Azaleas, which belong to the Rhododendron genus, are justifiably beloved worldwide for their lovely blooms. Indoor azaleas, also called florist’s azaleas, are distinguished from their tougher outdoor counterparts by their growth habit – they do not lose their leaves in winter and aren’t frost tolerant. These azaleas, which are evergreens, are the kind you’d buy as a bouquet. Azaleas are extraordinarily delicate.
Their blooms will last only a few weeks even in perfect conditions, and it’s very difficult to prompt them to rebloom. Their fragility, however, is matched by their beauty: indoor azaleas can bloom in white, red, or pink and a bouquet in bloom will lend exquisite color to your home. However, caring for indoor azaleas is somewhat complex.
In order to set buds and blooms for the following year, they should spend some time outside in cool – but not freezing – weather during fall before coming inside for the cold winter months. Given correct care, they should then bloom anew in beautiful color in the spring. You can either discard your plants after their initial bloom or attempt to keep them for the next season: either way, this is a subtle, pleasant, highly recommended houseplant.
Growing Conditions
- Light: Bright indoor light. Without enough direct light, your azaleas won’t set the buds necessary for nice blooms later.
- Water: Their soil should never be allowed to dry out and you simply must regularly water azaleas to keep them healthy.
- Temperature: Cool room temperatures around seventy degrees while in bloom. During the fall, they need cooler weather around forty to fifty in order to bloom nicely later. Indoor azaleas cannot tolerate frost.
- Soil: A mixture of potting soil and peat moss will do nicely.
- Fertilizer: Feed your azaleas during the growing season about once every two weeks. Look specifically for an acid-forming fertilizer that contains iron. If its leaves have begun to turn yellow, your plant suffers from iron deficiency and its fertilizer needs to be increased.
Propagation
Propagating azaleas is extraordinarily difficult and azaleas grown by professionals will generally be much stronger than those propagated at home. Nevertheless, should you attempt to, they can be grown from stem tip cuttings.
Repotting
It really comes down to exactly what your plans are for your azaleas. It’s not uncommon to buy a plant, keep it temporarily for a season while it’s in bloom, then throw it out after its bloom ends. If you do decide to keep it, repot after its flowers are gone in a larger container and make sure to damage its fragile root ball. Repotting is hard on these plants, so only do it when you absolutely must and never repot an azalea in bloom.
Varieties
Azaleas are a subset of the Rhododendron genus, which contains over one thousand species of shocking diversity. The key difference between an azalea and a rhododendron is the flowers: azaleas have smaller flowers with only five pollen-producing anthers each. Generally, florists won’t list indoor azaleas by species: care is similar for all indoor azaleas, despite the complexity of their taxonomy.
Grower’s Tips
Pruning your azaleas is a good idea. Not only will it make the plant more aesthetically attractive, it will also help it grow back in more strongly. Prune your plant after flowering and cut the stem tips back: these tips will produce new flowers. In addition, watch out for the many maladies that can beset your azaleas like root rot and pests. Root rot can be identified by brown, dead-looking leaves, and pests like spider mites will leave white, threadlike material on the bottoms of the leaves. If your plant suffers from either, you’re better off throwing it away than attempting to fix it. If your azalea is losing its leaves, its soil is drying out. Give it more water and it should recover.
