Caring for a store-bought potted azalea at home

To ensure proper care for a store-bought potted azalea, it's important to research this issue beforehand. Otherwise, you could ruin the plant. For example, it's important to understand how care during flowering differs from that required afterward. Expert advice will help you avoid mistakes.

Conditions for growing azaleas

If you care for this flower properly, following proper agricultural practices, you'll grow a beautiful tree in your home. For this plant to thrive, you need to provide it with proper and meticulous care. This includes ensuring the following:

• lighting — the plant will not tolerate UV rays, so the pot should be kept in the shade;
• watering — You need to ensure that the soil is moderately moist. Drying out or overwatering will kill the rhododendron;
• humidity — The air should be slightly humid. This is especially true during the heating season;
• The comfortable temperature for a flower is within 10—15 ℃. In autumn, the figures can be reduced to 6—8 ℃, if you move the container with the culture to the balcony;
• application of fertilizer — the fertilizer must be balanced and complex;
• pruning and pinching — Carrying out such manipulations will help to form a correct bush and the appearance of buds;
• transplant —It is better to carry out the procedure using the transshipment method;
• reproduction — The event is carried out in summer using stem cuttings.

These are the main operations that need to be carried out within the framework azalea care.

How to care for a store-bought potted azalea at home

After purchasing a rhododendron, you don’t need to immediately take it out of the pot it was sold in. — This will help avoid stress. You need to leave the plant for a while so it can adapt to the climate in your apartment. A solution of zircon (per 1 liter of water) will also help relieve stress.— 4 drops of the preparation), spraying with phytosporin, and pruning all flowers. If this isn't done, they will rob the rhododendron of all the strength it needs to adapt.

It's also important to choose the right location for the container. It should be:

• well lit, but not exposed to direct sunlight;
• cool — average temperature - 15 ℃;
• with humidified air.

It is important to do some research on the flower's soil. — To do this, you need to take it out of the pot. Often, azaleas are watered at the store to keep them looking fresh.

Watering

In case of over-moistened substrate you will need:

• remove the plant from the container, wrap the roots in paper that absorbs moisture well;
• Continue manipulating the soil until it becomes sufficiently dry. This should be done carefully due to the fragility of the root system.

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When the flower is overdried, it is necessary:

• Place the flower pot in a container with water for an hour so that the liquid reaches the edges of the container;
• remove the flowerpot and let the excess liquid drain;
• Wait with replanting, especially during the flowering period.

After a few hours of such manipulations, the plant will regain its original shape.

Top dressing

Fertilization requires the use of specialized products. In the summer, gardeners resort to nitrogen fertilizers, and in the fall and winter — potassium and phosphorus.

To acidify the soil, you can add a few drops of citric acid to the water used for irrigation. This should be done no more than three times a month.

Do not use fertilizer immediately after repotting. Otherwise, the weakened root system will not withstand the pressure. The first feeding can be done after 30 days.—60 days after the "move." Once the recovery period is complete, fertilize the azalea weekly. This fertilizing schedule is suitable for spring and summer. In winter, reduce the frequency to twice a month.

Transfer

Azaleas should be replanted only after they have adapted to the new location. — After two weeks. This should be done only if the plant requires a larger pot. During this procedure, the root ball should be left attached and transferred to a new container along with the soil.

The dried root system will need to be trimmed, the remaining roots dipped in water, and placed in new potting soil. The clay or plastic pot should be flat and 5 cm higher than the previous one. Place drainage material, steamed pine bark (to create an acidic environment), and potting soil in the bottom. Water only after 72 hours of repotting.

You can prepare potting soil for your flower at home. To do this, you'll need:

• peat;
• rotted needles;
• river sand.

The ingredients are used in the proportion 1:2:0.5.

Young bushes need to be replanted once a year, and mature ones — once every two years.

Features of flower care during and after flowering

The plant will delight you with abundant flowering only if you prune and pinch the tops of the stems in a timely manner.

To prolong the flowering period, remove faded buds and seed pods promptly. Ignoring this rule will weaken the plant.

Proper care of the plant during flowering involves maintaining the temperature regime — The room should be kept cool. This plant differs from others in that the container with the blooming rhododendron can be moved to another location and turned over without damaging the buds. Once the flowers appear, the branches of the shrub can be supported with additional supports.

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When caring for a tree that is tired and weak after flowering, you will need to do the following:

• transplant it into acidic soil;
• trim the crown, shorten last year's branches, remove weakened shoots;
• This period falls in spring and summer. Until July, the tops of the shoots should be constantly pinched;
• Wrap the plant in damp moss. It will need to be misted regularly to keep it moist and cool.

If everything is done correctly, the flower will live a long time at home.

Problems with growing azaleas in a pot

If you notice that the plant's buds or leaves are wrinkling and drooping, this is a clear sign that the room temperature is incorrect. Reduce the temperature and pay attention to watering. This is also a sign of dry air.

If your rhododendron's leaves are turning yellow and falling off, and its blooms aren't lush, this often indicates improper soil or hard water. Pest infestations are quite rare.

There is nothing complicated in caring for a purchased azalea. The main condition that must be met is— provide it with the necessary conditions for growth and development.