Buy outdoor grown azaleas?
After I bought an azalea at Nursery "A", I passed by Nursery "B" run by Japanese. Saw a lot of azaleas sitting out. Asked the young man about them. He said their azaleas are grown outdoors, and not "forced", like the one I just bought. Therefore their blooming cycle is more natural. Whereas the greenhouse-grown ones are full of blooms when they arrive at the nursery,but then they abruptly lose hem all and it's quite a while till they bloom again. What do people think of this explanation? TIA -- Polar |
Buy outdoor grown azaleas?
Polar wrote: After I bought an azalea at Nursery "A", I passed by Nursery "B" run by Japanese. Saw a lot of azaleas sitting out. Asked the young man about them. He said their azaleas are grown outdoors, and not "forced", like the one I just bought. Therefore their blooming cycle is more natural. Whereas the greenhouse-grown ones are full of blooms when they arrive at the nursery,but then they abruptly lose hem all and it's quite a while till they bloom again. What do people think of this explanation? It is a perfectly reasonable explanantion - "florist's azaleas" are forced into bloom through the manipulation of chemicals. They are also very highly hybridized for bloom size and color. They are sold as temporary blooming houseplants and in many cases, will not transition successfully to outdoor planting. If they do transition, it may take a number of years, if ever, for them to bloom. Much better to get those bred for outdoor conditions and hardiness - they will fare much better in the long run. pam - gardengal |
Buy outdoor grown azaleas?
absolutely. forcing really screws the plant over and some of them never recover from
being forced. those grown outdoors havent been forced and are going to transplant with little setback. in general pull the plant outta the pot. forced ones are packed with roots in peat moss which is light and cheap to ship, but that peat moss is going to dry out and/or be impossible to remove enough peat moss to loosen up the roots so they grow out into the soil, those not forced are in real dirt. Ingrid Polar wrote: After I bought an azalea at Nursery "A", I passed by Nursery "B" run by Japanese. Saw a lot of azaleas sitting out. Asked the young man about them. He said their azaleas are grown outdoors, and not "forced", like the one I just bought. Therefore their blooming cycle is more natural. Whereas the greenhouse-grown ones are full of blooms when they arrive at the nursery,but then they abruptly lose hem all and it's quite a while till they bloom again. What do people think of this explanation? TIA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List http://puregold.aquaria.net/ www.drsolo.com Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the endorsements or recommendations I make. |
Buy outdoor grown azaleas?
On Fri, 28 Mar 2003 22:24:54 -0800, Polar
wrote: After I bought an azalea at Nursery "A", I passed by Nursery "B" run by Japanese. Saw a lot of azaleas sitting out. Asked the young man about them. He said their azaleas are grown outdoors, and not "forced", like the one I just bought. Therefore their blooming cycle is more natural. Whereas the greenhouse-grown ones are full of blooms when they arrive at the nursery,but then they abruptly lose hem all and it's quite a while till they bloom again. What do people think of this explanation? Thanks to all for validating nursery guy's explanation. I'll cut the plant a little slack, since I did transplant it in a very good home-made mixture, but if it doesn't produce next season, out, out, out. -- Polar |
Buy outdoor grown azaleas?
Polar wrote:
After I bought an azalea at Nursery "A", I passed by Nursery "B" run by Japanese. Saw a lot of azaleas sitting out. Asked the young man about them. He said their azaleas are grown outdoors, and not "forced", like the one I just bought. Therefore their blooming cycle is more natural. Whereas the greenhouse-grown ones are full of blooms when they arrive at the nursery,but then they abruptly lose hem all and it's quite a while till they bloom again. Most commercial azalea places now grow their plants until they bloom in greenhouses. This does two things. It gets them to marketable size sooner and it gets to market blooming before normal field grown plants of the same variety bloom. They use extended light cycles and heat to force them to bloom early. Is this bad? Well not really but it does bring up three questions. 1) You can't really be sure you are getting a hardy variety. If it is locally field grown, you know it is hardy in your area. 2) Second, blooming in a green house does break the natural cycle. It may have a tendency to cause sporting in the fall which would harm the flowering in the next spring. 3) Third, these plants are not hardy yet. They harden off when grown outside. They will be more difficult to grow the first year. Your losses will be higher. Stresses such as drought, heat and cold will more difficult until they develop hardiness. If they are a hardy variety, this will develop during the first season grown outdoors. The Rhododendron Society forces azalea and rhododendron plants for display in the Philadelphia Flower Show. Then after the show we auction these plants off to the members. We always use varieties that are hardy so they will do well outside. However, as you mention, they are messed up. Usually the following year they start blooming at the right time and the second year they seem to be fully recovered. Our members are always anxious to get them and have little trouble with them. -- Visit my Rhododendron and Azalea web pages at: http://www.users.fast.net/~shenning/rhody.html Also visit the Rhododendron and Azalea Bookstore at: http://members.aol.com/rhodyman/rhodybooks.html Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA USA http://www.users.fast.net/~shenning |
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