Will my hydrangea recover?
wakeshine
Posts: 975
Sorry if something similar has been asked before, search function did not work.
Whilst reopotting my two teller blue hydrangeas yesterday into bigger pots, I was shocked and upset to see that one had vine weevil larvae all through the soil. There was literally no roots left - just a short stump below the plant. The other one ad normal roots and was pretty pot bound, but roots on this one had been completely destroyed. I had no idea, because there has been some leaf growth on the plant so I thought it was doing okay. I've never come across it before in any of our plants. I wonder if they came from elsewhere. A friend who has only a container garden, had this plant with her before it was given to me. I have heard these creatures occur a lot in gardens with a lot of containers? Yet her plants always look okay.
I thew the soil away in brown bin and cleaned the stump. I did not wash it though, and later thought maybe I should have. I carried on with the potting it on into a big pot with ericaceous compost and some feed. Do you think it will recover and grow roots again?
Posts
Possibly not,the damage may be too much. As the leaves unfurl they'll draw on a weakened root system and you'll soon see if the plant is going to survive. Leaves will be weak, or grow and then droop and die. Modern composts are wonderful growing media, but they are also the perfect environment for vine weevils to lay eggs and, importantly, for the young to develop unchecked. No dense clay soil, no natural soil living predators and in dry pleasant conditions because we often don't water enough!
H-C
Thanks H-C. I will have to wait and see then. I did check the pots that were nearby and they seemed to not have any...but this unpleasant surprise made me decide not to have so many pots on the patio anymore. Last year when I got into gardening, I went a bit overboard and acquired or bought too many. I am getting rid of a whole crateful of plants this week. I don't think they have the creatures in the soil, but I don't want to risk it for the future.
You could try pruning them back to just the lwoest leaf buds to see if they recover with less stress on the mangled roots. Maybe try and strike cuttings from what you prune? Nothing ventured, nothing gained.