Azalea for its lush flowering belongs to one of the most beautiful indoor plants. But, unfortunately, it often happens that after a while after the acquisition, the plant begins to die, because the indoor azalea is a rather capricious flower. It is necessary to create the best conditions for it so that the plant does not begin to dry out and shed its leaves. And then for the efforts Azalea will certainly thank you with amazing lush flowers.
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From the history of the plant
This indoor flower is evergreen, a branchy flowering dwarf plant. Its homeland is Japan and China, but it can also be found in southern Europe and North America. Indoor azalea belongs to the genus of rhododendrons. Rhododendron from the Greek "rhodon" means rose, and "dendron" - tree. Otherwise, it is a rosewood. "Azalea" is translated from the ancient Greek language - dry. It is named so because of its appearance, as a rule, it is a dry small shrub. They appeared in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, initially they were only in botanical gardens and greenhouses.
There are about 350 azaleas in the wild, but there are only two types of indoor ones:
Indian azalea (most common). It is an evergreen shrub that grows up to 50 cm. The leaves are dark green small with short petioles no more than 3.5 cm in size. They are covered with reddish hairs in azaleas. Such azaleas bloom in winter, their flowers reach a diameter of 3 to 5 cm.- Japanese azalea is also an evergreen shrub, only 30 to 50 cm high. Its leaves are small, shiny. The main difference from the previous species is the smaller flowers. This shrub can be kept in the garden.
Indoor azalea blooms quite abundantly aged 3 to 4 years... She often has bright pink flowers, but often snow-white, rich red, purple, purple, there are even two-color. The flower petals of indoor azaleas can be double, slightly double, just even. Azalea leaves are quite small and dark green in color.
When acquiring an intensely blooming indoor azalea, it is better to choose one where there is a significant number of unblown buds, such a plant will quickly adapt to other conditions and will delight with its fabulously beautiful flowers for a long time.
You should also carefully examine the plant for the presence of pests and diseases. By slightly tilting the plant, you can be sure of the presence of dry leaves, which indicates inadequate care, disease.
Azalea: how to care at home
For a beautifully blooming azalea to please for a long time, it is necessary provide proper care at home for this indoor flower.
Lighting
First of all, after buying an indoor flower, you need to find the right place for it.Considering that she is photophilous, but she is ruined by the bright rays of the sun, the ideal place for her would be on the windowsill on the east side, as an option on the north and west sides. The main thing to remember when leaving is that the light should be diffused; partial shade is also suitable.
During bud formation (October - November), care must be taken to provide adequate lighting, for example by illuminating the houseplant with fluorescent lamps.
Temperature
When caring for an azalea, you need to know that it plays a significant role maintaining the desired temperature... This houseplant does not belong to thermophilic plants, 15-18 0С is the required temperature for it, and when budding is even lower - from 10 to 12 0С. Thanks to such conditions, flowering can be ensured, and it will be quite long and abundant.
In summer, it is quite difficult to save azalea from the heat, and, if possible, it is necessary to place it on the balcony (only if it is not on the south side) or, if there is a home air conditioner, try to maintain the temperature without exceeding 20 ° C.
Humidity
It needs sufficient moisture, for this the plant is necessarily quite often spray with slightly cool water from a spray bottle. When the azalea blooms, you need to spray carefully, as the delicate flowers can darken from the water. Water containers placed around the plant will help to get out of the situation.
In summer, she will feel great in an open space, for example, in a garden. Humidity must be given special attention during the heating season.
Watering
It plays an important role in the care of any plant, affects the growth and vegetation of the plant. Azalea is especially capricious, therefore, in order not to destroy it, it is necessary observe the following watering rules:
Watering should be done regularly, especially abundantly during flowering.- Do not allow the soil to dry out. Azalea loves moist soil. But if suddenly this happened, you can lower the flower pot into a basin with lukewarm water and after a couple of hours she will take as much water as she needs.
- Do not over-moisten the soil. It is necessary to pour out the water stagnant in the pan, otherwise the rhizome will rot.
- It is necessary to water it with tap water, settled for a couple of days, the chlorine will evaporate and will not destroy the room azalea. You can also use cold melt water for irrigation.
- You can water it twice (not more often) a month with settled water with two or three drops of lemon juice - this will make the flowering of a luxurious azalea more magnificent.
Azalea soil
This houseplant needs acidic soil ph 4 to 4.5... Ready-made land mix is easily purchased in specialized stores. But the soil is also prepared at home on their own from rotted needles, moss and sand (2: 1: 1).
Cutting and pinching azaleas
In order for it to bush better, and a bush to form, as well as for more lush flowering, it is necessary to take care of it correctly, pinching the regrown stems in a timely manner and cutting them off. After flowering, remove all single flowers. Starting in May, it is necessary to constantly prune fresh shoots and pinch them carefully. The main purpose of such care is to make buds appear on the tips of the shoots.
It is necessary to trim with a special pruner. It is not necessary to prune all branches, only those that are extended. Typically, young leaves will begin to appear a couple of weeks after pruning.
Azalea feed and growth stimulants
It is necessary to feed this plant mineral fertilizers, in this case, you need to make sure that there is no chlorine there, otherwise it will destroy it. It is better to buy Azalea feeding in specialized stores. In spring and summer, it is necessary to feed once (no more) a week, and in winter only once every 30 days.When buds begin to form and during the flowering period of home azaleas, you need to purchase fertilizers that contain enough potassium, phosphorus, for example, "Uniflor - Bud", "Kemira - Lux".
Transfer
Immediately after the first flowering, it is better to transplant this plant. This must be done carefully, in a transshipment way, keeping a lump out of the ground, it has very thin roots and is very easy to damage. You need to choose a shallow pot for transplanting room azaleas, so the roots can be closer to the soil surface.
Typically, young plants are transplanted once a year, while adults are transplanted only once every three years. When transplanting, it is necessary to cut off dried shoots, flowers, branches.
Azalea propagation
Indoor flower propagates by stem cuttings... It is advisable to do this in the summer. To do this, semi-lignified cuttings with existing buds are planted in the ground, it is desirable to cover with a glass jar, a plastic bag. Watering and spraying is abundant and regular. If flower buds appear, they are immediately removed.
After a couple of months, when the cuttings are rooting, they must be planted in a pot. The extended shoots are pinched on rooted cuttings to form a crown.
Diseases and pests of azaleas
Diseases appear due to improper care: insufficient watering of the plant, exposure to the sun, an increase in the temperature of the room where this flower is located, lack of light, incorrect soil. Diseases of culture:
If the leaves are withered, yellow, fall off, then the reason is a lack of watering of the plant or exposure to the sun. If you start to follow the rules of watering, spraying and lighting, then the problem will disappear.- If rust or gray rot appears, then it is necessary to create a temperature comfortable for the flower to exist and cut off the spoiled leaves.
- If her flowers only turn yellow, begin to fade and fall off, it means that watering is taking place with poor-quality water. This can be corrected by irrigation with boiled water with specialized fertilizers.
- Due to an excess of moisture in the soil, azalea is most often affected by late blight, which leads to the death of the indoor plant.
Spider mites, scale insects, strawberry mites - pests that can spoil indoor azalea. To fight, it is necessary to process the home flower with special means. First you need to do the treatment of the foliage with soapy water, then rinse with warm water and then spray it with the purchased product (for example, actellik solution).
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