Rhododendron simsii
With their bright flowers and robust , evergreen farewell , potted azaleas can contribute cheer to even the gloomiest of winter seasons .
Along with poinsettias , they ’re often found at florists ’ shop and grocery store around the country during the vacation time of year .
But are these azaleas ( Rhododendron simsii)viable as long - term houseplant ? Will they blossom again ?
You might be asking yourself these questions and more , particularly if a acquaintance has just gift you a elegant , flower houseplant with a basis wrapped in shiny foil . In this guide , we ’ll reply all of your dubiousness .
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Before we get startle , please note that azalea are extremely toxic if take in . If you have favorite or young children at dwelling , keep these industrial plant well out of range , orconsider a nontoxic option instead .
Here ’s what we ’ll cover :
What You’ll Learn
What Are Florist’s Azaleas?
Azaleas are recurrent flower shrubs in theRhododendrongenusand the heath or heather folk , Ericaceae , of whichblueberriesare also a part .
In this scout , we ’ll be peach about evergreen plant cultivars and crossbreed ofR. simsii , as these are the 1 commonly grown as houseplants , and given as gifts during the holiday . They typically top out at 18 inches tall and wide-cut when grown indoors .
This mintage is aboriginal to portion of eastern Asia and in their natural home ground , plants can develop up to six feet tall and wide .
Though they are evergreen , these shrubs have a unequalled leaf system . There are two sets : leaves that emerge in the spring , which are thin and about two inches long .
These turn white-livered and come off in the fall , but not before the small , thick summer leaves emerge . The leaves cling on through winter before they fall off in the spring after the new leaves have come out .
Flowers are most often white , purple , pink , red , or salmon . undivided flowers have five flower petal , five to 10 stamens , and one pistil . heyday can be single - flowered , or semi - double and doubly - bloom , wherein some or all of the stamens become petals .
These plants prefer acidic soil , with a pH of 4.5 to 6.0 . When develop indoors they like to receive eight hour of smart indirect light every day . They prefer indoor temperature of between 60 and 65 ° F , peculiarly when they ’re actively flower .
To learn more about azalea and how to mature them in the garden , check out our guide .
Like fall mums and winterpoinsettias , the azalea buy from florists or grocery computer memory are often grow as suddenly - lived houseplants . They areforced to bloomduring the winter months by careful manipulation of their growing conditions .
Holiday shrub are spread in tightly contain conditions in a greenhouse , and it ’s a shock to the plant life ’s organisation to issue forth to your home with its completely unlike temperature , humidity , and loose weather .
Once the blooms fade , these plant are typically fox out because they ’re look at hard to keep alive , and even operose to push to bloom again . But with the right care , they can continue to grow and flower for class .
Plus , they can be propagated easily from cuttings , so you could make novel plants to fill your abode and partake with friends .
Propagation
By far the most uncouth room that gardeners , florists , and other commercial-grade agriculturist propagate florist shop ’s azaleas is by take softwood cutting .
Since this method acting is well-fixed to do indoors at home , it ’s the one we ’ll cover here . But notice that these plants can also be circulate by planting come ( although intercrossed varieties wo n’t grow true to the parent plant ) , by grafting , and by tip layering .
Softwood Cuttings
In the spring , when the flora is farm new stem growth , is an excellent metre to take cutting . get together your material first :
make full the container with the potting assortment and spray with piss to moisten .
choose a immature offshoot that ’s visible radiation in colour . With your sanitized pruning shears , cut the branch three to six inch down from the tip .
Remove any leaves from the bottom one-half of the cutting . Using your pruners or a sharp knife , scrape aside the bark on the bottom inch of the cutting and sink it in the steady down endocrine powder .
You may need to softly spray the shaved part with water first , so it will stupefy .
Stick the cutting in the potting mixture , come out one in each cupful . Set the cups together on the quick passion matt , spray the dirt with the misting bottle , such asthis one from Terrain , and cover with a humidness domed stadium .
haw Plant Mister
verify the mat is located in a spot that get at least six hours of collateral sunlight every day .
Keep the seedling warm and watered , and you should see roots develop within four to eight weeks , at which point you’re able to transplant them to a larger peck .
Choose an eight- to 10 - inch container with drain holes . satisfy with potting mix , and dig a cakehole as broad and deep as the radical ball on your cutting .
softly remove the rootle cutting from its original container , grunge and all , and insert it into the waiting pot .
Backfill with pot mix and body of water it good before place the heap in a location where it will have at least six hours of bright , collateral sunlight every day .
How to Grow
When you first bring your florist ’s azalea home from the store , do n’t rush to transpose it . take away any ornamental outer hydrofoil or wrapping from around the industrial plant as this can inhibit drain .
Set it in a localization with bright , collateral brightness , where the temperature stay on a unceasing 60 to 65 ° F . invalidate placing it near heat vent , doors that open and close on a regular basis , or in expanse that have spectacular temperature variation .
Water every few days , allowing the top half inch of potting mix to dry out out between lachrymation . Avoid watering the leaves . And do n’t ever have the grease all dry out – this is one of the independent cause florist ’s azaleas buy the farm .
Ideally , you should apply distilled water or rainwater to hydrate your plant , as municipal weewee is loosely too alkaline , particularly if you live in a gruelling - water supply orbit .
In cosmopolitan , florist ’s azalea buy from the depot come potted in peat moss and nothing more .
Peat moss can dry out quickly if you forget to water it for even a few days . If the plant ’s foliage begin to throw and the potting culture medium feels bone - dry , immerse the base of the plant life , pot and all , in a container of lukewarm water for 15 second . dress the pot in the sink to allow it to drain excess pee , and your azalea should leap back to living .
seek to keep the area around the flora humid by setting the tidy sum on a charge card tray , fill the tray with pebble , and watering the rocks every other daytime .
Your plant will thrive in the container it came in until the flower slicing , typically a few weeks after purchase .
After the blooms fade , you’re able to go ahead and repot your plant life into a great container with drain holes . Select a pot that ’s two size larger than the original container it was farm in .
Azaleas love slimly acidulent territory with a pH of 4.5 to 6.0 .
Coast of Maine Potting Soil
When repot , it ’s unspoilt to purchase a potting territory specifically designed for azaleas , such as this one from Coast of Maine , available from Home Depot .
After the plant has finished flowering , fertilise every two hebdomad with a mix meant for Lucy in the sky with diamonds - loving plants , applied according to software instructions .
Dr. Earth Acid Lovers Fertilizer
I prefer this fertilizer from Dr. Earth , which isavailable at the Home Depot .
Growing Tips
Pruning and Maintenance
Florist ’s azaleas do n’t need heavy pruning . You candeadhead expend flowersto promote your plant to produce new bloom , and withdraw any broken , dead , or pathological branches .
If the industrial plant bet scraggly after blooming and you want to hold a rounded shape , feel free to trim any wayward branches with a pair of clean pruning shears if you care . Do n’t trim more than a third of the branches at one time , preferably less .
In society for these plants to bloom , they need a chilling period of about two months with temperatures between 40 to 50 ° F . Commercial growers reach this by keeping the plant in manipulate environments so that they blossom in time for the holiday .
you may replicate this by placing your flora in a basement or other suitable locating . abbreviate watering during this period , but do not allow the soil to completely dry out out .
After two months of cool temperatures , move your plant to a spot with coherent temperature of 60 to 65 ° F for the flower bud to form .
During the summer calendar month , after all hazard of icing has fleet , you may place your plant out of doors in a protect area on your porch or terrace . Always remember to indurate it off gradually over the course of instruction of a workweek to 10 days , by place the plant outdoors for increase amount of money of prison term .
wreak your florist ’s azalea back indoors before first frost – exposure to freezing temperatures , even for a brusque prison term , will wipe out the plant . Plan well in advance so that you’re able to acclimate your plant to indoor weather gradually . fetch it indoors for increasing amounts of time over the course of a workweek .
Avoid repotting often : let the plant make a home base in the pot you transplant it to after you buy it , and keep it there for at least three age at a metre .
Cultivars to Select
There are several excellent cultivars that you may purchase to produce indoors . We ’ve pick out a few of the most festive and graceful varieties to share with you .
Christmas Cheer
With ruffled , bivalent - flower blooming in ruby-red and white contrasted against dark light-green folio , ‘ Christmas Cheer ’ is the stark houseplant to resurrect your flavor during the holidays – and long after they end .
‘ Christmas Cheer ’
It ’s available in a cute wooden container that you may utilize for video display through the vacation before transplant it to a pot with better drainage .
regain ‘ Christmas Cheer ’ in a four - in container online from Bower & Branch , via Nature Hills Nursery .
Snowflake
No Charles Percy Snow in your sphere ? No problem . Just bring home a topiary ‘ Plectrophenax nivalis ’ azalea , grown on braid branch to resemble a small tree topped with snow - white , twice - bloom , ruffled blooms .
‘ Plectrophenax nivalis ’
you may purchase your own works in a four - column inch wooden container online from Bower & Branch , available via Nature Hills Nursery .
Reindeer Red
Brighten your dwelling house with ‘ Reindeer Red , ’ its cheery red , ruffled blooms contrasting with the cryptic greenish foliation .
‘ Reindeer Red ’
you could find ‘ Reindeer Red ’ in a agrestic wooden plantation owner available from Bower and Branchvia Nature Hills Nursery .
Managing Pests and Disease
full-grown indoors , these houseplant are n’t chevy by much in the room of pests and disease .
It ’s possible thatyour plants could develop root rotif you irrigate too much – or if the corporation or the grunge is n’t well draining .
unluckily , this typically means the end of your industrial plant , so your best bet is to keep the soil moist but not waterlogged , and always avoid watering the leaves as a mean value of prevention .
As for pests , the only ones you ’ll broadly need to keep an optic out for are spider mites . These uncouth houseplant pests wo n’t do serious damage to your works if you catch them ahead of time .
If that telling cottony webbing and those pinprick - sized hint appear on the leafage , immediately bump off the webbing , speck , and affected leaves .
Bonide Mite - ten
you may spray the plant with Bonide ’s Mite - X , available from Arbico Organics .
find out to deal with spider tinge in our guide .
Best Uses
empty the undecomposed way to use these potted plant is to let them supply a tactual sensation of safe cheer in the heart of a dismal winter .
Since they ’re so easy to disseminate , they can also allow a rewarding early - leap activity for you , by mature raw plant from cutting .
Either give the new indoor azaleas away to your admirer , or keep them for yourself , filling your entire home with brightness and lulu .
Quick Reference Growing Guide
Dreamy Winter Blooms
Florist ’s azaleas add a skin senses of coloured cheer to the vacation season , and when everything is cover in Charles Percy Snow or soggy with rain , the indoor azalea reminds us that spring is n’t really all that far away .
And in the interim , read these articles ongrowing azaleasnext :
© Ask the Experts , LLC . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.See our TOSfor more detail . Product photo via Arbico Organics , Home Depot , and Nature Hills Nursery . Uncredited picture : Shutterstock . With extra piece of writing and editing by Clare Groom and Allison Sidhu .
About
Laura Ojeda Melchor
