How to water azalea at home: how often and with what water to irrigate the plant during flowering and after transplanting into a pot, what temperature is needed in winter?

Azalea is an ornamental plant with beautiful, lush buds and a peculiar aroma. But this flower is very moody and finicky. Its maintenance requires painstaking and daily care, where the right place is occupied by proper watering. From this article you will learn how often and how to properly water the azalea flower at home. You will also be offered a complete description of the comprehensive care and irrigation methods of this beautiful flowering plant.

Humidification specifics

Watering is the forced moistening of the soil layer with the root system of the plant to feed with minerals, oxygen. This is necessary to generate the energy necessary for growth.

Watering an azalea bush has its own specifics and is one of the criteria for growth and flowering at home after buying a plant. When watering, you just need to apply the rule:

the lower the ambient temperature, the less watering;
at high temperature and low humidity, watering frequency increases.

The importance of watering

Homeland of Azaleas - India and China, places of growth - shady and cool mountain forests. It is very hygrophilous, therefore it requires constant plentiful watering (it cannot be poured, it is not a marsh plant). With insufficient watering, it can dry out; with excessive watering, root rot will appear, which will lead to the death of the plant.

Features

During flowering

From March to October, until the time of blooming azaleas, (November is an intensive planting of buds and buds), watering the bush is reduced. Only in the summer hot time, blooming azalea should be watered more often (up to two times, both in the morning and in the evening).
In order to achieve an increase in flower buds, in the autumn-winter period watering is limited, the temperature is brought up to 6-8 degrees (a glazed loggia, a balcony are suitable).
When buds and flower buds appear, increase the temperature to 16-18 degrees. Watering the azalea flower during flowering is regular, without waterlogging and without excessive dryness.

IMPORTANT. Blooming azalea will be up to two months, if you maintain humidity and temperature of 12 degrees. At a temperature of 20 degrees, flowering will last only two weeks.

At different times of the year

How to water a blooming azalea in winter and summer? During the year (when caring for azalea), the volume and frequency of watering are different:

From March to September, watering should be done every other day. In the summer, when the weather is hot, moisturize (and additionally spray) is necessary more often - every other day, every day.
In October and then in November, when the buds are laid, watering is less necessary.
In winter, during flowering, watering should be 1 - 2 times a week (with heating batteries turned on, the temperature and dryness in the room increase, the frequency of watering increases, preferably morning spraying of leaves).

In all cases, it is necessary to observe the measure when watering (do not pour and do not dry).
More details about the conditions of maintenance and care of the plant in the autumn can be found here.

Indoor and outdoor

How often to water the azalea? Watering a bush of azaleas growing indoors and street azaleas varies slightly. In the room where the azalea grows, it is difficult to choose a constant regime of watering (you can find the optimal conditions for keeping the flower at home here). Cold - it is necessary to reduce watering, hot - increase. Skill comes with time. The main thing is not to fill.

Watering a bush of rhododendrons (azaleas) in the garden, in the country, in personal plots has its own specifics. The frequency and intensity of irrigation is determined by the place of planting and the weather. Watering is negligible in places where there is a high level of groundwater. In a dry summer, watering is increased. On high areas, sandy - you need plentiful and frequent watering. The norm of watering is usually 1-2 buckets two to three times a week, young seedlings are watered more often - half a bucket under a bush.

Before and after transplant

Watering the azalea bush before and after transplanting is of great importance. Any azalea transplant should not be carried out in winter, during flowering. This must be done when new shoots grow. Young shoots must be transplanted every year, and adult bushes - three years once. What is the reason for this? If the transplant after the purchase is not done in a timely manner, then the roots encircling the lump of earth can form a stagnation of moisture and rotting of the soil. Plus various diseases and parasites.

It is necessary to remove the plants from the pots and place in a container with prepared (preferably boiled) water.
We dissolve preparations there: zircon - for better root formation, antifungal - phytosporin-m.
We stand 0.5 - 1 hour.
After transplanting, we water with the same solution in which the bushes were soaked.

After transplanting, we produce watering in two to three days with the mandatory addition of growth stimulants (succinic acid, per 1 liter of water - 1 gram of acid).

ATTENTION. For survival of the transplanted azalea, a temperature of 20-22 degrees is needed (usually covered with a plastic bag), and when the roots take root, it’s nice to put ice cubes on top of the pot. This will be watering (when the ice melts) and will create coolness to the plant.

Water selection

The plant does not like hard water (watering with such water leads to alkalization of the soil and yellowing of the leaves). Water for irrigation should be soft, (sometimes filtered).

Most often they use water:

Rain
From the melted snow.
Boiled.
Settled (the water from the water tap must be left to stand for at least two days. In order for chlorine to come out faster, it must be settled in a tank with a wide top).

There is a great way to soften water. Take 1.5 handfuls of peat, put in an old kapron stocking and dip in a three-liter jar of water. Lower in the evening, in the morning you can water.

To normalize the acid soil of azaleas, it is necessary to periodically (at least twice a month) irrigate the rhododendron bush with citric acid from the calculation - one teaspoon of crystalline acid in two liters of water. You can add oxalic acid (4ml per bucket of water).

Watering depends on:

from seasonality (summer, winter);
from ambient temperature;
from moisture.

Step-by-step instruction

Required temperature

The optimum water temperature for irrigation should be the same with the ambient temperature or 2-3 degrees higher. Watering the azaleas with ice water leads to stress on the flower.

IMPORTANT. Experienced growers are advised to put snow or ice on a pallet in case of high heat and low humidity.

How often?

The timing of watering an azalea bush depends on:

from seasonality - winter, summer;
from ambient temperature;
from humidity in the room.

To correctly determine the time of watering, you can be guided by the following methods:

Take a pinch of topsoil from the pot and rub between your fingers. If the soil layer is dry and crumbles, you need to water it.
Immerse your finger in the ground for two centimeters and decide. If your finger is dry, it’s time to water it, if the tip of your finger is wet - it’s too early to water.

Dosage

There is no strict dosage of the liquid to be watered. Everyone adjusts for himself. But Observe the generally accepted rules for watering azalea bushes.

do not fill the plant;
Do not be late with watering;
in cold weather to water less and less;
in hot - more often and more plentiful.

Methods: bottom to pan or top?

How to water the azalea correctly: pouring water directly into the pot or into the pan from above, and what is the watering temperature?
Watering the azalea bush is carried out in several ways:

Top (preferably from a watering can with a thin, long nose and small spray holes). This method is used when the topsoil is 2-3 cm dry.
Through the pallet (a flower with a pot is put in a pan with poured water, the drainage holes of the pot are one centimeter in the water. The soil draws water into itself naturally. The next watering after this procedure no earlier than three days later).
Immersing the whole pot in a container with water until the earth is completely saturated with moisture (mainly applies to purchased flowers with a dry lump). This is rarely done - once a week. For better acclimatization of such a plant, Zircon can be added to the water.

REFERENCE. Zircon is a drug that is also a regulator of root formation, growth and flowering. Zircon allows a plant to tolerate stress more easily when exposed to a particular chemical, biological and physical nature; he is also an inducer of disease resistance.

Top dressing

It is desirable to combine plant nutrition with watering azalea bushes. For the convenience of flower growers, ready-made solutions in convenient packaging are sold in flower shops. They have descriptions and instructions for use.

The following drugs show good results:

"Superphosphate".
"Azalea".
"Uniflor bud."
Kemira Suite.

Watering with fertilizers is carried out from spring to the formation of buds every 15 days. In spring, nitrogen is introduced, in summer, potassium. In November, while laying the buds, it is recommended to apply phosphorus fertilizers. For example, superphosphate at the rate of 15 g per 10 liters of water.

For more information on feeding for azalea at home, about the process of fertilizing a plant and other nuances, see our article.

Errors and consequences of incorrect actions

It is very important for beginner gardeners to properly water. Azalea loves moisture, since the shrub came to us from a humid climate, and our task is to keep the soil in which the plant is constantly moist. But you can not fill the plant.

Waterlogged soil gives rise to a lack of oxygen and rotting of the root system. The plant withers, leaves and flowers fall and death. In this case, it is extremely difficult to save the plant.

Another situation. For some reason, your plant has dried up. A flower with a dried up clod of earth can be saved. To do this, it must be immersed in a container of water for 3-4 hours to saturate the coma with water, put on a tray to drain excess water from the pot. Regular watering should be carried out no earlier than 2-3 days later.