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My hydrangea leaves are turning brown

janseymour22janseymour22 Posts: 2
in Problem solving
Hi my hydrangea leaves are curling and turning brown. I've watered it every alternate day but looks worse. Any advice would be appreciated please 

Posts

  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    Frost.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    Hello Jan, welcome to the forum  :)
    It's damage caused by all the frost we've been having. Have a look at this thread, hopefully it will help.
    https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/1052658/hydrangea-buds-leaves-shrivelled#latest
  • AthelasAthelas Posts: 946
    Don’t prune away any of the frost damage until the cold spell is over. Otherwise it will encourage the plant to put out new grown which might get zapped by frost again. More here: http://www.fairfaxgardening.org/wp-content/webdocs/pdf/HydrangeaFrostDamage.pdf

    Hydrangeas do need a lot of water but check the soil moisture as roots can drown if the soil is completely waterlogged. You can try the chopstick method: https://homeguides.sfgate.com/check-soil-moisture-chopstick-30981.html

    Water in the morning once the temperature is 4C, to give the plant time to absorb the 
    Cambridgeshire, UK
  • luis_prluis_pr Posts: 123
    I also agree. It seems like it got frosty enough to make the already flowing sapo freezy, form ice crystals and injure the leaves. They are still green so some of them are producing food for the roots. To remove them, I would wait until they fully brown out and then I would cut the petiole string that connects the leaf to the stem/branch. There should be new foliage in 2-4 weeks. Continue watering and mulching to maintain the soil as evenly moist as you can (not dry and not soggy either). The next time that temperatures drop near freezing, feel free to protect the plant and cover them (but make sure the cloth or blankets will not weigh a lot and break the stems/branches). Water deeply the night before a cold temperatures too. There may have been injury to flower buds but it is hard to tell. They are normally located inside the stems. When they open, they resemble tiny broccoli heads but if they have been injured by frost, lack of water, etc then they will brown out completely or partially.
  • janseymour22janseymour22 Posts: 2
    Thank you so much for everyone's advice. The temperature had dipped overnight last week on a few occasions. 
  • jasimmonsjasimmons Posts: 2
    The new growth on my hydrangea has recently started to turn brown.  We do water.  Is it too late now to prune???
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    Is it a fairly established plant @jasimmons ? Depending on where you live, l think it would be safe enough to prune now.
  • jasimmonsjasimmons Posts: 2
    Thank you.  We are in Berkshire so fairly south.  I will give it a go.  Tks 
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