Forum home› Plants
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Hydrangea

snowyysnowyy Posts: 58
in Plants
I have 5 Hydrangea plants, 3 pink ones given to me by my dad and of these 3 I have put 2 in the ground and one in a bucket of Ericaceous compost. The other two plants are the white ones (Sister Theresa) and were all planted in the ground at the same time (Autumn last year). The one in the bucket is thriving, the other 4 are a mixed bag, I'm concerned about one as it has no leaves what so ever, it did last year but after they dropped off they never grew back. I've scrapped the stems and they are green, I did not prune them at all as my dad advised me to not touch them. I have just started to water them with Ericaceous plant food as I was told by someone they are acid loving plants hence why the one in the ericaceous compost is doing well. Thoughts and advise please?


Pink given by dad doing good



Pink given by dad doing extremely well in ericaceous compost




Sister Theresa-not great but not a year old yet, being attacked by bugs by the looks of it.



Pink one given to my dad looks dead




The four are in the same plot so getting same light etc, watered daily. There were some massive conifers here a couple of years ago-has this removed all the nutrience from the soil?

Posts

  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    The conifers will have depleted all nutrients and left the soil very dry as well. If you did not beef it up with added manure, compost, or other organic matter there will be nothing to sustain active growth.
    Hydrangeas need plenty of water and I would remove the slate chippings from around the plants so that rain has a chance to reach the soil and the roots. You will need to keep well watered in dry weather.  Of your 4 plants, one is just about ok, one is possibly convalescent, the third needs intensive care and No. 4 looks like it's headed for the mortuary. They may benefit from some weak feed and you can give something a little stronger if they respond.
    The one in the tub is doing much better, though it would probably be even happier in good garden soil, they don't much like container life.
    As it is in ericaceaous compost don't be surprised if, when it flowers, it is purple or blue. This is the effect of acid soil. If you want it to stay pink you need to grow it in alkaline soil that contains lime!
  • snowyysnowyy Posts: 58
    Thanks for this Buttercupdays, I did add loads of fallen leaves 2 years on the trot. Yes originally I wanted to turn 1 blue and keep 2 pink but the one that was in the container came through pink and someone on this forum told me that not all pink ones can turn blue. So I went wrong with not adding more organic matter into the soil, will regularly feeding them liquid fertiliser give them a fighting chance as they are getting what they need from the fertiliser? The soil wasn't that dry when I ripped out the stumps years ago and 2 years of rain would have hydrated that area I would have thought? If I leave hosepipe on there 20mins a day for a week that should saturate the area and chippings should then prevent the soil from drying out.
  • UpNorthUpNorth Posts: 376
    Snowy, it's not just about how much rain falls.   Different soils will "retain" water differently....so a sandy soil will allow the rain to fall right through, but a loam/compost/horse manure/clay would hold onto the water for a lot longer time than the sand I have. 

    it might also be worth knowing that fallen leaves will help retain moisture/improve soil (which is great), but it doesn't add nutrient.

    also as said above, don't do a full strength 'feed' yet, until they're looking in better health and growth can be seen....same for any poorly plant, don't hit it with loads of nutrients.

    i wouldn't worry too much if one or two of the 'cuttings' don't make it...that's the way with propagating new plants from established ones....

    Personally, what i'd do is put your large one in the ground and get the best little one into a pot for you to nurse along for a few years until it's big enough to join it's mate in the ground.

    finally... that larger one in the pot, it could probably fill your 'slate' area in a few more years.
Sign In or Register to comment.