MULTI-COLORED PALETTE OF HORTENSES
HOW TO CHANGE THE COLOR OF HORTENSE
Is it true?, what, pouring water over the hydrangea with various additives, you can get flowers of different colors? How to keep a plant in winter? What species can be grown in the house?
Tatyana. g Alapaevsk
At home, they usually grow large-leaved hydrangea, since it is compact, blooms easily and early, besides the most thermophilic. Repaired varieties of this species give inflorescences on last year, and on young shoots, which makes flowering abundant and long lasting. Other types of hydrangeas (paniculate, tree-like, serrated) Are wonderful unpretentious garden plants, but for the house they are too large and would require special maintenance.
MOST large-leaved and serrated hydrangea varieties can change the color of the flowers. They are grown in pink, blue, blue and purple.
Petal color mainly depends on pH (acidity) soil and the presence of aluminum in it.
Pink inflorescences in hydrangea form on neutral and alkaline soils (pH 6,0-6,5). To increase the saturation of this color, the soil is deacidified, adding dolomite flour, a piece of chalk, ground limestone, fluff lime. But don't get carried away: acidity higher 6,5 will be harmful to the plant, as it causes iron and magnesium deficiency, necessary for the full development of the plant.
Blue hydrangea is obtained when there are aluminum salts in the substrate. The best assimilation of this metal occurs in acidic soil., poor in phosphorus salts. You can find water-soluble aluminum sulfate on sale, which is added to the water (1 ч.л.. on 3 l of water) at every watering, starting from the budding period.
Or potassium alum (3 d on 1 l of water). Sprinkle with alum carefully, not hitting the leaves. You can use a commercially available blue hydrangea spray product..
The intensity of the blue color of the inflorescences depends on the acidity of the substrate.. The deepest shades are only achievable on acidic soils (pH 5,0-5,5). You can make the soil acidic with a solution of lemon (1 incomplete st.l. on 5-8 l of water), oxalic (5 d on 10 l) or vinegar (100 ml 9% vinegar on 10 l) acid, as well as the introduction of sour peat into the soil, sawdust, conifer. They also use special physiologically acidic fertilizers for conifers and hydrangeas..
The color purple will turn out, if you water the neutral soil 0,1% ferrous sulfate solution (1 ч.л.. on 7 l of water).
Because hydrangea is a deciduous plant, in winter she needs a period of rest at least 1,5-2 months at a temperature of about +5 city. At this time, she is either kept in the dark, or with dim diffused light, keeping the soil only slightly moist.
Why large-leaved hydrangeas do not bloom and how to do it, so that they have blue flowers?
Tamara Fedorovna SHCHUCHENKO
To get guaranteed bloom, here's what to do: Firstly, after the first frost, be sure to tear off the leaves from the bush, leaving only the top two. Secondly, remove old branches, what will stimulate the formation of powerful basal shoots. Thirdly, cut out weak stems, because they die more often in winter.
However, in no case should the apical buds be cut off., since the largest inflorescences develop from them, and some varieties, as known, bloom exclusively at the tops. Gently bend the remaining shoots - than below, all the better, do not isolate from the ground. The top of the bush should be on the ground. Cover the tops on top with spunbond, and cover the whole plant with peat on 15 cm. Since this plant is afraid of return frost, dig it up late.
To prevent the blue hydrangea from turning pink on its own, the soil must be acidic (pH below 5, 5) and enough aluminum. Therefore, first test the composition of the soil.. If the pH is below 5, 5, then the flowers of the planted hydrangea will almost certainly be blue. Higher? Means, the soil is initially alkaline or neutral, and it will have to be acidified before the formation of buds and during this process.
How? Use potassium alum. They water the bushes, dissolving 3 g of substance in 1 l of water. An adult bush is used 10 l solution, on a young 5 l. Top dressing is performed 1-2 once a week for a month, not more often.
On a note
Excessive alum can cause, that the leaves on the hydrangea will fly around and only bare branches will remain.
Besides, the plant needs aluminum sulfate. To do this, water the bush with a solution containing 3-4 d of this compound on 1 l of water.
Also add colloidal sulfur, it is applied to the soil once a year in spring at the rate 1 sachet (40 r) on 1 mature bush or 0, 5 sachet (20 r) on 1 young bush.
There are special formulations on sale for changing the color of hydrangea. Try to find them in garden centers.
Also keep in mind, that aluminum will only work most effectively on very acidic soil, therefore, acidify several times during the season 50 g of citric acid must be dissolved in 10 liters of water and the soil under the plant must be shed in several approaches, so that the solution reaches even deep roots. They do it at the end of August September, when flower buds are laid for next year. However, and at other times this procedure will be useful.
HOW TO CHANGE THE COLOR OF HORTENSE – VIDEO
Photo by Tatiana SANCHUK
Tell, will hydrangea bloom in the shade. How to trim it correctly? Share other care secrets.
- From personal experience in the south of Belarus, note, that hydrangeas feel great in the shade with diffused lighting. Most of my bushes grow along the fence, where the sun illuminates them until noon, and in the afternoon they are in the shade. In sunny places and even with prolonged drought, hydrangea also grows and blooms, but the inflorescences quickly lose their decorative effect, become unsightly reddish brown.
Pruning and feeding
To have lush and large inflorescences, the hydrangea must be cut. This can be done in the fall, before wintering, or early spring. On each strong branch I leave two or three pairs of buds, I cut out weak shoots completely. If you leave more kidneys, there will be more inflorescences, but small. I start to feed in early spring. Hydrangeas love organic matter - rotted manure, compost, herbal infusions, etc.. I also use ready-made fertilizer for hydrangeas.. I prepare a solution to acidify the soil: 100 g table vinegar or 2 l kefir on 10 l of water. In the second half of summer (mid to late July) organic feeding should be limited. It is advisable to apply potassium-phosphorus fertilizers, which will help plants successfully survive the winter.
I want to buy a panicle hydrangea in a pot. Prompt, how to choose and plant a bush?
- A large assortment of varieties of panicle hydrangea is presented in garden stores. When buying, I advise you not to skimp and purchase a well-formed plant in a container, who will have 3-4 escape. Such planting material will painlessly transfer the transplant and will delight you with gorgeous flowering..
Landing
Preparing a pit for about 50 cm in diameter and about 30 cm deep (the plant has a superficial root system). I fill it with a mixture of high peat and garden soil, adding clay chips (3:1:1) for moisture retention. If the soil is sandy, you can make a "clay castle": coat the bottom and walls of the planting pit well with thick clay, and then fill in the same way, as above. Instead of peat, you can use forest coniferous litter., the ground from under the pine - they also acidify the soil. I mix everything thoroughly and plant. If you want to have a voluminous bush, the seedling can be buried on 2-3 cm. When deepening on shoots, who end up in the ground, buds will wake up and give new shoots. After planting, I must mulch the soil in the near-trunk circle with pine bark to retain moisture, cut grass or straw.