Grow azaleas well with this soil, and root a hundred plants from a single cutting

Many friends find azaleas hard to grow, and rooting cuttings is even trickier. In fact, as long as we understand the azalea's growing habits, growing them well and getting a pot bursting with blooms is fairly simple, and rooting cuttings is very easy too,

Every year I root several large pots of azaleas, and one pot can hold more than thirty cuttings. The plants in the picture below were all rooted last year on May 1st, and this year they have already bloomed. I don't have many flower pots, so many of the pots I use are made from drink bottles, yet the plants grow especially vigorously

If an azalea is grown well, it will send out new shoots from the top every year. When the shoots reach the semi-lignified stage, they are easiest to root as cuttings. I keep several pots of azaleas, and each time I take cuttings I 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 just stick the azalea cuttings in

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

Seedlings you root yourself grow vigorously and are hardier than greenhouse-grown azaleas you buy, are simple to care for, and are very easy to keep alive