Several Azalea for the Price of One??

I bought this little Azalea from our local florist/grocer yesterday for £1.50, I like the flower, not seen one like this before myself. When I got home I realised it is in fact several young plants/cuttings in one pot. Question is, should I just leave them together or could I seperate them and get more plants from this one pot?, if so when would be the best time to do this without risking too much damage to the roots?

 

£1.50 ? A bargain at that price. Such a pretty little thing. Sorry, no advice on the best time to separate Bilbo but love the colours.
Jenny namaste

 

Hi Bilbo
I bought something similar from a Farm SHop a couple of years ago. It was late in the year and they were finished flowering. They cost 50p.
I split them and planted out. The following year the resulting plants were still alive and flowered (3 pink and 1 red?). Initially they were weak, but this year they are stronger and have grown. I am going to try trimming this year, once they finish flowering, to see if I can thicken them out. Unfortunately they aren't evergreen - but at 50p I can't complain.

 

Looks like an indoor Azalea by the flowers. Was it sold as a house plant?

It says on that link you shouldn't split them if you want them to flower again soon, but you could always split one of them out and give it a while to see if it survives.

In my experience Rhodos aren't as fussy about having their roots disturbed as some - I usually cut the root ball with a hacksaw if they are pot bound when they arrive.

Ideally to be done in Autumn (for outdoor plants) but I've disturbed them at various times of the year. I'd do it straight after flowering to give it time to get used to the move before it starts to put on next year's buds.

They can be planted outside, but you may lose it (I've put three out - lost one and the other two are flourishing).