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West Midlands, United Kingdom Gb

I have two hydrangeas in a front garden that gets adequate sun and watering but the blooms soon fade and looks like they are finishing.I feed them with an ericaceous
liquid feed can you help please




Answers

 

When they bloom, they look good for about two to four weeks, then they start to fade. If they get quite a bit of sun they fade a bit quicker. Are you saying they fade within a day or two?

1 Sep, 2013

 

about a week and they start to look as if it is the end of October,faded and drab looking

1 Sep, 2013

 

I can see you're in America, but do you know what variety of Hydrangea they are? Or can you attach a photograph, or post one in your Photos? Or at least say whether its Hydrangea macrophylla hortensia type (with those large, round headed flowers) or Hydrangrea macrophylla lacecap variety? Or even Hydrangea paniculata, which I know is more popular in the States than here.

2 Sep, 2013

 

I am at a loss to know where the USA symbol came from but I am from the West Mids [Sutton Coldfield].

I am afraid I do not know the botanical name but I have both the lace and the large rounded head ones,in fact I have a lace variety right outside my front door which gets far more sunlight than the three I refered to earlier and that too just loses it's colour after about a week and looks washed out and the foliage is more yellowish than the others despite a fortnightly dose of ericaceous liquid feed.I have been looking at other plants in other gardens and I am surprised to find some of them are exactly the same as mine.Sorry I am unable to be more specific but I will do my best to send a photo of them just as soon as my camera is returned to me.

2 Sep, 2013

 

I'd be really interested to know what your soil ph is - that area of the country commonly has a soil ph of between 6 and 10, 10 being alkaline. Ericaceous feed is unnecessary and won't do much good either way - if you have blue mophead hydrangreas, they will only be blue in acid soil conditions (below 7 ph). Conversely, pink ones will be pink in soil with a higher ph, but you have also described yellowing of leaves, which indicates chlorosis, so it sounds like there might be a problem with iron uptake, though this usually occurs in high alkaline conditions. Stop feeding - I hesitate to suggest a dose of Sequestrene iron tonic for the blue ones without having further information regarding soil conditions, but it is sounding as if the soil is too alkaline and needs correcting periodically (assuming the leaves are chlorotic on all the plants).

3 Sep, 2013

 

Thank you for your interest. There are three hydrangeas planted side by side and are well established. The first on has a ph of 9 the second 7.5 and the third 8 I also have one by the front door that is also suffering from premature fade and that has a ph of 7.5 it is this one that appears to have the leaves more yellow than the other ones.Desoite the first three I mentioned having a high Alkaline the leaves look very rich and green.I have uploaded three photo's but I am at a loss at the moment to know how I can attach them to the blog,can you help.
What would I treat the soil with to get it more acid ?
Thank you for your assistance it is much appreciated.

3 Sep, 2013

 

I think I have just found where you can view the photo's.If you click onto my name at the top of the screen it opens them up.Thank you

3 Sep, 2013

 

It's okay, I've already had a look in your Photos and seen them. The discoloration of the flowers is entirely down to a neutral ph - hydrangeas in themselves do not need any particular ph of soil, they're not fussy, so long as the soil is fertile and holds moisture quite well, for they hate to dry out. With the exception of the pink lacecap photo, all the others are neither pink nor blue, being a sort of mix between the two, with some of that particularly unattractive faded lilac shading. You've got a choice - either apply magnesium in the form of epsom salts as the flowers form and while they're in flower - this will make the flowers pink. Alternatively, apply either aluminium sulphate or Sequestrene iron tonic as the flower buds form and until flowering is over, as often as suggested on the containers. This will make the flowers properly blue. Aluminium sulphate is the usual choice, but I'm not keen on using that if there are other plants growing within the same area - if that's the case, try Sequestrene instead.
Regarding the pink lacecap one, the photograph looks almost tinted - its hard to see what the leaves are like because of that, but have you kept them all well watered during dry spells? Applying an organic mulch in spring, when the ground is wet, is a good idea for these - helps to retain moisture and keeps the ground fertile.

3 Sep, 2013

 

Thank you, I guess it will be to late to address the situation this year as we are already into September but I will take your advice for next year and ensure there is a proper watering system in place and I will certainly make sure I have sufficient of the recommended treatments to see me through the season.
Thank you again

3 Sep, 2013

How do I say thanks?

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