Why does hydrangea bloom with small flowers? How to keep hydrangea flowers blue

Hydrangeas have become firmly established in gardens and parks as long-flowering shrubs. The flowering time of each garden hydrangea bush depends on the variety, the pruning method, weather conditions.

Breeding research in the field of breeding new decorative flowering varieties hydrangeas last for about a hundred years. This explains such a wide variety of varieties of garden hydrangea. Originally lush bloom only two to three summer months were observed. Gradually, this period expanded to three to four months. Although, there are varieties that bloom for only one and a half to two months.

Not for long blooming hydrangeas differ from most varieties in unusual decorative features.

Flowering calendar of garden hydrangea varieties

Most homeowners seek to organize continuous flowering in his garden. The lack of reliable information on the timing of flowering is the cause of annoying misunderstandings. In some periods, the garden is flooded with colors, and at other times there is a lack of flowering plants.

A properly selected variety of garden hydrangea will help smooth out such differences in the abundance of colors. Fans of aromas should take into account that hydrangea flowers do not smell, do not attract bees. Therefore, they are often planted in the entrance area or next to windows.

Knowing when a garden hydrangea blooms, you can compensate for the lack of flowering in the garden, create a continuous series of colors.

The most early flowering hydrangea is celebrated in early or mid June. Most varieties finish flowering in September. Some varieties bloom until October. It should be noted that the milder the climate, the longer flowering lasts. In temperate climates, plants have more time to prepare for winter and are in no hurry to complete flowering before the first frost.

Most of the 80 known varieties bloom from early summer to late September. There are exceptions, which are shown in the table.

Variety name June July August September October

arborescens INVINCIBELLE Spirit + + +

Hydrangea macrophylla Fasan + + +

Forever and Ever Peppermint + + + +

Hydrangea macrophylla Hornly + +

Hydrangea macrophylla Libelle + + + +

Hydrangea macrophylla Love + + + +

Candlelight + + + +

Mega Mindy + + + +

Phantom + + + + +

Hydrangea anomala subsp petiolaris + +

Knowing how much a particular hydrangea variety blooms, it is easy to decorate the garden with one or two bushes, ensuring continuous flowering from early summer to mid-autumn.

When indoor hydrangea blooms

Garden hydrangea perfectly adapts to grown in indoor conditions... This is used by gardeners of northern latitudes, where frosts often occur in May and early June. For indoor floriculture choose undersized varieties... In the description of each variety, indicate how much the height of an adult plant is. Pots and tubs with plants are taken out into the open air when there is a steady warmth.

Flowering period indoor hydrangeas depends only on varietal characteristics. Excess alkaline salts negatively affects the development of indoor shrubs. Therefore, it is necessary to regularly transplant the plants into a fresh substrate.

Sleep coffee;

Tea brewing;

Citric acid solution.

When the acquired garden hydrangea seedling blooms

A lot of problems with flowering are observed in recently acquired hydrangea seedlings. The problem with this is the intensive agricultural technology used to grow seedlings for sale. Although most varieties are able to bloom in the same season, this does not happen often. The flowering caused by stimulants is very debilitating to the plant. Gardeners are faced with a difficult adaptation of seedlings at home.

The more intensively stimulants for growing flowering seedlings were used, the more difficult and longer adaptation lasts. Self-flowering can be delayed for one to two years.

These plants have a lazy root system, accustomed to receiving nutrients from drip irrigation... Abrupt changes in the composition of the soil should be avoided by planting a hydrangea seedling in the garden. It is not recommended to immediately place the plant in a permanent place. Better to create more benign conditions for him. Much attention is paid to the composition of the soil, the amount nutrients... Frequent watering and partial shade will help the plant adapt faster.

You cannot destroy the earthen lump in which the garden hydrangea seedling was sold. Fertilizing with mineral fertilizers begins immediately after planting.

The planting hole is filled with a substrate similar in composition to the industrial one in order to induce the roots to grow. With time root system adapts to self-catering and hydrangea will delight abundant flowering.

Experienced gardeners use the reception of near-root nutrition, which initiates the growth of the root system. To do this, dig a shallow trench at a distance of 20-25 centimeters from the roots. The depression is filled with rotted manure. The plant quickly reacts to nearby feeding, grows roots into it. This technique will come in handy while digging a bush for transplant.

Why the hydrangea didn't bloom on time

Most of the varieties pleases with abundant flowering throughout the summer, capturing the first month of autumn. In certain circumstances, the flowering schedule gets confused, the plant blooms a couple of months later, or does not form peduncles at all.

This may be due to:

• Incorrect pruning;
• Freezing of shoots;
• Lack of lighting;
• Lack of nutrition;
• Alkalinization of the soil.

When purchasing a new variety of garden hydrangea, it is necessary to clarify on the shoots of which year the peduncles are formed. Many profusely flowering varieties lay flowering buds on the shoots of the first and second years. Some varieties throw out a peduncle only on the shoots of the second year. It is the latter that most often upset with belated or absent flowering.

Hydrangeas that form flower buds on second-year shoots should be pruned especially carefully. Deleting a large number young shoots lead to loss, delayed flowering in the next season.

Ornamental flowering shrub may be late with flowering after a harsh winter due to frostbite of a large part of young twigs. Some gardeners recommend not to remove the last inflorescences in the fall, believing that they can protect an adult bush from the cold. No objective evidence has yet been found in favor of this method.

When choosing a permanent location for hydrangeas, you should consider the availability of sunlight.

Lack of lighting, as well as its excess have big influence non-vegetation garden shrub:

Too bright lighting causes constant stress... The shrub requires frequent and abundant watering. Flowering is distinguished by the transience and faded color of flowers;

Hydrangea, planted in deep shade, successfully grows green mass, but does not form peduncles. Fertilizers, stimulants do not have the expected effect. You will have to transplant the specimen to a more illuminated place to get flowering.

Improper or insufficient nutrition of the root system will certainly affect the development of the aerial part. Garden hydrangea is not able to extract nutrients from the deep layers of the soil, because it has a superficial root system. For the same reason, it should be watered regularly and be sure to mulch. upper layer soil.

It is known that most complex fertilizers contain a large proportion of nitrogen. This substance promotes plant growth. Decarcous-flowering crops, receiving nitrogen fertilization, intensively grow shoots and are in no hurry to lay flower buds. The introduction of such mineral complexes is allowed only at the beginning of the growing season, when the shrub "starts to grow" after winter.

From the beginning to mid-May and to the end of August, only potash-phosphorus fertilizers are applied, which support and prolong the flowering of the garden hydrangea.

It is known that the shrub prefers acidic soils and reacts negatively to low pH levels. Everything nutrient substrates and organic fertilizers characterized by high level NS. Gradually, the root system absorbs nutrients from the soil, quickly causing it to alkalize.

For this purpose, apply:

• Aluminum alum;
• Metal shavings;
• Chelated fertilizers.

Of course, hydrangea is beautiful in itself, its lush inflorescences always attract admiring glances. But sometimes the uniformity of flowering is boring. Having learned that with the help of fertilizers it is possible to change the color of the buds of ornamental shrubs, I immediately began to study this issue. Indeed, some varieties of hydrangea can change color under the influence of certain substances and "play" with the acidity of the soil.

Not every hydrangea can become a participant in the "color" experiment. Paniculata varieties do not change the shade of their petals, and among the tree-like shrubs there is only one species that can change the color of their inflorescences. Therefore, if you want to decorate the site different colors, get hydrangeas of different bred varieties.

Only large-leaved hydrangea can radically change the color of inflorescences. This is explained high content in the cells of specific elements - anthocyates, sensitively reacting to the level of soil acidity and aluminum salts present in the soil. I will describe in more detail the mechanisms of their interaction below.

The main "snag" is that it is possible to change the color of large-leaved hydrangea petals only if you have a "colored" variety planted on your site. If your shrub has always bloomed white, then no amount of experimentation will help you - they will only lead to disturbed soil PH and the risk of losing the plant. If at one time you purchased a pink or blue hydrangea, but immediately or after a few years it lost the saturation of shades, it makes sense to look for a way to change the color of the petals on the inflorescences.

How can you influence the shade of the inflorescences?

So, special substances - anthocyates - are responsible for changing the shade of the petals. These elements are dissolved in the cell sap and freely react with the ions entering the plant. In a neutral medium, anthocyates are at rest, in an alkaline medium they change their color to red-pink, in an acidic medium they acquire bluish tints.

In addition to the level of acidity of the soil, aluminum affects the saturation of the shades of the petals and their color - it is the ions of this metal that give the luxurious blue color to the inflorescences of the ornamental shrub. In the dyeable hydrangea varieties, there is a special pigment, delphinidin 3-monoglycositis, which increases the absorption of aluminum ions.

The two listed factors are closely interrelated: in acidic soil, aluminum is dissolved in a form accessible to plants, in alkaline soil, phosphorus molecules neutralize the ions of this metal. Thus, in order to get lush blue or blue inflorescences from your hydrangea, it is necessary to oxidize the soil on the root circle as much as possible, and also provide the shrub with specific fertilizers that contain aluminum.

Ideally, the hydrangea should be planted in a permanent place, filling the planting hole with an acidic substrate - for example, soil mixed with fresh sawdust or high moor peat. If the shrub has been growing on the site for a long time, you can lower the PH of the soil in one of the following ways:

• mulch the root circle with needles;
• spill the earth with a solution of ammonium chloride;
• regularly feed the hydrangea with a urea solution;
• spill the root circle with ammonium nitrate.

Before proceeding with these manipulations, you need to make sure that the soil really needs acidification. This can be done with the help of litmus tests, which are sold in garden stores. For comfortable growth, hydrangeas need a PH below 5.5. In addition, to obtain blue shades of inflorescences, it is necessary to enrich the soil with compositions that include aluminum.

To obtain inflorescences of pink-red tones, the soil around the ornamental shrub must, on the contrary, be deacidified. For this, alkaline compounds and top dressing are used, with which the soil should be regularly spilled along the near-trunk circle, controlling its acidity with the help of litmus tests. It is dangerous to get too carried away with soil deoxidation, since hydrangeas love an acidic environment - in uncomfortable conditions, the bush will begin to ache and wither.

When to start exercising?

If the idea to change the color of a hydrangea occurred to you during its flowering, you are late. Shedding the near-stem circle of the shrub should be started during the period of flower-stalking and intensive plant growth - that is, from early spring.

Work on changing the color of the hydrangea should be regular and thorough. The beginning of the "experiment", ideally, should occur before sap flow, while manipulations with the compositions and top dressing last all summer, if litmus tests do not show that you have reached a critical PH level that can become uncomfortable and dangerous for the shrub.

Hydrangea discoloration

It is possible to give light semitones to hydrangea inflorescences without much investment of effort. The color change will be temporary, and only the veins of the petals will be colored in new colors.

1. So that the hydrangea turns into pink tones, the near-trunk circle should be watered with a slightly pink solution of potassium permanganate.
2. A solution of ferrous sulfate (1 tsp for 7 liters of water) with regular watering will give a beautiful purple tone to the petals of the inflorescences. Digging in metal shavings under the bush leads to a similar shade.
3. A weak alum solution will give the hydrangea inflorescences a noble blue tint.

Nevertheless, such measures are not enough for the inflorescences to acquire a bright and rich color. In this way, you only color the veins of the petals, while the color may turn out to be uneven and slightly sloppy.

Blue hydrangea

Getting a noble blue and of blue color hydrangea inflorescences are troublesome. First, you need to measure the PH of the soil under the bush and produce necessary manipulations to acidify it. At a level above 5.0, it is required to apply moor peat to the ground around the plant with a layer of at least 20 cm or spill with a solution of agricultural sulfur according to the instructions.

Having achieved the desired PH values, do not stop - constantly monitor the level of acidity of the soil and, if necessary, spill the soil around the bush with a solution of aluminum sulfate (500 grams of powder per 1 sq.m., 20 liters of water per 1 plant) twice a week. Also, to maintain the achieved results, it is recommended to mulch the near-stem circle of hydrangea with needles or fresh sawdust.

Gardeners use superphosphate to obtain lush hydrangea inflorescences, but now this fertilizer will be prohibited for you. For the summer period, select other formulations, with a low phosphorus content and a high potassium content.

You will learn more about changing the color of hydrangea and what measures should be taken to maintain the achieved decorative result from the following video:

Pink hydrangea

To receive color pink inflorescences in hydrangea, you need to measure the PH level of the soil first. Ideally, it should be in the range of 6.0-6.5: at these rates, the shrub still feels comfortable, but its root system cannot assimilate aluminum salts.

If the soil is acidic, it can be deacidified carefully, without excessive entrainment, using lime, dolomite flour or ground limestone. The main thing is not to overdo it, since a highly alkaline environment will lead to hydrangea diseases - in particular, to chlorosis.

After reaching the desired soil PH values, you will need to constantly maintain the obtained level. For this, fertilizers containing nitrogen and phosphorus are traditionally used. The use of these elements will have a positive effect on the health of the plant, as well as on the size of the inflorescences.

To make your hydrangeas feel good during your color experiments, follow these guidelines:

1. Do not get too carried away with the process of repainting hydrangeas: changing the PH level of the soil is quite a stress for the shrub. If you want to enjoy different colors of inflorescences every year, plant several bushes on the site at a certain distance from each other.
2. Constantly monitor the PH level of the soil around the bush and do not overdo it with acidity readings.
3. If you don't feel like doing experiments in open ground due to the fact that other shrubs and plants grow next to the hydrangea that cannot tolerate acidic or alkaline soil, plant ornamental bushes in large flowerpots. In an isolated container, you can safely experiment without fear for the health of other crops.

The process of repainting hydrangeas is troublesome and not always successful. Only those large-leaved varieties that are prone to the presence of shades of petals can change the color of their inflorescences. Unfortunately, other types of hydrangeas cannot be repainted.

The first half of spring is stingy with flowering plants... Yes, primroses are already delighting, but there is a very special plant, which it is impossible not to touch. This is a perennial evergreen Aubriet ground cover. I think those who saw the low pillows, or, as they say, the curtains of this plant during flowering, probably wanted to have it in their garden. And I hasten to please you, shaved is a very unpretentious and easy-care plant. Although, there are some peculiarities.

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Do you want your garden to be fragrant and delight you with long flowering? Then you need to settle there a recognized garden beauty Hortensia, named after a princess of the Roman Empire. This perennial shrub will delight you from July to September with its globular inflorescences, which at first have a greenish tint, then at the very peak of flowering turning into a bright white color, slightly yellowing by autumn. And if you plant a large-leaved, or garden, hydrangea, you can achieve pinkish or bluish hues. Let's try to figure out how to change the color of a garden hydrangea.

In nature, there are several dozen varieties of hydrangea. However, only

Garden hydrangea is the only type of hydrangea in which you can change the color of flowers from white to blue or pink

Garden, or large-leaved, hydrangea is the most popular and common type of plant, which is ornamental shrub... The scientific name Hydrangea macrophylla, translated as "water vessel", is explained by the increased moisture-loving nature of the flower. Hydrangea has large ovoid leaves with pointed edges. The shrub blooms with lush spherical volumetric inflorescences. The most common are white or pink. There are also lilac and blue inflorescences.

The color of the globular inflorescences depends on the acidity of the soil. By the color of the hydrangea, you can determine the acid-alkaline environment of the soil: pink indicates slightly alkaline or neutral acidity, blue indicates an increased pH of the soil.

Therefore, you can change the color of the garden hydrangea by increasing / decreasing the acidity of the soil. It is better to take care of this before planting a shrub. To do this, you need to decide in advance on a place in the garden, prepare an appropriate substrate, plant a plant and monitor the level of acidity of the soil.

How to test the soil

Any gardener, even an amateur, knows that good harvest depends a lot on knowledge chemical composition the soil of your site. One of the important indicators is soil acidity, or pH.

Soil acidity is a quantitative indicator of the content of acids and salts. The pH value is defined by values ​​from 0 to 14.

In relation to the earthen mixture, they mean the following

up to 4 - strongly acidic environment;

from 4.5 to 5.5 - acidic soil;

from 5.5 to 6.5 - slightly acidic soil;

from 6, 5 to 7 - neutral ground;

above 7 - alkaline environment.

How to determine the acidity of the soil yourself

The acidity of the soil is very accurately determined by a special device, but the approximate values ​​can be measured independently.

We offer you some simple and available ways determination of soil pH:

• Vinegar essence.

It is enough to pour a few drops of vinegar on a handful of earth and observe the reaction. If violent boiling occurs, accompanied by the release of carbon dioxide, then you have an alkaline environment. Small bubbles and weak soil reaction indicate neutral acidity. The absence of any reaction indicates that the soil is acidic.

• Grape juice.

Dip a pinch of soil into a vessel with grape juice. A change in the color of the drink and the appearance of gas bubbles indicate a normal soil pH.

• Currant or cherry leaves.

Fill a few leaves with boiling distilled water. Cool the liquid and throw a handful of earth into it. Changing the color of water after a while is an indicator of acidity: red water is sour, blue is slightly acidic, green is neutral soil.

• Litmus paper.

Place some soil on a clean piece of cloth. Tie it tightly into a knot and dip it in distilled water. Wait for the water to be well saturated with soil. Put down the litmus paper. Changing the color will make it possible to draw a conclusion about the state of the soil: from yellow to red - acidic environment, blue-blue shades - neutral soil. This is one of the most reliable ways. Litmus paper is freely available in agricultural stores.

Most in a simple way determining the soil pH level is visual. If, upon careful examination of the soil, you see reddish-rusty shades, then the soil is highly acidic. A thin iridescent film on the water accumulated after watering or rain is evidence of an acidic soil environment.

Video "How to determine the acidity of the soil and ways to deoxidize it"

Change the color of the garden queen

Knowing the acidity of the soil on your garden plot, you will be able to achieve the desired hydrangea color. Acidic soil, with a pH level below 7, will allow you to grow a blue, moisture-loving beauty. An alkaline medium (acidity above 7) is good for pink hydrangea. Values ​​of 5, 5 - 6.5 pH will give shades or a pink-blue mixture.

However, knowing the pH value of the soil and choosing a particular type of shrub is not enough. An important factor is the presence of aluminum in the soil. With an acidity above 6.5 (neutral and alkaline), aluminum is not available to the plant, so the hydrangea will release pink flowers.

Blue hydrangea needs acidic earth to help dissolve aluminum. In this case, the presence of aluminum is more important for the flower than the pH level of the soil. In addition, the availability of the element is influenced by the nutrients contained in the earth.

In general, the color of the hydrangea is influenced by the type of shrub, the level of acidity of the soil, aluminum and the fertilizers used.

After planting, the hydrangea, adapting to the new environment, can change color on its own. And a year later, the queen of the garden can please you with several shades at once on one bush.

To control the color of the shrub, it is necessary to adjust the pH level of the soil. This begs the question of what to water to change the color of the queen of the garden.

There are special agrotechnical techniques that help to achieve a change in the shades of inflorescences, which are best used at an early stage of shrub growth. Let's consider them in more detail.

Pink hydrangea

Change the color of the garden hydrangea from white to pink

To change the color of hydrangeas from white to pink, you need to maintain a pH above 6.5. If the acidity of the soil of your site is such, the hydrangea will throw out pink inflorescences. However, there is no need to take additional measures.

Fertilize acidic soil several times a year with chalk, limestone or dolomite flour. However, do not overdo it: it is enough to achieve acidity indicators at the level of 6-6.2. At values ​​exceeding these values, the formation of soil chlorosis or iron deficiency is possible.

To saturate the soil with the necessary nutrients, feed the soil with fertilizers with a high concentration of nitrogen and phosphorus, but a low concentration of potassium. Aluminum in combination with phosphorus form insoluble compounds, which will prevent the appearance of blue inflorescences. Choose a N: P: K fertilizer in a proportion close to 25:10:10. Ammonium monophosphate is great.

If your area is too acidic, then professional gardeners recommend planting hydrangeas in large pots, using a peat substrate with a small amount of aluminum salts as soil. The best in this case is recognized as a universal substrate sold in specialty stores. This will greatly simplify the cultivation and care of the pink large-leaved garden queen.

Blue moisture-loving beauty

Change the color of the hydrangea to blue

To change the color of the inflorescences to blue, it is necessary to maintain an acidic environment (below 5.5 pH) with a soluble form of aluminum available for hydrangea.

If acidic earth with a sufficient concentration of aluminum prevails in your garden, then the hydrangea will independently fulfill your desire by releasing blue caps.

To increase the acidity of the soil, you can specially acidify the root zone. To do this, in the landing hole, it is enough to add high moor peat or sulfur used in agriculture... Then it is enough to regularly water with aluminum sulfate in a proportion of 15 g per liter. Make sure that the soil is moistened before watering with a special solution.

To change the color of a previously planted hydrangea, add peat or coniferous bark to the soil near the shrub.

The change in shade can be affected by feeding with complex fertilizers containing potassium (high concentration), phosphorus (low percentage), nitrogen (medium value). The ideal ratio would be N: P: K, close to 10: 5: 20. Do not use bone meal or superphosphate.

It is allowed to grow blue hydrangeas in huge vessels using ready-made substrates. Professionals advise opting for an acidic substrate for conifers.

Video "How to change the color of a hydrangea to blue"

By adhering to the above recommendations, you will definitely get the desired result. However, don't expect hydrangea color to change instantly. This period can take from several months to a year, depending on weather conditions, fertilizer quality and other factors.

Hydrangea is one of the most beautiful flowering shrubs... Lush spherical inflorescences, behind which the foliage is almost invisible, cannot but attract admiring glances. And thanks to the relative non-capriciousness of hydrangeas, they will decorate even an unkempt garden.

By the color of hydrangea inflorescences, you can determine the acid-base reaction of the soil on which it grows. On soils with a slightly alkaline and neutral reaction, plants will bloom pink flowers, on acidic soils - blue and even blue. And if you take care in advance to prepare the appropriate substrate and choose the right place for planting the shrub, you can get the desired color of the flowers. But in fact, the color of hydrangea flowers depends not only on the variety and pH of the soil. These plants require aluminum to produce blue pigment. So the key factor in the discoloration of the inflorescences is the presence of aluminum in the substrate. Majority garden soils have a sufficient amount of aluminum, but it will not be available to plants if the soil pH is high (above 5.5). The aluminum compounds present in the soil in an acidic medium are converted into soluble and plant-accessible forms. The aluminum is absorbed by the shrub, resulting in a blue flower. In neutral or alkaline soil, aluminum remains bound to form insoluble compounds that are not available to plants. The result is natural pink flowers. Thus, to obtain hydrangeas with blue inflorescences, two of the most important factors are necessary - an acidic substrate and aluminum salts (usually aluminum sulfate).

There is one more nuance - phosphorus easily binds aluminum into difficultly soluble compounds that are inaccessible to hydrangeas. In order to provide enough free aluminum for the flowers, the phosphorus level should be kept to a minimum.

To get a rich blue hue, you need to do the following:

Measure the pH of the soil, it should be in the range of 5.0 - 5.5. Only with such indicators will aluminum salts become available to hydrangeas. More high values pH will result in transitional colors with shades of magenta. If the soil in the garden is neutral or alkaline, it is necessary to artificially acidify it in the root zone to a depth of 20-30 cm or replace the soil in the planting pit with a previously prepared acidic soil. You can acidify non-carbonate soil to pH 5.0-5.5 with high-moor peat or agricultural elemental sulfur before planting hydrangeas. Subsequently, a low pH is maintained by regularly watering the plant with a solution (15 g / l) of aluminum sulfate during the entire growing season. Do not water dry soil, pre-moisten it well with clean water.

Purchase aluminum sulfate or potassium alum. It is recommended to add dry aluminum sulfate in the following proportions: per 1 m² to 0.5 kg of dry aluminum sulfate. Or dissolve alum or aluminum sulfate in water and water the bushes every one to two weeks, but not less often. In this case, observe the proportions: 30-40 g of sulfate or alum should be taken in a bucket of water. The norm for one adult bush is two or three buckets. Otherwise, the color will change partially.

To increase the acidity, mulch the soil near the hydrangea with acidic materials - peat, coniferous bark. Do not apply marble chips, expanded clay. You can bring diluted apple cider vinegar, sawdust, chopped grass under the bush.

The applied fertilizer also affects the color change. Feed with acidic complex fertilizers with a low phosphorus content, a high potassium content and an average nitrogen level, the N: P: K ratio is close to 10: 5: 20. Avoid using superphosphate and bone meal, which are sometimes used for lush blooms.

It is important to know that too a large number of introduced alum can cause death of the roots, so do not strive for a quick effect and observe the norms when diluting the solution.

The pink color of hydrangea appears with a decrease in soil acidity.

Hydrangea will have pink flowers if it cannot form the blue pigment that requires aluminum. This means that the aluminum in the soil must be converted into a form inaccessible to plants. For this, the pH of the soil must be above 6.0. If the indicator is above 6.5, the plant may suffer from a lack of nutrients. You do not need to strive for the soil to be truly alkaline, this is harmful to the plant itself. In alkaline soils, hydrangeas will be deficient in iron and magnesium, without which the formation of chlorophyll in the leaves is impossible. This manifests itself as interveinal chlorosis.

Add dolomite flour, chalk, fluff lime, or ground limestone to raise the soil pH to 6.0-6.5. If the acidity is too high, they need to be applied several times a year.

To maintain an intense pink color, feed the bushes with fertilizers that are high enough in nitrogen and phosphorus, but low in potassium. Phosphorus forms insoluble chemical compounds, and the metal is not assimilated by the plant. Select a fertilizer type with an N: P: K ratio close to 25:10:10. Ammonium monophosphate can be used (11:53:00).

In some cases, the soil throughout the entire area is very acidic, then it is more convenient to grow pink hydrangea in separate pots or containers, filling them with landless substrates such as peat. There are practically no aluminum compounds in peat. Such containers are much easier to maintain necessary for a plant mode.

Plants that require acidic soil (rhododendrons, azaleas) should not be grown next to pink hydrangea.

When your hydrangeas turn blue or pink, adding additional soil additives will not help enhance the color depth. Color may vary from season to season due to weather conditions, plant stress, and the environment... For example, plants planted near a concrete foundation or a concrete walkway may never turn blue due to lime leaching from the concrete.

It should be borne in mind that the color change of hydrangea occurs as the plant develops and matures, therefore, by planting, for example, a pink hydrangea in acidic soil, you will be able to see blue inflorescences only after a few years.