How to Grow Indoor Azaleas

Indoor azaleas produce an abundance of bright, funnel-shaped flowers and bloom for up to a month at a time. Your azaleas will thrive in cool, humid conditions, so a cool porch or windowsill is an ideal spot for these flowers. Azaleas also prefer acidic soil, so using an acidic fertilizer will encourage healthy growth. With plenty of water and proper care, azaleas will add a colorful touch to your home for many years.

Things You'll Need

• Azaleas
• Cool room or porch
• Spray bottle
• Acidic houseplant fertilizer
• Clay pot
• Peat-based potting soil

Instructions

1. Buy your azaleas from a reputable breeder or plant nursery. Look for a plant with a few blooms and lots of buds with dark green leaves.

2. Place your azaleas in a cool room or porch with a temperature between 55 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Cool temperatures will prolong blooming. Choose a location with lots of sunlight, but avoid subjecting azaleas to direct sun, especially in the afternoon. Intense midday sunlight will damage the flowers.

3. Water your azaleas frequently, always keeping the soil moist. Dirt should constantly feel damp to the touch. When azaleas are not in bloom, mist the leaves with a spray bottle once per day. Tap water is fine for misting and watering.

4. Remove dead flowers by gently pulling them away from the plant. Discard deadheaded blooms, and clear away any dead flowers that fall into the dirt.

5. Fertilize your flowers once a month with an acidic houseplant fertilizer. Look for a fertilizer with sulfur, or one that is labeled "acidic." Stop fertilizing when azaleas are in bloom, and resume fertilization when all the flowers have died.

6. Repot your azaleas when they become overcrowded, in late summer or early fall. Most azaleas will need repotting every 2 or 3 years to a slightly larger clay pot. Use a peat-based potting soil in the new pot and transfer the azalea along with its root system to the new container. Hold the azalea around its base and gently tip the smaller pot upside down. The azalea and its roots should slide easily from the pot, and can be placed in the larger pot immediately. Cover the roots with potting soil and pat the dirt around the base of the plant.

Tips & Warnings

• If the water in your city is very alkaline, consider adding a tablespoon of vinegar to each gallon of water used for watering (not misting). Azaleas thrive in acidic soil, but because they need frequent watering alkaline water can change the pH of the soil and stunt the flower's growth. If your home has a water softener you probably don't need to add any vinegar.

• If the air in your home is very dry consider adding a humidity tray around your azaleas. Humidity trays hold water to make the air more humid, and can be purchased at any garden store.

• To trigger blooming, consider leaving your azaleas outdoors in the summer. Leaving the azaleas outside into the early fall, when temperatures drop almost to freezing, and then bringing the plants indoors again can cause the azalea to flower. Be careful not to leave azaleas outdoors when frost hits.

References

• Enjoy Gardening: Growing Indoor Azaleas
• BBC: Indoor Azalea
• Bachman's: Azaleas

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish