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How to Grow Beautiful Hydrangeas
Hydrangeas are one of the most popular flowers to grow because of how soft and beautiful their cluster blooms are. One of the coolest attributes of a hydrangea is that the flower’s colors can change quite a bit based on the pH level of the soil. One plant is able to grow different colored blooms depending on which roots are feeding that specific flower head. The soil’s pH level fluctuates every year and as the plant adjusts to those changes the bloom color will show variances from year to year.
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Controling the Soil Conditions
If you want a specific color of hydrangea, then you might want to grow it in a container so you can control the soil’s conditions. If changing the blooms fascinates you, just remember it is easier to change a hydrangea from pink to blue than it is from blue to pink. A hydrangea’s beautiful coloring is directly related to how much aluminum is in the soil. Taking aluminum out of the soil is much more difficult than adding it in! The intensity of the color is directly related to the heredity of the hydrangea’s variety, weather conditions, and the overall health of the plant.
Use a Fertilizer
To grow beautiful hydrangeas they need to be fertilized monthly. You will notice that when you do, a more saturated color can appear simply because the plant is processing those nutrients. Hydrangeas also like organic matter like compost to be added a few times a year to help put back any nutrients that might have been lost.
To produce beautiful pink hydrangeas preventing aluminum from being present in the soil is key. By adding dolomitic lime several times a year raises the pH. For pink blooms, you need a pH of 6.0-6.2. Hydrangeas process aluminum best at lower pH levels so raising the pH helps to keep aluminum at a minimum. Adding a fertilizer high in phosphorus also works as phosphorus helps to prevent aluminum from entering the hydrangeas.
Adding Aluminum Sulfate
Growing gorgeous shades of blue is a bit simpler than growing pink hydrangeas. By adding aluminum sulfate helps the hydrangea maintains its beautiful blue blooms. To make the aluminum available to the plant, the pH of the soil should be really low around 5.2-5.5. Adding compost, especially compost made from coffee grounds, fruit and vegetable peels – specifically citrus peels – and grass clippings works very well. A fertilizer low in phosphorus and high in potassium produces a good blue color. Superphosphates and bone meal should be avoided when trying to produce blue hydrangeas.
Hydrangeas prefer it to be a little cooler and don’t do well in really warm temperatures. If you get a heat wave make sure to water your plant daily. They also like a very moist soil and don’t tolerate drought or dried out soil very well. Hydrangeas can handle filtered sunlight and need at least six hours of the sun’s rays to be at their best.
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