Hydrangea Issue

Johnnymac706

Hi guys

Completely new to gardening and I’m enjoying it! One of the few positives of COVID! I planted a hydrangea and it looked great for a few weeks, couple of months but not so healthy now. I’ve attached a pic. Should I prune it or what should I do?

Johnnymac706

Johnnymac706 wrote: »

Hi guys

Completely new to gardening and I’m enjoying it! One of the few positives of COVID! I planted a hydrangea and it looked great for a few weeks, couple of months but not so healthy now. I’ve attached a pic. Should I prune it or what should I do?

Sorry, here is the pic.

looksee

This has been a bit of a difficult season for a lot of shrubs and plants. It looks as though it was planted (or grew) maybe during the hot, dry spring then the weather turned suddenly and randomly cold and/or windy. It looks stressed. It does look as though it is putting up a few new leaves - I have notice quite a lot of shrubs and trees putting out new, late leaves. I would be inclined to cut off the flower (give it one less thing to struggle with) and see what happens. If the weather turns dry and warm again make sure to water it. Might be no harm to give it a bit of a feed.

Johnnymac706

looksee wrote: »

This has been a bit of a difficult season for a lot of shrubs and plants. It looks as though it was planted (or grew) maybe during the hot, dry spring then the weather turned suddenly and randomly cold and/or windy. It looks stressed. It does look as though it is putting up a few new leaves - I have notice quite a lot of shrubs and trees putting out new, late leaves. I would be inclined to cut off the flower (give it one less thing to struggle with) and see what happens. If the weather turns dry and warm again make sure to water it. Might be no harm to give it a bit of a feed.

Cheers! Thanks for that, I’ll cut it so and see what happens.

Dempo1

Funny, ive had the very same shrub, it flowered once about 3 years ago and then just sad looking leaves. I did some research and it's seems to be all about the pH content in the soil and insuring plenty of sun.

So this year, took it out of the ground, trimmed a little and put into large put, but with a magic ingredient, Lime, yes ordinary white powered lime, which I sieved into soil before re potting. To my astonishment and within days, the leaves just came to life, new growth and it just may flower, might be to late but I'm amazed and I think it may have been the lime that did the trick

Johnnymac706

Dempo1 wrote: »

Funny, ive had the very same shrub, it flowered once about 3 years ago and then just sad looking leaves. I did some research and it's seems to be all about the pH content in the soil and insuring plenty of sun.

So this year, took it out of the ground, trimmed a little and put into large put, but with a magic ingredient, Lime, yes ordinary white powered lime, which I sieved into soil before re potting. To my astonishment and within days, the leaves just came to life, new growth and it just may flower, might be to late but I'm amazed and I think it may have been the lime that did the trick

Wow, okay, interesting. Where my hydrangea is located it doesn’t get much sun at all.

Dempo1

Johnnymac706 wrote: »

Wow, okay, interesting. Where my hydrangea is located it doesn’t get much sun at all.

I meant to say, I had similar issue with a Rhododendron, I did the same and just amazed at the difference. Yes, sun like is crucial and plenty of water, I try to water under the leaves, early evening, I try keep water off foliage in direct sun light.

The lime I used is standard builders white line, be careful not to over do it, one large pot, I used a scoop and sieved it prior to planting to avoid clumps etc

I've now moved both plants back into ground so fingers crossed as they can be beautiful plants

Just a thought, if sunlight an issue, might be worth trying a large self feeding pot, just an idea so you coukd get it into sun light

blackbox

Dempo1 wrote: »

I meant to say, I had similar issue with a Rhododendron, I did the same and just amazed at the difference. Yes, sun like is crucial and plenty of water, I try to water under the leaves, early evening, I try keep water off foliage in direct sun light.

The lime I used is standard builders white line, be careful not to over do it, one large pot, I used a scoop and sieved it prior to planting to avoid clumps etc

I've now moved both plants back into ground so fingers crossed as they can be beautiful plants

Just a thought, if sunlight an issue, might be worth trying a large self feeding pot, just an idea so you coukd get it into sun light

Don't put lime near a rhododendron!

Dempo1

blackbox wrote: »

Don't put lime near a rhododendron!

Just curious why you say this, I did extensive research on why my rhododendron appeared to be in a perpetual state of dormancy. I first planted it over 6 years ago, it flowered just once and the leaves just remained lifeless, turning a light yellowish colour. Rarely was there any new growth. Replanting didn't work either.

Eventually it seemed the pH levels were wrong on my soil and I came across a tip involving lime (just can't find it to hand) anyway, I decided this year to pot the plant with a small mix of lime, sieved and mixed well in fresh soil, doing the same with the Hydra,

I can only speak of the results I witnessed and within days, I'd never seen such a transformation on both plants, but particularly the Rhododendron, even flower buds formed although this summers weather not yield flowers this year. Maybe its not the lime but whatever I did worked, it certainly did no damage.

standardg60

Dempo1 wrote: »

Just curious why you say this, I did extensive research on why my rhododendron appeared to be in a perpetual state of dormancy. I first planted it over 6 years ago, it flowered just once and the leaves just remained lifeless, turning a light yellowish colour. Rarely was there any new growth. Replanting didn't work either.

Eventually it seemed the pH levels were wrong on my soil and I came across a tip involving lime (just can't find it to hand) anyway, I decided this year to pot the plant with a small mix of lime, sieved and mixed well in fresh soil, doing the same with the Hydra,

I can only speak of the results I witnessed and within days, I'd never seen such a transformation on both plants, but particularly the Rhododendron, even flower buds formed although this summers weather not yield flowers this year. Maybe its not the lime but whatever I did worked, it certainly did no damage.

I think it was more to do with repotting them in fresh compost that yielded your results.
It was iron you were meant to add, not lime.

Dempo1

standardg60 wrote: »

I think it was more to do with repotting them in fresh compost that yielded your results.
It was iron you were meant to add, not lime.

Ah, I see, is there such a product (iron) you be able to recommend, thanks for the heads up

New Home

Rhododendrons and azaleas (and lots of other plants) love acidic soil and will suffer and die in lime-rich soil.

As for your hydrangea, op, if Im not mistaken I'm seeing white powdery mildew on those leaves, the same that affects roses.

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/rid-powdery-mildew-rose-bushes-31948.html

Garlinge

Hydrangeas do best in shade so I dont think moving position to sunnier spot is the answer. They like plenty of water so a shady damp place good. You must be careful pruning/cutting back as you may be removing the buds for following years flowers depending on variety.