How to cultivate azaleas
Today's tip for living: introducing how to cultivate azaleas and some handy tips for azalea maintenance, followed by detailed content sharing.
Azaleas, also known as rhododendrons, are one of the top ten famous flowers in China, often used in landscaping, and many friends also enjoy keeping a pot at home. They have lush green leaves and numerous, bright-colored flowers when in bloom. A pot can be kept for many years, and when trained into an old-stump bonsai, it is especially beautiful and impressive. If azalea potted plants drop leaves, have black leaf tips, yellow leaves, or produce few or no flowers, it is definitely due to problems during the maintenance process, caused by these reasons. Therefore, attention should be paid to the following maintenance techniques:
To cultivate azaleas, remember these 5 points to avoid leaf drop or yellowing, ensure lush growth, and have blooming every year.
1. Moderate lighting
If during the cultivation of azaleas, the new leaves have black tips and are prone to falling, it might be due to excessive strong light. As the temperature rises, azaleas should not be placed in direct sunlight, especially during the high summer temperatures. Both spring and autumn can have some sun exposure, but summer requires shading to achieve 70% light blockage. Additionally, if the potting soil is short of water and has not been watered for many days, combined with compacted soil, it can also cause leaf drop. Therefore, it should not be left without watering for a long time.
How to cultivate azaleas
2. Maintain ventilation and air permeability
If the location of the potted azalea has poor ventilation, waterlogging in the soil, and severe lack of light, it can also cause black leaves and leaf drop, resulting in very poor condition. Therefore, maintaining ventilation and air permeability, ensuring at least some scattered light, and keeping the soil not too dry but also not overwatered is important.
3. Maintain a certain level of humidity
If the air and weather are dry, in addition to watering in time, you can also spray some water to maintain a certain level of humidity, as an overly dry environment can also lead to dry leaves and black tips.
4. Control pests and diseases
If the azalea's leaf tips turn black, leaves fall, or leaves wither, it might be due to anthracnose. Therefore, you can spray some fungicides, such as common carbendazim or thiophanate-methyl, for prevention and control. When cultivating azaleas, the soil should be slightly acidic, maintain good ventilation, a certain level of humidity, and grow well in temperatures around 20 degrees Celsius. Normally, the light should not be too weak or too dark. Weak light and excessive watering can easily cause leaves to fall off when touched, or even lead to complete defoliation.