Azalea: Indoor Care

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Azalea is a plant beloved by flower growers due to its beauty and attractiveness. It is one of the most beautiful and popular flowers among people who grow plants at home. A huge number of buds bloom during the flowering period of the azalea, and a riot of colors diversifies even the most boring interior in the house

Interestingly, the azalea bloom period occurs precisely in the winter season, when there is very little sun and brightness among flower crops. However, a flower can also disappoint its owner if you make mistakes while caring for it. In such a situation, azaleas, as a rule, can lose their leaves or dry out altogether. A huge amount of attention and providing comfortable conditions for the growth of a flower will help azaleas to decorate a house or a florist's apartment for a very long time.

Usually in indoor conditions one of two varieties of azalea can be found: Indian or Japanese. Both of them have their own advantages and distinctive features. For example, both species are small and neat in appearance. They also grow slowly, but flowering always pleases with a variety of shades and abundance. Many gardeners even plant several varieties of azaleas on windowsills to create attractive compositions. In this case, the flowers delight the owner with their beauty from November to May.

How to keep azalea indoors?

In order for the azalea to feel very cozy and comfortable in the house, you need to monitor factors such as bright lighting, but without scorching rays, timely and high-quality watering, a well-chosen soil composition, and not very high indoor temperatures. The normal air humidity here is considered to be seventy and eighty percent. You should never leave a container with an azalea in dry air, as the plant will immediately begin to shed its leaves and stop growing and developing. Circumstances in the form of a lack or excessive lighting will also negatively affect the flower.

Compliance with these conditions in the room will allow the plant to bloom in a comfortable environment. In the autumn and winter seasons, the formation of buds occurs in the azalea, due to which the required air temperature here is reduced to six to eight degrees. For this, a container with flowers is placed in a bright place, but watering must be limited. Only in the spring can you start watering the plant as usual. Moreover, the air temperature can be kept within the range of twelve to sixteen degrees. With warmer air, even if you look after the plant very well, the flowering period will be significantly shorter. In the summer season, azalea develops comfortably at twenty degrees Celsius.

Indoor azaleas can also be taken out into the garden or on the balcony, but make sure that the hot rays of the sun do not fall on the flower. Too dry and warm air can provoke the appearance of spider mites or other harmful insects that negatively affect the azalea. If the plant is located in the garden, then special attention should be paid to protection from aphids and scale insects.

How to water and irrigate an azalea?

Any azalea growing at home needs timely and competent watering. It is important to ensure that the soil does not dry out, and even more so this applies to periods of flowering and intensive growth. It is best to choose an acidified substrate for azaleas, which will have a beneficial effect on the development of the flower. But such soil cannot be watered with tap water. In such a situation, it must either be defended or filtered. Sometimes it is necessary to acidify the earth with lemon, vinegar or ascorbic acid. Here it is necessary to take about 0.4 grams of acidifying substances for one liter of water. But here it is also important not to overdo it. With strong oxidation of the soil, the florist will soon be able to notice pink and purple spots on the azalea, or rather, on its shoots and leaves. Also, the green lower leaves may turn yellow or wither.

In such a situation, when water flows into the sump during irrigation, it must always be drained, otherwise it threatens with rotting of the root system. It is especially necessary to look after this in winter and autumn. In summer, flower growers should irrigate azaleas. But the water for the procedure must settle and be clean. The process is carried out very carefully, avoiding moisture on the buds and inflorescences, otherwise water drops may leave their marks and stains on the petals.