Propagating Azaleas from stem cuttings

Good time to take azalea cuttings is early summer since they need to be grown under "long day" conditions. But, if you can provide them with enough artificial light and heath, you can take cuttings in autumn as well (I did that, they root very easily during winter)!
You should take cuttings 4-6 cm long (2-3 inches) from new growth that has just hardened off. If they're longer than 3'' cut them into several sections. But, since half the stem cutting is going to be covered with soil, you must make sure to remove all the foliage at the base (leaves should never touch soil- it might cause rotting!). Never tear the leaves off - you might damage the bark. What you can do is to remove some bark at the base of the cutting with your finger nail.Also, too long (large) leaves should be cut in half.Every cutting should have at leat two leaves.
Plant them into well drained, dump but never wet, acidic soil. They need to be in a mini greenhouse (you can put a container into a plastic bag or simply use a seed tray.) and under fluorescent lights (or sun) at least 16-18 hours per day. They don't require a lot of water (no "wet feet"!) but they do need to "breathe"so open the greenhouse every day for about 15 min.
Cuttings should root within 2-6 months (long period, I know!) but when they do, remove the plastic bags GRADUALLY- keep the greenhouse open 15-30 more minutes every day untill they get used to at least 8 hours a day of "outside conditions", then you can transplant them. Once they are transplanted, they need a new period of adaptation. If you plan to grow them as outdoor plants then wait untill one winter passes before you plant them outside- they need to harden off before frost. If you live in warm climates then you should skip the first summer because extremely hot weather can be very dangerous for their root system too. My oppinion (based on my own experience) is that it's the period after the rooting that's tricky. I've lost a few plants because of my impatience and, trust me, it'a very lousy feeling to do everything right for 6 months, see your brand new plants growing in a mini greenhouse and then loosing them in just a few days because you took them out of it too soon.

Few more tips
- don't check for roots within the first 2 months, young roots are very delicate and you might damage them.
-if you see new leaves- that is not a sign od root growing
- allways remove flower buds from cuttings (so that they could use whole their energy to create root system)
- I didn't use rooting hormone. If you do, I would advise you not to dip cuttings into it (even though, many people suggest that) but to gently put some hormone powder on the base of the cutting with a small brush
-if you want to use fungicide (why not?!), you can spray the soil with the fungicide after the cuttings are stuck
-if you notice a dying cutting- remove it, it might cause other (healthy) cuttings to start rotting too
-overwatering them causes rotting and keeping them on "dry side" encourages "root grow"
-even hardwood cutting can do well (without rooting hormnone) but I wouldn't suggest you to "play" with them- it's been 1.5 year since I've transplanted them and they are stuck- they just don't grow, the stem is too thick (old)

If I forgot something, remind me! What can I say- you need a lot of patience but, in the end, it is worth it! Good luck!

Hi, Maja,

I put two cuttings of an outdoor azalea to root last autumn. They are still alive, but have not started growing, and have not formed any roots. I do hope that they will start in spring. I did not know that they needed long periods of light.

It is a beautiful red outdoor azalea, that in my region (Dalmatia, zone 9b) overwinters outside. I would really like to have one in my yard.

Any advice about sowing azalea seeds?

ciao
ciao

ciao

when sowing azalea seeds is very important to sow them in sterile soil, i have treated my sowing compost with heat and fungicide....seedlings emerge in two weeks and germination percentage is quite high

Hi, Kuchlar,

Just put them on the surface and leave them uncovered, or cover them by a thin layer?

i did not cover mine...azaleas from seed flower in 3-4 years...so we must wait a lot..

I've propagated many azaleas by pinning a side branch of year old or less growth to the ground, and covering the part on the ground with mulch for six months to a year.

It works dependably, but of course limits the number of pieces you can start. That is, you could take a dozen cuttings OR pin two or three branches down. Then there's the problem of separating the offset from the parent. Azaleas are shallow rooted and you will be disturbing the soil around the parent when you remove the pup.