What is wrong with my hydrangea?

6 years ago

This is a florist hydrangea. It usually grows bigger than this… usually from the base. Where I live, the spring often gets cold spells and sometimes damages the buds on the old wood. So, it never actually blooms that well. This year not only is it not blooming but the leaves look very strange. They look like they have a leaf spot or fungus or maybe scorch. Does anyone know what the problem is? btw I don't think it's rust since there are no orange spots on the underside of leaves. Also, these photos are from several months ago when it first started growing in spring.

Thanks for any help anyone can provide I would appreciate it!

Featured Answer

luis_pr

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

Since the pictures were taken in the Spring, I suspect that some of the leaves were zapped (damaged) by late frosts in the Spring. ;o(

The damage was not extensive enough to kill the leaves so the leaves stay "on" until the plant goes dormant in the Fall.

Try winter protecting the plant (to prevent the leaves from getting zapped and to improve the bloomage reliability) and remove winter protection a few weeks after you average date of last frost.

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Comments (9)

Dean (Z7a NJShore)
Original Author
6 years ago
Thanks for the tip. The one question I have with that though is that the leaves don't start to emerge until several weeks, maybe a month after we have our last frost. Usually here in NJ the last days at or below 32F occur towards the beginning of April. I don't think our hydrangea leaves start emerging until the beginning of May. I'll have to take note of that next year.
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guyground
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Here is site that gives you the frost free date by zip code. Simply enter your zip code.

https://www.almanac.com/gardening/frostdates/states

Hydrangea macrophylla (the type you have) show little growth early so there is no benefit to uncovering early, but major downside of killing the buds.

However, once the soil warms up adequately (after the frost free date) they grow vigorously.
Dean (Z7a NJShore) thanked guyground
luis_pr
6 years ago
That is ok (that the leaves do not emerge until several weeks after the last frost). Some winters they will emerge early and late on others. Using the average date plus "x" weeks minimizes the chances of the leaves getting zapped. Of course, when the avge date arrives, you can go online and look at forecasts for the next 10-14 days to see if it appears as if there will be any cold weather. If you do not see evidence of that then you could remove the protection early.
Dean (Z7a NJShore) thanked luis_pr
Dean (Z7a NJShore)
Original Author
6 years ago
Thanks for the tips! So I guess my next question would be if the frost didn't damage the leaves - because they hadn't emerged yet, until late spring - could the leaf damage be caused by a fungus or scorch or something like that ..... what about a iron deficiency in the soil? ..... I have read all those as possibilities but none of the photos of damaged leaves in those instances look like my leaves.
luis_pr
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
No, the frost could have damaged them still. The damage can occur when the leaves are still in a leaf bud. Tiny things, almost invisible and hard to distinguish from a flower bud. After leaf out time, the damaged area would have looked normal (just an example), may have dried out, or may have been infected by something (fungus, etc). You can cut the petiole of the worst offenders if they bother you but it is not something that would kill the plant or something that can be undone.

Iron deficiency shows up as light green leaves or yellow leaves whose leaf veins remain dark green. Your pictures do not show that symptom.

Make sure that the leaves are not getting watered via overhead watering to prevent fungal issues. Also, make sure the plant only gets morning sun (afternoon/evening shade). I could not tell if there was mulch but it will help keep the soil evenly moist and will reduce the number of waterings.
Dean (Z7a NJShore) thanked luis_pr
guyground
6 years ago
scorch is a summer issue, not one when they start leafing out in the spring.

Fungal diseases became more common with the summer heat and humidity which create the right conditions for fungal growth. Very early in the season no so much.
Dean (Z7a NJShore) thanked guyground
Dean (Z7a NJShore)
Original Author
6 years ago
Here are two photos from today .... this first one is the hydrangea in question which you can see has not grown very well during this season
by comparison you can see my nikko blue hydrangea which has leafed out (From the ground) during the course of the summer
October_Gardens
6 years ago
Has it gotten enough water?

Could be some kind of root problem otherwise. Maybe pop it up and check out the condition of the root ball.
Dean (Z7a NJShore) thanked October_Gardens