Azalea Care Guide - Azaleas Indoor Plants

The evergreen azaleas bring a burst of color to the spring garden and are perfect for the humid southeastern US climate. You can find old Formosan or Indica types that have been left behind at old house sites and in graves just fine with little or no care.

With cultivars ranging in size from 10-12' at maturity to tiny 1-2' like Gumpos and Chinsei (both are fine bonsai specimens) there are azaleas that do well in almost any garden.

Colors can range from brilliant reds, pinks, whites, purples and even oranges as well as variegated shapes featuring stripes, spots, and picotees. For real yellows and golds, you should look at leaf types and rhododendrons.

Flowering generally peaks in spring but some varieties like Watchet, Fashion and Red Ruffles are known to flower in fall as well as spring. With the right growing conditions, this naturally growing, vigorous, evergreen shrub will require a bit of maintenance once it grows well.

Azaleas have a very fine fibrous root system and will thrive in moderately moist, well-drained acidic soil (pH range 4.5-5.5) rich in well-composted organic matter.

How to Care Azalea - Azaleas Indoor Plants

The soil should be loose and loose. Another important thing to remember is that azaleas seem to do best when they are in a symbiotic relationship with the beneficial mycorrhizal fungi.

Adding extra amounts of organic matter such as composted leaves, well-composted pine bark, or peat moss (including peat moss-based potting soil) as well as organic, easy-to-absorb mulch, seems to give the best results.

The clay should be thoroughly amended with a large amount of sand and organic matter and you can even make a clay bowl that only holds water. If drainage is a concern, consider planting them in well-prepared beds.

The acid loving nature of azaleas makes them poor choices where concrete and mortar can leach lime into the soil. This is often most evident where they are used in commercial landscapes.

Another source of lime is garden fertilizer like 8-8-8 and 13-13-13. A 50 lb. bag of 8-8-8 from a local feed store contains a total of 12 lbs. of N-P-K and 38 lbs. of dolomitic lime as filler. A proper organic mulch can provide them with practically everything that they need in terms of nutrients.

If you think your soil is too poor, we suggest fertilizing with cottonseed meal. I’ve heard old experienced gardeners say that you should “turn the ground green with it” beneath your Camellias and blueberries every spring.

If you are determined that more is necessary than you have provided be sure to use a fertilizer labeled for acid loving plants and use it as directed.

Blood meal can also be used but most sources suggest avoiding bone meal due to the fact that it may increase the pH. We generally apply fertilizer to the outer 2/3’s of the root zone beneath the shrub’s canopy as this is where the feeder roots are.

No wonder so many experts praise organic mulch when growing plants for all its amazing benefits. Mulch applied properly will help minimize weeding. Watering is reduced in part due to the fact that the soil surface is in the shade and thereby reduces evaporation. Its presence helps to trap moisture in the root zone.

As organic mulches break down, they provide nutrients to soil microbes, which in turn release nutrients back into the soil and keep the soil loose and loose. Organic matter is food for mycorrhizal fungi that share nutrients and moisture with many members of the Blueberry family including azaleas and other Rhododendron species.

You're trying to create an ecosystem and the only real care it takes is to pile the leaves you dug up in the fall around it. Under good conditions, well-established azaleas can get through the summer with little or no added water and nothing more than good mulch.

Mulch not only gives your back some relief from pulling out weeds, hoes, and hoses, it also provides the perfect environment for nematode predators, looks natural, aesthetically pleasing, sustainable, provides a place to put all those leaves each year, saves on the purchase of fertilizers and pesticides. and the labor and equipment to implement them safely.

Watering after planting will be key to helping your new plant grow. John always says "Water three times!" and my brother would say "flush them until you think they will float back!".

They usually don't float back of course but the idea is to flush them deeply and thoroughly as this will:

1. Settles the soil around the root ball providing good contact with the surrounding soil;
2. Helps remove large air pockets in the soil, air usually kills or trims roots;
3. Provide the plant with sufficient moisture to thoroughly moisten the root ball to help it begin to form;
4. Watering deeply and thoroughly will also help teach the roots to grow deeper after the water rather than creeping into the surface of the soil that dries out first.

Azalea Care Guide

By watering thoroughly every time you water you can reduce the frequency. Your actual frequency will vary with your soil type. One way to test if it is time to water is to dip your finger into the root ball soil to a depth of about 1”, if it is damp and cold then no more water is needed but if the soil feels dry and dry. at air temperature then it's time for water.

In general, azaleas will need 1-2" of rain per week or equivalent especially during the first few years of formation, but remember not to get them wet.

Azaleas can be successfully planted any time of year. Thus autumn is the optimal planting time for woody trees, shrubs, vines, and hardy perennials.

In areas where the soil doesn't freeze in winter, the plant's root system will continue to grow throughout the winter helping them to establish themselves before summer stress hits.

In much of the southeastern US, fall and winter rains are generally sufficient enough that watering may not be necessary again until summer.

For the spring flowering azaleas pruning is generally best done as soon as flowering is finished in the spring as these develop their buds in July and August. For the repeat flowering and fall flowering types you’ll want to be done with pruning by early June.

In our area, the Azalea mealybug can be a cause for concern. Where plants have minimal light, poor air circulation, grow in compacted, poorly drained, or alkaline soil, must face competition from weeds and grasses, or are otherwise stressed as plants growing in full sun, these tiny insects can feel it.

Some say this attraction could be due to a buildup of certain amino acids. As the Azalea mealybug population increases, they can cause the foliage to appear mottled in light green to white in color. The lighter coloration is due to the fact that the nutrient-rich part has been deprived of its food value including green chlorophyll.

The contents are too rich in sugar for insects to digest completely, so the excess is expelled and falls on the foliage below where black sooty mold can thrive. This fungus and its mottled even almost white foliage is a good indicator of an infestation.

Like many insects, the azalea mealybug hides from predators that live and breed on the underside of the leaf surface and this is where pesticides need to be applied if you decide that treatment is necessary.

Always use pesticides according to the label and in a safe manner. Repeated treatments with horticultural oils have been successful in controlling populations in home gardens.