Azaleas grow well in this kind of soil, and even a casual batch of cuttings will all take root

Many friends find azaleas a bit tricky to grow, and cuttings even trickier, but actually, once we understand the growing habits of azaleas, growing them well and getting them to burst into bloom is fairly simple, and taking cuttings is very easy too.

Every year I take cuttings for several large pots of azaleas; one pot can hold over thirty cuttings. The ones in the picture below were all taken last year on May 1st, and this year they have already bloomed. I don't have many flower pots, so many of the pots are made from drink bottles, but the plants still grow especially vigorously

If azaleas are grown well, they send out new shoots from the top every year. When the shoots have grown to the semi-lignified stage, they are easiest to root from cuttings. I keep several pots of azaleas, and each time I take cuttings, I just use a cracked pot, fill it with leaf mold I dug up myself, mix in some coarse sand and garden soil, water it thoroughly, and simply stick the azalea cuttings in.

The most important thing is to cover them with a bag to keep in moisture. Slip a plastic bag over the pot, poke a few holes in the bag, water thoroughly again about every four or five days, and keep it in a spot with bright indirect light. After about a month, new leaves will grow, and after about forty days, they can be transplanted.

The young plants you root yourself grow vigorously and are more adaptable than store-bought greenhouse-grown azaleas, easier to care for, and very easy to keep alive.