Hello,

I just bought my first ever azalea ("Encore Sunburst") which I want to plant in order to entice hummingbirds to my home. I opted for this plant, because I read on numerous sites that it is also heat and sunlight tolerant and easily grows in pots.

My candidate pot is a large, plastic pot with no drainage (currently). It is shown, along with the plant, in the attached photo.

Should I drill some drainage holes in this pot, or is it good as is? What kind of potting soil works best? Likewise, I'm led to believe these flowers like slightly acidic soil. I'm thinking of getting some fine pine bark to go on top of the soil, but is this necessary or is there another suitable substitute?

My plant obviously needs some dead-heading, but is there anything else I can or should do to this plant to make it flourish and attract hummingbirds? At $20, this was an expensive plant, so I want to treat it right...

You definitely need to drill some drainage holes! Azaleas like fast draining, slightly acid soil. Most garden centers in the USA carry special potting soil for them. Do not put rocks in the pot! These have shallow roots , so be very careful not to damage the root ball.

Drill some really BIG holes in your pot (or drill a lot of them). If you haven't drilled holes yet, you might want to rethink your choice. Use regular potting soil but add peat moss (about 1/3 the volume). Make sure the peat moss is thoroughly moistened or it will burn the roots of your Azalea. Don't fertilize as the potting soil will have everything it needs for this year. Keep the soil damp - watch your plant closely in the heat as the roots are shallow, probably shallower than wide. Azalea root systems are small, there is going to be a lot of un-used pot, and black pots absorb heat so the roots will suffer if it gets too dry. But, because of the depth of your pot, its going to be hard to encourage good draining. Azalea pots are usually large bowl shaped containers or terra cotta pots that are wider than deep.

Plant the Azalea on a mound in the pot so its a little higher than the rim of the pot but leave the edge a little lower than the rim. Azalea are very prone to crown rot so that will make it easier to water and keep the crown high.

Maybe I'll just risk a trip to Lowe's or the local garden center to get a better pot. I just hate having a really large pot around, with nothing in it. I DO actually have a fairly wide, terra-cotta bowl-shaped pot, with large drain holes, as well as a ceramic bowl with drain holes. I previously used the terra-cotta for some juvenile aloe plants.
I placed the larger blue ceramic bowl inside the large plastic pot. It sits in there nicely, about half-way down. I then placed the azalea inside that bowl, and the crown was above the lip of the larger pot...There would be really good drainage.

As for the peat moss, I assume it needs to be mixed in with the potting soil, after it is thoroughly moistened?

Any need for pine bark? I also have an abundance of pine straw and wondered if adding some of that to the top soil or in with the mix would be of any benefit.

Those pots both look good. Yes, mix the potting soil and peat together. Put a piece of screen (window screen, plastic craft canvas, I use pieces of sand bag - the kind you fill with sand during floods) over the hole if its too big. Azalea roots are very fine and fibrous. When you remove the azalea from the nursery pot, you will probably discover the roots have filled the entire pot. If so, gently pull the bottom of the root ball apart with your hands (so there's a little split) and spread it out over a fresh layer of soil. After you finish potting, give it a good drink and then keep the soil moist.

I just found this information sheet about Encore Azaleas in pots:

https://www.thetreecenter.com/...

I can't locate any peat moss in any size other than 50lb bags which (at this time) is far more than I need. Lowe's also did not have any azalea food or mixed soil.

I'm going to try a small, local nursery tomorrow, after work, but in the chance that they don't have azalea food or peat moss, is there any other option for me to pot or plant this azalea in the right kind of soil?

Also, while the plant does have a handful of healthy blooms, it appears to have quite a few dead flowers. What is the preferred method of dead-heading? Should I trim back entire branches or just remove spent flowers, just below the dead bloom, but right above the first set of healthy leaves?

You don't want azalea food at all - your plant is a long way from needing fertilizer (maybe a year).

I can buy peat in small bags located with the small bags of potting soil, cactus soil, perlite, vermiculite.... usually inside the store with the potted houseplants. Did you check there?

Maybe I didn't explain well. You have to do the mixing. Mix potting soil and peat moss together about 2:1 ratio. Don't use moisture control!

If you are going to a specialty nursery, they may have azalea/camellia potting soil. Or Violet soil. It will be the expensive way to do it though.

The flowers will fall off on their own when they are done blooming. You can help them out by giving them a little tug. No need for cutting or deadheading as your azalea won't bloom again until next spring anyway.

Azaleas will grow into a nice shape without any pruning help.

I looked for the items you mentioned at Lowes, both in their inside and outside nursery area, but no luck. The small local nursery did have peat moss, but again only in the large 50 lb blocks. I bought "soil conditioner" for $7.00/bag (a smaller bag), which the nursery assured me would work good for azaleas. Going to give it a try this afternoon. I also have an abundance of pine straw that I can place over the exposed areas of soil.

Did you read the label to see what was in it?

Not much information, to be honest, but upon opening it, I was pleased to see plenty of fine pine bark.

The azalea is now in an azalea pot, in which I placed a mix of soil/soil stabilizer at 2:1 ratio. I scored the root ball with my pruning shears to help break the roots loose. There is about 3" between the roots and the wall of the container.

I topped off the soil with a few handfuls of pine straw on top and around the base of the plant, then watered thoroughly.

My azalea seems to be doing ok so far. Among the numerous plants and flowers I set out over the last month, it seems to be doing better than most of the others. I had to dead-head a bunch of withered blooms once it was potted, but since then it has produced a few new blooms. I'd like to know if there is anything I can do to encourage more profuse blooming.