Azaleas Flower Plant: Description, Planting & Germination

                                          Azaleas
Azaleas is a popular flowering bush and foundation plant, with bright spring blooms..The mature plant reaches almost 20 ft. This is a shallow rooting plant with red, pink and white blossoms. Gardeners have developed a number of hybrid varieties over the years.They will usually bloom for a couple weeks, or longer if the previous winter was warm.The colorful Azaleas often bloomed in spring. They're quite easy to plant.

Common Name : Azaleas

Botanical Name: Godetia amoena

Family: Rhododendrons

Plant Height: 20 feet

Plant Type: Shrub

Flower Color: Pink,Purple,Red,White,Yellow

Bloom Time: Spring,Summer

Life Cycle: Annual

Soil pH: Acidic

Sun Exposure: Full/half sun


PLANTING

Azaleas likes part shade of sun. Deep shade or full sun is harmful.A sunny spot that receives a few hours of shade is perfect.Soil should be well-drained, humus-rich, moist, and acidic (pH 4.5–6). Early varieties can blossom in march, late ones into July or even the fall.

HOW TO GERMINATE AZALEAS

Step 1 :

Fill a pot with water that equals five times the seed volume and bring it to a boil on a stove. Check the temperature of the water.

Step 2:

Place the azaleas seeds in the hot water and stir them for up to two minutes with a spoon before draining the liquid.

Step 3:

Fill a bowl with lukewarm water that's between 86 and 104 degrees Fahrenheit and soak the seeds in it for 24 hours. This per-treatment is called scarification and alters the hard seed coat, which increases the chances of uniform germination.

Step 4:

Fill a pot with moist seed-starting mix up to 1 inch from the top, place the seed on top of the surface and cover it with a 1/2-inch layer of the mix. Moisten the surface with a water-filled spray bottle to avoid washing away the seed.

step 5:

Cover tightly plastic polythene wrap over the pot to promote soil moisture retention and place it in a dimly lit area of the house. Lift the plastic daily to check that the soil is moist. If not, lightly moisten it with a water-filled spray bottle before replacing the plastic. Expect germination within three to five days.

Step 6:

Remove the plastic as soon as the seedlings emerge, and gradually move the pot to a brighter area over a two-week period so that at the end of that time they're acclimated to being in full sunlight.

Step 7:

Transplant the seedlings outside to an area with full sun and well-draining soil after three to five months, when the seedlings are about 8 to 12 inches tall.