Rhododendron hardy - so they overwinter azaleas

• Hibernate in the garden
• Hibernate in a bucket
  • 1. Outside
  • 2. In the light room
  • 3. crisis, (also) for rhododendrons

There are many hardy rhododendrons and just as many rhododendrons that are just as hardy. They will only help you well over the winter if you make them "hardy" by having the right location and the right protection.

You can successfully hibernate the strongest rhododendron and the tenderest azalea if you have the information you need. These will be communicated below, along with advice on wintering, if the optimal environment can not be provided:

Winter hard starts with information

There are few rhododendrons who are familiar with our climate, many rhododendrons who can handle us, a good many rhododendrons who can not do much with the climate in Germany - all are easily crossed, which breeders have been doing for two centuries. The result is 20, 000 breeding varieties, happily crossed hybrids whose ancestry is often completely in the dark of the breeding history and in which only specialists guess the lineage.

Therefore, the most important requirement for successful wintering is that you buy from a retailer near your home. He has taken the trouble to research the origin of his rhododendrons, he has pulled rhododendrons in soil and climate, which are very similar to the conditions in your place of residence, he has wintered exactly these rhododendrons even in this very climate.

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Hibernate in the garden

The colder it can be in your home region in winter, the more important it is that you buy your rhododendrons from such a professional who can also tell you to what extent your rhododendron has already become accustomed to cold and how to proceed with it Your rhododendron survives the winter well.

For example, he will advise you on when to plant the rhododendron, how to help a young rhododendron get through its first winters, and what winter protection is appropriate for your home and the microclimate of your garden.

tip
For all rhododendrons (including those in the tub): rhododendrons are flat-rooters, so the roots are located very close to the surface of the garden soil / substrate, where freezing cold therefore also strikes first. So the winter protection has to be mainly on this earth surface, the bucket not only needs to be wrapped, but also well covered on the substrate.

Hibernate in a bucket

You can overwinter a tub rhododendron in several ways, depending on the species and local conditions:

1. Outside

• Most rhododendrons overwinter best outside, in a sheltered, shady corner
• For example, on a wall on the north side
• If the bucket is too big and thus immobile, he gets thrown over a shading net
• Bucket rhododendrons need winter protection outside because potting soil freezes faster
• The pot is well packed with insulating materials
• Even downwards it needs a good insulation when it is on floors that are not heated by the house

2. In the light room

• If you have a tropical rhododendron in the bucket, in winter it must be in the house in a bright, cool room
• The rhododendron in winter quarters is watered restrainedly, only he may not dry out, he is not fertilized at all.
• For other rhododendrons in the bucket is a cool, bright room with temperatures between 5 to 10 degrees an alternative, if z. B. in the garden are still on the road
• Winter hardy rhododendrons hibernate better outside, however
• If z. For example, if the terrace is still being built, you may find a spot in the garden where it can be buried with tubs

3. crisis, (also) for rhododendrons

Normally wintering rhododendrons is easy, but what about all the rhododendrons, whose "family" is dealing with things that are more important than the concern for exemplary wintering of a rhododendron ">

tip
This article is a prime example of many plant care articles in which the details remain vague: whether pH or soil, fertilizer or hibernation inside out - it is never specified how, how much, when, how long mixed, administered, done and so on. Neither a cause for anger nor despair, for every plant is an individual, and putting such information into plants with great patience is the mystery that is also called "green thumb" ...