You are not doing anything wrong - azaleas just make really poor houseplants. Any plant that would normally grow outdoors in temperate areas do not make suitable houseplants. Indoors is just too warm and too dry and without adequate light for them to thrive. At best they should be considered a very temporary indoor feature and then moved outside as soon as possible.

However, it ain't dead yet. For right now, where are you and what's your climate (just your locale will tell us that, but...) So rather than simply eject it to the garbage bin, let's see if we can rescue it if it's a plant you favor. If not, then by all means, feel free to give up and Let It Go.

For me, here in the Northeast, I'd try to eject that into a well-lit garage by a window, if possible, to drop the temperature to quite cool and much damper. Azalea are on the list of plants that require a nice cool dormant period, and really hate warm, dry, and dark. Then, in spring, plant it outdoors in a decently protected area as that braided structure with a tall pom-pom wouldn't particularly like winds like I get. So it'd get lightly strutted in place until establishment as well.

But again, how you treat that is going to depend on where you are.

soil probably needs to near dry in between waterings ... and make sure its not accumulating inside the pretty pot ... it is not a swamp plant ...

indoors.. get it in more light .. it may be a shade plant outdoors ... but not indoors ...

how cold was it.. when you hauled it out of the sellers joint.. and into your house ...

where are you.. big city name.. and how soon can you get it outdoors ... and are you currently running a furnace ... is there enough humidity in the house.. is the cat sparking you.. or your skin cracking..e tc ....

never saw a braided one before ... go figure on that ...

agree that it is not a houseplant .... possible... but not easy ...

ken

Ken, ok, let me try to answer all your points.

ok, I will let the soil dry and can actually take it out of the “decorative” pot so that it drains better. I had added it to this pot because originally I thought it wasn’t getting enough water.

I can get it more light. I can either put it directly in the window (although it is 40 and below in the evenings here still) or I can carry it outside at mid day every day and carry it back in around 4-4:30 so that it gets plenty of sun in the day. It’s roughly 60-65 degrees here during that time of day.

I am in Raleigh, NC.

Uh, and when I got it it was probably a few degrees colder when I brought it in to my house, but yes the heater is on during the day in the house. Set to 70.

No, no crackling when I touch door knobs.

Gardengal, how warn does it need to be to move it outside? if I move it outside can it remain a potted plant? I’m sure it will be too cold here in Raleigh, NC in the winter to plant it outdoors.

Morpheus,

Raleigh, NC. It’s roughly 60-65 outdoors until around 4-4:30 and then steadily drops to below 40-30 each night. And I do favor it, I would very much like to rescue it!

but I think even if I plant it outdoors, it won’t survive the winter, is it possible to move it to a larger pot come spring and attempt to keep it a potted plant, bring it in in the winter?

It is most likely Rhododendron simsii aka indicum, in which case you are right, it may not survive winter in the ground outside. They are not frost hardy. Information here ..... https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=953

@floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK is there a way for me to know?

"is it possible to move it to a larger pot come spring and attempt to keep it a potted plant, bring it in in the winter?"

Yes. And in areas where the plant is of marginal hardiness, that is the recommended method. Even in my climate, where the shrub forms of these will overwinter without issue, those trained as trees are much more vulnerable to cold damage.

It might ease your mind somewhat to know that these are grown and sold to be semi-disposable indoor décor items and were never intended to be a permanent indoor feature.

Crud, nope, you can't do that if floral's correct (it's hard to tell with it that badly wilted). It's a pretty little indoor plant, similar to some of my hisbiscus (which are technically semi-hardy as in will take a light frost but sure won't manage my outside weather, unlike the hardy hibiscus like Rose of Sharon).

This looks like a tough one. My best recommendation is keep it near a window...in the coldest room you've got. Mist if you remember and are inclined. Hope for the best, and get it outside when the weather turns. And sacrifices to the plant might not be taken amiss...(only half kidding).

Be prepared, will you or nil you, to Let It Go.

Sorry but it looks quite dead to me. Greenhouse grown azaleas are in my experience very prone to drying out quickly and shriveling before it is noticed they need to be watered already. Otherwise maybe it actually picked up root rot along the way and this manifested after you brought it home. After that another thing these brittle shrubs are prone to is branch breakage - what does yours look like down at the bottom, is it loose or floppy at all?

Even when it is a comparatively involved novelty specimen like yours with its braided stems florist pot crops are put on the retail market with an underlying assumption at work that they will be enjoyed for a time and then discarded. Same as with cut flowers. Consistent with this these often come growing in potting media suited to environmental conditions at the commercial production facility. But maybe not so great for keeping the plants going in end consumer households.

Also a good percentage of the kinds presented to the public as flowering pot plants for indoor display are not really good house plants anyway whether they are shipped growing in a potting medium that is hard to manage under those conditions or not. With evergreen azaleas being one group that could be considered such. Although I have seen some instances of people being able to keep these going.

NEVER GIVE UP! NEVER SURRENDER!

Yes, they do stink as houseplants. Been there, done that, had to give it up and surrender.

I will keep you all updated!!

when you move an indoor plant outside.. it needs to be hardened off to the changes ..

that includes both light and temps ...

its a slow process ... couple hours a day ... then longer... over the course of a few weeks ... . and never forget to bring it in just in case ...

and never it take it outside into sun ... thats another couple weeks of hardening.. outdoor bright shade is much more intense than sun thru modern windows ..

anyway... its stressed from moving from grower to seller to your house ... so no need to stress it more fooling around with trying to move it outside... give it a couple weeks to settle down.. and in the mean time... temps outdoors will probably warm to your advantage...

and maybe it will die.. and solve the hardening off issue ....

lets try not to love it to death in the meantime.. just water it properly ... and pray ...

as noted.. presume anything you get from a florist is disposable .... not meant to last... other than by the very experienced... they are often improperly potted.. in improper media ... and often with a mix of plants that shouldnt be in the same pot .. enjoy them while you can .... as short as that time may be ... we see this a lot at xmas time.. where they sell xmas trees .. which are also not houseplants ... and often not zone appropriate to be outside most places they are sold .... because.. they are disposable florist plants ...

ken