, it should dry for no more than three days), if it dries longer, there is a risk of flooding and decay. Therefore, with a cold snap before watering, make sure that the soil is dry enough, periodically loosen the ground in a pot.
If azalea is planted in slightly acidic soil, phytosporin irrigation can be periodically used, at the rate of 10 drops per glass of water, if phytosporin is in a bottle (liquid). If phytosporin is in powder, dilute 2 g per 1 l of water (10 g per 5 l), let stand for 2 hours to activate the bacteria.
Important: dilute phytosporine only with boiled water, it does not tolerate chlorine!
