I need help, what's happening to my hydrangea ?

7 years ago

I bought my mom a hydrangea flower pot on mother's day, the guide on the plant said it could stand direct sunlight, so we left it outside and we live here in Texas so the temperatures get really hot, the next morning we noticed it had wilted or turned brown a bit so we decided to move the plant into a bigger pot and we added a bit of fertilizer and watered it and that was that. We left it outside but this time where it didn't get too much direct sunlight but over the next couple days I watered it only once ( I did hear about the checking the soil using your fingers that's what I did) but we saw that it was turning sad so we moved it inside. It was near a window so it still got sunlight but every day I feel like it's getting worse, the odd thing is only one of the flowers didn't wilt or get sad, it's a nice blue color. The rest of the however are all brown and droopy, also the leaves are all green so it means it could just be the flowers? I really don't know, so please can anyone tell me what we may have done wrong, this is the first time we actually try to grow one, and what can I do help the flowers grow and get better?

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/v006ojhtvok0l22/AAAIqVEl8zYuQXQ4BkbloRCaa?dl=0

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (2)

October_Gardens
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
It's conventional to lop off blooms after the holiday. Blooms on Mother's Day plants were all grow in greenhouses and will not take outdoor conditions. This kind of situation (among others) plays like a broken record and Happens to thousands of people year after year. If this place actually allowed sticky posts, his board clutter could easily be avoided. If you want to grow the plant outdoors it will take morning sun only. Keep the soil moist but not wet.
luis_pr
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Yes, many of those florist hydrangeas do not take kindly to our strong afternoon sun. The month of May is the start of our summer temperatures and they need to be watered often, given shade and placed in sites that are not windy. Potted ones close to a window suffer in 85-90 degrees so look for a window that's has bright indirect light instead.

I introduced a Kroger hydrangea to the outdoors by putting it in 'bright shade' for about a week; then switched it to get just a couple of hours of morning sun; and theeen I moved it to its final location. As protected from the sun as it was, I still had to water it 'extra' several times, off schedule in the summer.

So make sure that the pot's location gets morning sun and then shade after 11am-ish in June-September. Two hours of morning sun will be fine. Bright shade twill be fine too. A windy location will cause the big leaves and blooms to loose moisture quickly so look for areas that are not windy.

Flower buds and blooms will get zapped easily when the plant is going thru transplant shock so, I would prune off the browned blooms (they probably have dried out) or if they look ugly. Better for the plant to use the water in other areas and better for the plant to concentrate developing a bigger root system.

When in the ground, you can give them about 1 gallon of water (and more once temps regularly stay above 90s). But try watering only when the next day will be windy or when the soil is starting to feel dry, because too much water cause wet soil and root rot. Expect the wilting to be reduced in future years when the plant has become established in your garden. The bloom colors will change to reflect your soil's acidity (blues around Tyler) or alkalinity (pinks just about everywhere else).
Related Discussions
Oh my goodness, look what happened to my hydrangea bed!!!
Q
Comments (27)
Hi d_giffin, thank you so much! I like the white peonies very much now. Yes, sometimes mistakes can make it better! :-) George, I want to first of all tell you how much I really appreciate you giving me all the advice! Thank you! You know, I actually realized that I might be overcrowding these paniculatas. However, I did it anyway, thinking that I might be able to severely prune these lovelies every year to keep their size down, and more importantly, I did it for a selfish reason - I know that this is not my forever house, and I probably will only be here for a few more years. I wanted to enjoy these paniculatas and so I just planted them there, realizing that they may not be fully grown before I leave... ouch! I hope that is not too selfish. You know what? The worst thing is that someone or myself will need to chop down the shrub(s). The physocarpus is Summer Wine, which is actually supposed to be only half the size of Diablo and Coppertina. So it is much more compact. The crabapple is supposed to be about 12' tall when fully grown. Yes, it may create some shade, but with crabapple, the foliage is not that dense so it should not be too much of a problem. The neighbors' shrub was always a mystery to me, until recently! They did not even know what it was - they just planted it there several years ago!!! Anyway, it's a lilac... yikes! It might get big. The thing that gets me is that the buds get eaten by the deer every year before they bloom! Sigh... I am going to advice my neighbors to prune it hard every year! LOL Anyway, if I do want to move the Limelight, since it was in a 5 gallon pot before and this is its 3rd season now, how deep and widespread should I expect the roots to be? I want to make sure that I will dig carefully just so that I won't damage the sprinkler system. The trouble is, if I did move it, I am not sure where to put it then... Hey, George, if you remember, I already removed the Pink Diamond from this bed to another corner after your advice last fall!!! :-) Thanks again!
...See More
What Happened To My Hydrangeas??!!
Q
Comments (2)
Without seeing the plants, I would assume yours are bigleaf hydrangeas and they failed to bloom due to winter cold damage. Most bigleaf hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla) bloom on growth that was produced the previous season. Nascent flower buds develop on this growth in late summer and early fall. This flowering growth can be easily damaged by winter cold or late spring freezes. And given the severity of last winter across much of the country, it is highly likely this was the cause. Frozen stems and buds = no flowers. In zone 5 (actually zone 6 or below), I would strongly encourage you to offer bigleaf hydrangeas winter protection to maximize flowering potential for the coming season.
...See More
What’s happening to my Hydrangea?
Q
Comments (5)
Unless there is a soil test that indicates that something is missing, stop with the fertilizer. You can create issues with excess fertilizer, both in the garden and in the surface water and groundwater where the excess ends up. As an indication of how much fertilizer this plant needs, in my nutrient poor acid sandy loam soil, without any fertilizer ever, mine has done fine, blooming profusely and taking over as much territory as I will allow it. And regardless, you want to stop fertilizing in August so the plant stops putting out new growth for the year that might not have time to harden off before winter. Do you check to see how moist the soil is before watering? And how long do you water for or how much water do you give it? I would look at the underside of the leaves to see if there are insect pests, but other than quitting with the fertilizer and checking to see that you aren’t over- or under-watering, I would chalk it up to being late in the season, and as a new plant with less developed roots that gets a lot of sun, the leaves are a bit tired. Typically, this is planted where it gets some shade in the afternoon when sun and heat are particularly intense.
...See More
What is happening to my Oakleaf Hydrangea
Q
Comments (9)
Thank you all! First of all how embarrassing that I messed up the artists. Of course it's Dali! Thanks gardengal, I fixed my stupid mistake. I'm losing my mind, y'all! Good points regarding my "treatment obsession". I'm starting to realize that this year it would have been cheaper to dig and toss the suffering plants, and plant new ones in the Fall, than buy all these expensive chemicals. You all are right! Anyway, I think those saying root rot are right! Why did I not think about it? Pretty much every plant I have is yellowing or suffering one way or the other from this VERY wet summer - except for the grass and all the different hydrangeas (we have different panicle and french hydrangeas kinds and they are so gorgeous this year). But I forgot that oakleaf is a whole different thing! Surely that's it! I'll try to take the pictures and some leaves in a ziplock bag to the extension office, if I can take some time off during the week. But most likely it is wet feet. We only have drip irrigation in our planting beds, and believe it or not we turned it on TWO times in the Spring this year and never more! Even the grass sprinklers we only used 4 times. I'm not exaggerating when I say it has been a wet summer. It looks like I'll have to remove all my lavender, rosemary, oakleaf hydrangeas and gardenias from where they are and replace with more clay tolerant plants. Ugh, I wish the landscaper who planted them would have warned me. I guess this is an exceptionally rainy year, but still.... Any particular experience on good full sun shrubs for clay - please share! (I'll google and ask at the local nursery too, but not going to trust the landscaper alone this time). Thank you all very much!
...See More

I need help, what's happening to my hydrangea ?

Comments (2)

October_Gardens

luis_pr

Related Discussions

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US