Not sure this is the place to ask this......but here goes anyway lol. I was wondering how to propagate azaleas from existing bushes....can it be done from cuttings??? It's time for me to prune the bushes down after blooming and I love trying to grow things from cuttings. Any information/instruction is greatly appreciated.

Yes, you can. And this is the time to do it. Greenwood cuttings work best if you plan to root cuttings. The difference between greenwood and softwood is that greenwood is just starting to firm up and softwood is still soft. Its really hard to tell when that is. Take a cutting 4 - 5 inches long. Remove all except the top two leaves or so. Treat with rooting hormone and plant.

The easiest way to get new azaleas is to bury I section of stem that is still attached to the plant. Mark the position where the stem touches the ground. Dig a sloping trench about 3 inches deep leading from the stake to the azalea plant. Remove the leaves from the part of the branch that will be lying in the trench, scratch the bottom of the stem near a node and apply some rooting hormone. Peg the branch to the bottom of the trench and replace the soil. Water. It will take a few months but this is the way I have done it in the past. Don't cut the stem from the parent plant until you absolutely know it is rooted.

Daisy

Daisy

Thanks for the prompt answer to my question. I have inadvertently gotten new plants using the trench method...the plant planted itself....lol. Will definitely be trying
the softwood/greenwood method. I will try a regular rooting hormone and some cinnamon as a rooting hormone . See if either works. Would you suggest putting the cuttings in vermiculite. and then into ziplocks???

Or you could trying planting the cuttings were you want them and putting a quart canning jar over them. I wouldn't use vermiculite as it packs. Regular potting soil will do with a canning jar over the pot.

Thanks Daisy

I am going to try all of these methods.....and see what happens. I don't use straight vermiculite. I mix it 50/50 with coir. Makes a nice fluffy mix that I use for all my seedlings and starting my heuchrea cuttings...which has worked very well so far.