Hydrangeas are valuable ornamental plants. Their beautiful, magnificent, white or colorful inflorescences adorn the gardens from late spring to autumn, and dense bushes perfectly fill the space. To enjoy their beauty for many years, properly prepared hydrangea soil is needed. Indeed, the magnificent development of the bush, its abundant flowering and even shades of inflorescences depend on the quality and composition of the soil used.
What is hydrangea?
Hydrangea is an ornamental shrub brought from Far Eastern Japan to Europe in the 18th century. These beautiful bushes every year delight with beautiful inflorescences of frosty white, pale pink, purple, bright blue and blue. Sometimes all of these shades can appear on one plant. A bush with a decorated crown reaches from 1 to 3 meters in height, blooms from April to late autumn, drops leaves in winter.
The Latin name of this ornamental plant (Hydrangea) is translated as “water container” and indicates its great irrigation requirements. Hydrangea really loves high humidity, so it is sometimes called a water flower. Not every garden will have a shrub that is equally attractive, because not every gardener can satisfy its excessive care requirements.
Soil requirements
The plant can be grown throughout the season - from early spring to autumn. However, it should be remembered that when planting a plant, you must choose a sunny or semi-shaded place. The soil requirements for hydrangea are quite high. Plants are best cultivated on a well-permeable, nutrient-rich and moist substrate. This type of soil heats up very quickly in early spring, which affects the rapid appearance of the first vegetation after winter. Hydrangeas prefer slightly acidic soils (pH 5.5-6.0). Interestingly, the level of acidity affects the color of the flowers. The reddish hues of hydrangea are obtained by planting them on the soil with a more alkaline reaction, while acidic soil causes the hydrangea flowers to turn blue or purple.
If the soil does not meet the necessary indicators, the plant may even die. The first signal of inappropriate soil for the bush is twisting of flowers and falling leaves. Therefore, the gardener needs to carefully monitor all changes in his plant.
How to plant hydrangea?
Planting a plant is not a complicated procedure. It is important to remember that before planting, hydrangea soil should be weeded, it should be aerated, crushed and moist. Then you must follow these steps:
- Prepare the pit for planting - it should be twice as large as the root ball of the plant. It is also necessary to keep a distance of 1 m between the pits in which individual bushes will be planted.
- Water the plant before removing it from the pot and putting it in a hole.
- The root lump with a bush should be carefully placed in the prepared depression. Then fall asleep with a special earthen mixture. Fertilize with rotted manure or superphosphate.
- After planting, form a substrate around the bush in the shape of a bowl in which water will stop.
- Pour the hydrangea and spread the mulch around it.
For the more well-known species (tree-like, large-leaved and paniculate) hydrangeas, the soil for planting should consist of an equal amount of black soil, leafy, soddy ground, coarse sand, humus and peat.
Mineral fertilizer
One of the most important procedures is fertilizing the soil for hydrangea. You should feed two or three times during the season, at the latest at the end of August.
Its main function is to provide the nutrients necessary for the proper growth and development of hydrangeas. An appropriate fertilizer should contain macro- and microelements necessary to obtain the right amount of flower and leaf buds and to maintain a long and intense flowering of the plant. In early spring, you should begin to fertilize the bush with a balanced grainy hydrangea fertilizer. The composition of universal dressing for plants includes nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus and other trace elements.
The second method of fertilizer is additional acidification of the soil. The purpose of the procedure is to change the color of the flowers to a more intense color (the flowers turn intensely blue). For this purpose, it is recommended to use fertilizers for acidophilic plants from early May to mid-August.
To prepare hydrangea for the winter, fertilizer with potassium and phosphorus at the end of summer is recommended. Delivery of these ingredients before winter will allow hydrangeas to properly prepare for the first frost, and then to a more or less cold winter. In addition, potassium and phosphorus affect the formation of flower buds and stems.
Aeration of the soil
Coarse sand is added to the planting substrate to improve soil ventilation. Regular loosening of the soil surface and mulching of the base of the bush will protect the root system from oxygen deficiency.
Success in growing a decorative flower also depends on the permeability of the soil. The plant does not tolerate heavy loamy soil that retains water for a long time and is prone to waterlogging. Decorative shrubs do not like sandy areas due to the lack of micronutrients in them. The water permeability of the planting soil must be supported by the addition of peat and sand. These components help moisture more easily penetrate from the upper layers to the roots of the plant. Do not forget about loosening the surface layer after each watering of the bush.
Hydrangea Soil Acidity
Perfectly selected soil has an acidity of 5.5-6.0 pH, which is slightly acidic. A pH above 7.0 can lead to diseases of the bush. Among a large family of hydrangeas, Hydrangea macrophylla and Hydrangea serrata can be distinguished, whose flowers contain a special dye. It responds to changing soil pH values.
If the pH value varies between 4 and 4.5, the inflorescences get a purple hue. Along with an increase in the coefficient value, their color changes to pink and red. In order for the inflorescence to turn blue, one more factor must be taken into account, namely the presence of aluminum in the soil, which should be available for shrubs. In an alkaline environment, at a pH above 5, aluminum is bound by calcium, so that it cannot be absorbed by hydrangea roots.
The dependence of the shade of inflorescences of decorative shrubs on soil acidity:
- pH 7.4 - light pink;
- pH 6.9 - pink;
- pH 6.5 - dark pink;
- pH 5.5 - blue, pink;
- pH 5.1 - blue;
- pH 4.5 - dark blue.
It should be borne in mind that white hydrangeas do not change color. They simply do not have anthocyanins, natural dyes that respond to changes in pH.
Getting hydrangeas with blue inflorescences
Consider how to acidify the soil for hydrangeas to obtain blue inflorescences. For this, it is necessary to have an aluminum content in an accessible form in the ground. Two conditions must be met:
- acidic soil with a pH from 4 to 4.5;
- the constant presence of aluminum ions in the soil.
The hydrated potassium aluminum sulfate, commonly known as alum, available at the pharmacy has an amazing side effect. Its use as a fertilizer leads to the fact that in acidic soil, aluminum becomes available for several types of hydrangea, and their inflorescences acquire a blue hue.
- Before starting the procedure, make sure that hydrangea is suitable for discoloration.
- In February, the soil around hydrangea should be enriched with forest soil or acid peat, supplemented with compost.
- From March to the end of July, the bushes should be fertilized in accordance with their requirements.
- In addition, from March 20, 20-50 g of alum should be distributed under the base of the bushes.
- Add another dose of alum until the desired hydrangea color appears.
- Some gardeners advise watering the bush every week with two liters of water, dissolving 10 g of alum in it.
Getting hydrangeas with pink inflorescences
Consider what soil for hydrangea should be in order to get pink flowers.
If you are tired of blue inflorescences, you can increase the pH of the soil, of course, within reasonable limits. To do this, add calcium to the substrate for the plant or pour bushes with calcium-containing water for several weeks. The blue color should gradually fade. When the pH reaches a value between 6.0 and 6.2, you can observe the pink brilliance of the flowers.
In the matter of how to make the soil acidic for hydrangea or, conversely, alkaline, caution should be exercised. So, at pH values below 4 or above 6.4, there may be a lack of nutrients. Cultivating a plant in alkaline soil with a pH> 7 can be detrimental to it. It so happens that by chance on one shrub flowers appear in dark pink and blue shades. It gives a fantastic visual effect.
Now you know what soil hydrangea likes and about the unique possibility of changing the color of the flowers of this plant.