Azalea dried up: how to save the plant

A beautiful gesture to give fresh flowers in pots as a gift for the holidays has become a tradition. In almost every home there is a flower pot with an exquisite plant. Very often, an azalea is chosen as a gift - a flower - rhododendron.

Despite the beauty of inflorescences and foliage, Azalea very quickly loses its attractive appearance - it dries up. Here the question arises of how to save the azalea, because you want so much that this flower retains its vitality for as long as possible and pleases with its bright colors. It is possible to revive a plant, and this is confirmed by experienced flower growers. For resuscitation of azalea, several simple tricks are used.

Reasons for the death of azalea

An indoor flower can dry due to several factors. And all of them are related to the conditions of caring for the plant.

Azalea foliage and shoots lose strength - wither and subsequently die when:

• lack of regular watering;
• excess moisture;
• elevated air temperature in the room;
• direct sunlight on the foliage;
• lack of light;
• pest infestation;
• lack of fertilizing with fertilizers;
• a sharp drop in temperature;
• damage to the root system;
• when planting in unsuitable soil.

What to do if the azalea dries up

If at least one of the above factors took place before the azalea shed its foliage, and only the bare shoots of the flower remained in the flower pot, the dying azalea should be carefully examined. Identification of live buds provides a basis for helping the plant.

Before resuscitating the azalea, you need to make sure that it has not died completely, otherwise all measures to save it will be in vain.

Irrigation disruption

In the absence of proper watering, the root system suffers first of all, the plant receives less nutrients for the formation of new shoots, and begins to fade. Weak roots are unable to develop without water, even in properly selected soil. To resurrect the azalea, in this case, it is not enough to fill the flower with water.

Need to:

Firstly, you should remove the plant from the flower pot, carefully remove excess soil so as not to damage the weak roots.

Secondly, soak azalea roots for half an hour in a solution containing special growth stimulants for flowering plants.

Third, plant the azalea in the updated soil and subsequently observe the regularity of watering. Azaleas should be watered with settled warm water no more than twice a week.

What to do if the flower withered due to too much watering? With an excess of moisture, the roots of the azalea begin to rot. If the flower has already shed its foliage, this indicates that almost all of its roots are damaged.

In this case, it is also impossible to do without the so-called transshipment of azalea:

Withering azalea should be removed from the pot.

Next, carefully clean the roots from wet soil, rinse in water at room temperature, inspect all branches, cut off rot, treat live roots with special plant products from pathogenic bacteria.

The azalea with the rest of the living roots is transplanted into the renewed soil and subsequently moderate regular watering is performed.

Influence of high temperatures and lighting

If the azalea has dried up due to the high temperature in the room, it will be difficult to revive it. But you can still try to revive the plant.

Often, high temperatures have a negative effect on plants if a reserve supply of moisture does not accumulate in the soil. That is, the plant is either watered a little, or there is little soil in the pot to retain moisture.

How to save the azalea in this case?

If it is not completely dry, then proceed as follows:

To ensure the optimal amount of soil, the plant is transplanted into a larger pot.

Before planting the azalea, the soil is fertilized with shoot growth stimulants.

If there are no shaded places in the room and the transplanted azalea cannot be protected from the influence of high temperatures, then after each watering, a plastic bag is put on the flower pot for 1-1.5 hours to create the so-called greenhouse effect. This procedure should be performed before forcing new azalea leaves.

The sun's rays burn the leaves of the azalea, they begin to turn yellow and fall off. In this case, the plant needs not much resuscitation, but first aid.

It must be provided in the following order:

The affected azalea must be removed in partial shade and removed from the shoots all damaged - yellow and dry leaves.

With insufficient lighting, the plant can also die, so after a week of settling in the shade, the azalea should be gradually turned towards the sun, diffused lighting is ideal.

Azalea quickly dies with a sharp change in temperature. For example, if it grew at +20°C, and then it was created growth conditions at +10°C. Azalea is not afraid of cold weather if it is gradually hardened. You should not despair if the azalea began to shed its foliage in the coolness. It should create a neutral temperature regime for growth + 18 ... 20 ° С. And at the same time provide the plant with more sunlight.

Pests and diseases

Azalea is very sensitive to spider mites, aphids and scale insects. The foliage of the plant, which turns yellow and falls off, suffers from these insects.

Resuscitation of azalea in case of pest damage is:

In removing damaged leaves;

Treatment of the plant with special solutions from pests for indoor plants;

If necessary, replace the soil.

With planting soil, a Fusarium fungus can be brought into a flower pot, which negatively affects the development of azalea roots, from which they can completely die. The salvation of the flower in this case consists in watering it with a solution of potassium permanganate and the antifungal drug "Fundazol".

Poor quality soil

Plants of the rhododendron family prefer to grow in acidic soil.

Often, the azalea disappears due to non-compliance with this requirement:

If not all the leaves of the flower have dried up, you can revive it with regular watering with a settled slightly acidic solution of citric acid (1 liter of water + 2 grams of acid).

If the plant is almost dry, then you can try watering with a solution of boric acid (1 liter of water + 3 drops of acid).

With the usefulness of the root system, it would be appropriate to make the usual transshipment of the flower, picking up better soil for it (peat + coniferous soil).

When the azalea has dried up, it is important to determine the root cause of what happened. It is one thing how to save a plant planted with your own hands, another - bought in a store. Having received an azalea as a gift in a small pot, it must be transplanted without waiting for withering by the transshipment method immediately after it has faded.

Azalea is a whimsical flower plant. When resuscitating, it is extremely important to provide the plant with timely assistance. The above recommendations will help to preserve its beauty and strength, the implementation of which is mandatory in the care of an indoor flower.