Hydrangea

littlefriend

Just wondering does anybody have any tips for growing Hydrangea's? I bought a lovely blue one today. It is about 18 inches tall and 12 wide with about 10 beautiful flowers.

Thanks!

lrushe

littlefriend wrote: »

Just wondering does anybody have any tips for growing Hydrangea's? I bought a lovely blue one today. It is about 18 inches tall and 12 wide with about 10 beautiful flowers.

Thanks!

They're pretty easy to look after in my experience, I have 4 and haven't managed to kill them yet so they must be hardy
Basically they like a sunny to partial shade area, frequent watering and in September prune back the flower balls. They might die back abit over the winter but don't worry they will come back in the spring. I have a blue one also and it survived our last winter outside plus I also got a puppy last year which did its own pruning job on it last Autum but it come back with avengence this year!

littlefriend

Thanks so much for your reply. Its so nice to look at now that I don't want to ruin it

mchammer

just wondering if anyone had experience propagating Hydrangeas - have tried 2 different methods. one was basically taking cutting of around 8 inches in length in November and placing them in the soil outdoors... apparently this works pretty good but mine just died from heavy frost in Nov, Dec, January last year. I have also tried just taking cuttings of new growth (green stem without flower) and putting them in compost and putting a plastic bag over the out to keep moisture in I left them inside and I think they cooked! they rotted away anyway.

Any other methods/advice appreciated

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1MfXr0-3DE

Cheers
MC

lrushe

The only way that has worked for me is taking a cutting, dipping it in some hormone powder and putting it in a glass of water on a well lite window sill until a good root system develops then planting it outside in good weather.
It is hard though out of the dozen or so times I've tried it only about 3 have developed into a new plant.

plantlord

littlefriend wrote: »

Just wondering does anybody have any tips for growing Hydrangea's? I bought a lovely blue one today. It is about 18 inches tall and 12 wide with about 10 beautiful flowers.

Thanks!

These Hydrangeas, bought in flower have, to a certain extent, been forced, in order to give such large flowers on a relatively small plant. The trick is to continue this regime after planting with regular watering and feeding. (I like the liquid feeds with plant stimulants)You will often notice the flowers wilting on a sunny day, they come back up after watering. Large flower heads should be removed as they fade, to reduce the weight on the plant, as the wood is often a bit soft. The following year the growth is harder and less care is required.

Sgt Pepper 64

I have 2, a pink one and a blue one, both at opposite sides of the garden.
Never had to do anything to them!

I did try pruning the dead flowers off one, but it didnt seem to make any difference. Great plant IMO and not affected by frost

plantlord

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

I have 2, a pink one and a blue one, both at opposite sides of the garden.
Never had to do anything to them!

I did try pruning the dead flowers off one, but it didnt seem to make any difference. Great plant IMO and not affected by frost

Hydrangeas are normally pink on limy soil and blue on acidic soil. The top layer of limey soil can turn acidic over time if there is a sufficient build up of organic matter. A pink hydrangea can gradually turn blue over a number of seasons as the ph drops, as happened to two of mine

pegasus1

just picked up two nice 4 litre potted blue hydrangea's at the tall ship festival in waterford last weekend for only 5 euro from a dutch flower truck...:D

have planted a clipping with just leafs on it, from another hydrangea we have and it has taken and growing after just a few weeks just in soil...nothing added to the soil either

Sgt Pepper 64

plantlord wrote: »

Hydrangeas are normally pink on limy soil and blue on acidic soil. The top layer of limey soil can turn acidic over time if there is a sufficient build up of organic matter. A pink hydrangea can gradually turn blue over a number of seasons as the ph drops, as happened to two of mine

I inherited them and often wondered about that. The blue one is under trees, so it must be the fallen leaves that is doing it, unless they added special soil

pinky 06

It can be hard to keep hydrangeas blue if you have limey soil, which is in most gardens, as the lime reacts and turns the flowers pink. The best thing to do is to buy a bag of limefree (ericaceous) compost and add it to the soil when planting to help keep it that lovely blue shade. Another thing is to add a bit of copper pipe to the ground where you're planting it-this helps keep the soil acidic. Happy gardening!

plantlord

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

I inherited them and often wondered about that. The blue one is under trees, so it must be the fallen leaves that is doing it, unless they added special soil

Limey soil normally has limestone bedrock beneath. If an acidic layer builds up either by chance or design, the trick to keep it acidic is never to dig it, if possible, which just brings up fresh limey soil

sky6

To improve the colour of your hydrangia pace a few nails or pieces of steel in a bucket of Water and leave to rust for a few weeks and then use it to feed the plants.
They love rusty water.

plantlord

sky6 wrote: »

To improve the colour of your hydrangia pace a few nails or pieces of steel in a bucket of Water and leave to rust for a few weeks and then use it to feed the plants.
They love rusty water.

Sulphate of iron, which is mostly used as a lawn moss killer, will do a much better job of bluing a hydrangea. Top dress twice a year with care. It's a cheap product.