室内の 西洋シャクナゲ 庭に出す

　１２月より防寒のため、室内の廊下に並べて置いた多くのシャクナゲの鉢を、陽気な気候になった一昨日すべて室外に出しました。かなり重たいので腰を痛めるかと思いましたが、今のところ腰痛はありません。

　本来、日本シャクナゲは山岳地帯で咲く品種で寒さに強くても、一方、人工的に掛け合わせて造られた西洋シャクナゲは寒さに弱く、真冬に室外に置くと葉が萎れてしまいます。

　しかし、すでに日照時間が１時間以上伸び、冬至に３０°だった太陽角度は４３°になり、梅も咲き始め、寒さはもう大丈夫と判断しました。

　写真の１１鉢は皆大きい鉢なので、室外の方が水遣りや一般の管理がしやすいです。室外ならば、十分な日光と水と良い土で光合成が十分にでき、今春も良い花が咲くと期待してます。

　今年の目標は４月から５月に咲き終わったら、良い土を鉢に入れます。実は、シャクナゲは水捌けの良さが大切なので、私が鉢の中に軽石をたくさん入れたところ、水捌けは良くなっても、軽石は栄養がないため、若干、蕾の数か少ないものがあります。

　全体としては一年間、よい管理ができましたが、やはり、毎年よく咲かせるには弛まぬ研究です。「シャクナゲが今、何を欲しているか」人間は日々の観察から察知しなくてはなりません。

　

Dear my overseas friends who are crazy about rhododendrons the same as me

　For the cold protection in Japan, I put all the rhododendron's pots lined up in the room corridor, The day before yesterday, I brought all pots to the garden where we had a cheerful climate. I thought it would hurt my lower back because it was quite heavy, but now I don't suffer from lumbago.

　Originally, Japanese rhododendron is a variety that blooms in a mountainous area so that they are resistant to the cold, but on the other hand, Western rhododendron which was artificially crossed, is vulnerable to Japanese cold, and leaves tend to wither if out of the room.

　However, the sunshine hours have already grown for more than an hour, the solar angle which was 30 ° in the winter solstice, had already became 43 °, and the plums began to bloom. Therefore I judged it was already okay to bring the pots against the cold.

　The 11 pots in the photo are all large pots, so it is easier to water outdoors and to manage the general public. If they are outdoors, the rhododendrons can fully photosynthesize with sufficient sunlight, water and good soil, and I hope that good flowers will bloom this spring.

　This year's purpose is to change the pumice into a good soil in a pot when it finished blooming from April to May. In fact, rhododendron is important so putting a lot of pumice in the pot for their better drainage, but, pumice is not nutritious, so some buds are small.

　As a whole, I was able to manage good for a year, but it needs steady effort to research to make it bloom better every time. Humans must notice by daily observations "What the rhododendron wants now."

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