Azalea (Azalea), Species, Cultivation, Reproduction - 2

Azalea: types of plants, features of growing at home

Watering. Water is poured into the edge of the pot so that the lump is completely moistened, excess water is removed from the pan. The distance from the soil surface to the top edge of the pot should be at least 2 cm. To retain soil moisture, you can cover the soil surface with moist moss, which is regularly sprayed.

If there is a suspicion that the watering is insufficient (the leaves dry up and curl, the leaves fade), from time to time the pot of azalea is immersed in a container with soft boiled water and kept there for so long until air bubbles come out of the soil coma. Then the pot is taken out of the "bath", the excess moisture is allowed to drain and put back. To increase the plant's immunity, as well as to prevent diseases and pest damage, practitioners advise to arrange "onion immersions" 1-2 times a month (instead of just boiled water, a decoction of onion with peel is prepared, into which, after cooling to room temperature, a pot is immersed with azalea).

Various methods can be used to maintain the required air humidity. The most spectacular, stylish and expensive is to get an industrial air humidifier or a decorative indoor fountain. These beautiful accessories will improve the ecology of the house, will be useful not only for plants, but also for all the inhabitants of the house. The humidity of the room air when the central heating is operating is in the range of 20–40%, which creates physiological difficulties for both people and plants. Biologists consider the optimal air humidity to be 60–70% (some plant species need even higher air humidity).

The easiest and cheapest way to increase the relative humidity of the air is to place plants, including azaleas, on a wide pallet or tray filled with a layer of fine expanded clay. This wonderful natural material serves flower growers not only as a drainage in a pot culture, a loosening agent of soil substrates, but also as a moisture vapor evaporating into the air from its huge porous surface. A layer of expanded clay half of its height is poured with water and this level is constantly maintained. The evaporating moisture will surround the azalea bush, creating a comfortable habitat for it in the house. Bowls with wet expanded clay or just water are placed between flowers to maintain the humidity of the room air.

You can use a fairly large pots that match the color of the azalea flowers, pour expanded clay on the bottom of the vessel and moisten the expanded clay in the pots. But the same rule is required: the roots of the azalea should not come into contact with the water in the pan. (Otherwise, water fills the soil pores, the plant suffocates and eventually dies.) A large planter visually creates the effect of a larger bush than it really is. As a holiday gift, the azalea is decorated with ribbons made of transparent organza matching the color; colored artificial fiber that covers the soil. Large plants look very good in wicker baskets instead of pots.

Spraying, which is usually recommended for humidifying the air, has its negative consequences. The fact is that small drops of water should not fall on the petals of azalea flowers (and any other plants), so as not to damage their delicate tissue. Spraying with this condition is almost impossible. For non-flowering plants, spraying is a quite suitable option for caring for flowers that require high humidity. But, given the fickle presence of the owners in the house, it is more convenient to combine a pallet with wet expanded clay and regular spraying of the crown of plants with boiled, soft water at room temperature.

Features of azalea care

Airing rooms is a prerequisite for the normal life of plants, including azaleas. It is important to do this so that the flow of cold air does not directly hit the plants. In addition, no flower plant, like ourselves, benefits from a draft. When airing, the plants under the window are covered with thick paper, film, cardboard. If the arrangement of the flowers is such that they stand under the window throughout the winter, it is worth making some kind of stationary screen - a shelter for the convenience and safety of airing. In winter, the azalea is kept cool (about 15 ° C).

Even during flowering, attention is paid to young shoots that appear next to buds and flowers. They must be carefully plucked out in order to maintain the beautiful shape of the bush and not weaken the flowering. Immediately remove the strong top shoots growing from the base of the bush. In the first half of summer, strongly growing young shoots are pinched to cause their additional branching and create a beautiful bush shape with many buds, which are laid at the ends of the annual growth.

Fading heads, like other flowering plants, are immediately removed. This prolongs flowering.

It should be borne in mind that heather plants are among those plants that do not tolerate an excess of mineral salts in the soil, so the concentration of the fertilizer solution must be carefully checked. During budding and flowering, the azalea is fed every two weeks with a weak solution of complete fertilizer with trace elements for azaleas and rhododendrons according to the instructions. If there are no special fertilizers, use other brands (Uniflor-Bud, Kemiru flower), diluting the concentrated mixtures 2-3 times stronger than indicated. When the leaves turn yellow, the azalea is fed with a liquid fertilizer with a high iron content in the form of chelates.

If leaf curling is observed, most often this indicates a lack of moisture in the soil and air, low illumination, large differences in day and night temperatures of air and soil.

At the end of flowering, azaleas are kept in cool, bright rooms, maintaining a constant humidity of the substrate and air. At this time, the azaleas are trimmed, removing weak, thin shoots growing into the crown. The tips of the remaining shoots are slightly shortened, giving the bush the desired shape. This should be done no later than May - early June, so that the shoots growing after the haircut have time to mature well and lay full-fledged buds on their tops for the next flowering.

Azalea pruning is necessary, you do not need to be afraid of it, otherwise the next flowering may be very stretched, weak, or not at all. Mature shoots of the current year are used for cuttings in order to propagate the variety you like. Several specimens of blooming azaleas, placed in the house, create a good mood and an unusually festive atmosphere.

If your azalea, after flowering, has not yet completely covered with roots an earthen lump (which can be checked by knocking it out of the pot and looking at the condition of the roots), then it does not require transplanting. Two to three times a year, the surface of an earthen coma of azalea is mulched with peat or moss, which helps to retain moisture and slightly acidify the soil. With a loose substrate, loosening of the surface layer is not necessary. Mulching completely replaces this technique, and new strong roots are formed in the fresh layer of peat. When choosing a container, one must take into account the need for a stock of free volume in height for adding peat or rotted pine needles.

If the earthen lump is completely braided by roots and some of them come out of the drainage holes, then it's time to transplant the plant. It is best to do this about a month after flowering. A new transplant container is chosen low, wide and only 1–2 cm wider than the previous one. A drainage layer of broken brick or expanded clay with a height of 4–5 cm is poured onto the bottom of the container.

The substrate for azalea is either bought ready-made, or prepared independently from sphagnum (red) peat, leaf humus and semi-rotted pine needles in equal parts with the addition of coarse sand. For each liter of soil mixture add 1 g of crushed chalk (calcium carbonate). The mixture is moistened, mixed thoroughly and kept for several days for uniform formation of the required acidity. When transplanting, the earthen lump is not disturbed - this technique is called transshipment. A handful of fresh substrate is poured onto the drainage layer, 2 capsules with the powder of the complex chlorine-free AVA fertilizer are placed on a container with a diameter of 15 cm to 18 cm, the capsules are covered with peat and the azalea is planted. The gap between the earthen lump and the walls of the container is filled with a substrate, sealing it around the lump. After transshipment, the plants are watered with settled or boiled water at room temperature and sprayed with the same water. It is useful to mulch the surface of the coma with moist sphagnum moss.

At the beginning of summer, when the danger of frost has passed, the azalea can be taken out in the partial shade of the garden or balcony, where it sometimes lives until September in good weather. The pots are dug into the ground or boxes, which helps to maintain the necessary soil moisture. Air humidity is provided by regular spraying of plants in the morning and evening.

How to propagate an azalea?

Azalea is propagated mainly by cuttings of mature young shoots, which are cut during spring or summer pruning, in May - early June. The length of the apical cuttings should be about 5–8 cm. Azalea is a difficult-to-root crop. Cuttings practically do not take root in water. Oblique slices of cuttings are treated with a preparation to stimulate root formation (root, heteroauxin, etc.). For rooting, cuttings are planted in a moistened substrate from a mixture of fibrous peat and sand, deepening the lower sections by 1–2 cm, 3-5 cm from each other. You can place cuttings for rooting directly into pottery pots with drainage, 3-5 pieces each, covered with a film bag to maintain constant humidity of the substrate and air. You can put them in a mini-greenhouse made of plastic with a transparent lid and bottom heating of the soil,so that it is 18-20 ° C inside. In this capacity can serve as aquariums that are no longer used for their intended purpose.

In a peat-sandy or peat-perlite substrate, rooting occurs after about two months. With the appearance of new leaves, the cuttings are gradually accustomed to room air, opening the shelter for a short time, and then removing it for 2-3 hours a day. At the same time, the cuttings are provided with constant humidity of the substrate and air by watering and spraying 2-3 times a day. With the growth of young leaves, the shelter is completely removed. Plants are fed with a very weak solution of complete fertilizer, pinching the tops of the shoots.

In early autumn, in September - October, well-developed rooted cuttings are planted from a mini-greenhouse in a moist substrate from a mixture of fibrous peat, coniferous (or leaf) soil and half of the sand (1: 1: 0.5). A high layer of expanded clay drainage is placed on the bottom of the pots, fresh substrate is poured by adding crystals or capsules of long-acting (1-3 years) complex fertilizer AVA. For faster production of branched bushes, azaleas are planted in three young rooted cuttings in one pot with a diameter of 12-14 cm. A mixture of enriched peat and perlite (1: 2) is also used as a substrate for azaleas. The tops of the shoots are pinched again, stimulating the branching of young plants. In the first 1-2 weeks, the transplanted young azaleas are again covered with foil caps to maintain air humidity, or they are kept in a greenhouse,the aquarium for a more comfortable "settling" in new dishes.

More experienced growers propagate azaleas by grafting. The rootstock is obtained from rooted cuttings, which are not pinched after transplanting into pots. In this way, the stock is allowed to grow the stem to the size of the pencil thickness at the time of grafting. Copulation is done in July - August, sometimes in January - February. The graft of the desired grade must match the thickness of the rootstock. It is cut from two-year-old branches, 5-7 cm long. Slant sections of the rootstock and scion are tightly applied to each other, tied with foil and placed in a micro-greenhouse or aquarium on a damp and warm substrate. The temperature of the humid air is maintained within the range of 19–20 ° С. Fusion under these conditions occurs in 1.5–2 months. With the beginning of the growth of new shoots, the airing of the greenhouse and watering are intensified. The harness is loosened, then removed completely. Gradually they remove the shelter,accustoming young plants to less humid air. When the shoots grow back, a scion with three to four developed leaves makes them pinched, forming a beautiful and dense crown. At the same time, shoots and leaves of the stock are removed. In the future, grafted azaleas require larger containers than their own rooted ones. Non-flowering azaleas under production conditions winter in cold greenhouses at temperatures of 6–8 ° С. Indoor specimens also need cold wintering, but usually it takes place within 12-15 ° С. Non-flowering azaleas under production conditions winter in cold greenhouses at temperatures of 6–8 ° C. Indoor specimens also need cold wintering, but usually it takes place within 12-15 ° С. Non-flowering azaleas under production conditions winter in cold greenhouses at temperatures of 6–8 ° C. Indoor specimens also need cold wintering, but usually it takes place within 12-15 ° С.

The duration of growing an azalea from a cutting to a flowering bush of various sizes and quality depends on the technology and can range from 11-14 to 24 months. In winter, additional lighting with fluorescent or special lamps is used up to 14-hour daylight hours. The response of plants to light intensity and temperature after pinching to growth and branching should be considered. It was found that flower buds are most intensively formed at a 12-hour day and a temperature not lower than 22 ° С (in winter - not higher than 15 ° С). From the moment of pinching to the formation of flower buds, it takes two to four months, depending on the variety, plant age and season.

Home breeding azaleas is a very exciting experience. Blooming even one specimen in a room gives it a festive look for a long time. If your work on the reproduction of azaleas is crowned with success, then your home will resemble the Garden of Eden in the middle of winter, and the oriental flower of happiness will certainly make you and your loved ones happier.