Hydrangea Growing Essentials (1): Practical Tips on Soil Mixing and Fertilizer Use
What's the first thing to do when planting a pot of hydrangeas?
Answer: mix the soil and pot it up
What needs to be added to the soil mix? What's the specific ratio? How do you pot it up?
After reading Tieba and browsing forums, everyone says something different
Are you dizzy? Confused?
Excited? Nervous?
Today we're going to chatter about the correct way to plant
Let's get to the point. First, let's gossip a bit about hydrangeasGrowing soilissues!
Oh my god
Basically every single day a flower friend asks about soil mixing
It's really exciting
Actually, mixing soil isn't as complicated as you think
Good, you only need to remember the soil-mixing principles
Loose, airy, fertile
This soil-mixing principle is universal, not just for hydrangeas. It also applies to herbaceous flowers, clematis and many other plants. You just need to adjust the materials that make up the mix.
I'm a lazy qiong ren (poor person), and I want to grow good plants with the cheapest and simplest materials. Those familiar with Pengpeng know that when Pengpeng grows herbaceous flowers, he usescoconut coir and perliteto grow them. Simple and rough, and they still grow well.
△ Pengpeng's herbaceous flowers
Here comes a rather boring round of hard information.
So can hydrangeas also be grown withpure coconut coir? As for coconut coir, it will gradually decompose or its pores will shrink over time.
I wonder if you've noticed that the soil in your own home grown with peat or coconut coir gets less and less the more you plant. This has to do with your soil configuration. Things like coconut coir and peatare small in volume and decompose relatively quickly。
For herbaceous flowers, the vast majority complete their growth cycle in just a few short months, so growing them with coconut coir and perlite won't have much of an impact.
But our hydrangeas arewoody plants, and they need to grow for many years (if you have a black thumb and kill them, forget I said anything), so you need to add somedecomposition-resistantmaterials into the mix!
Now everyone should have a concept of hydrangea soil mixing in mind:Loose and airy, good drainage, fertile, containing decomposition-resistant materials。
Loose and airy, good drainageThere are many materials for this. When it comes to cost-effectiveness, naturallycoconut coiris good, but coconut coir also has its shortcomings and deficiencies when growing woody plants, so I suggest addingpeatto make up for the shortcomings of coconut coir.
The airiness and drainage of coconut coir mixed with peat still aren't very good, so you need to add some porous materials. At this point there are two choicesperlite and volcanic rock, both of which have pores and can improve the soil's airiness and drainage capacity.
Fertile? Don't know how to do it? Please look intothe role of organic fertilizer: slowly releasing nutrients, improving soil structure, so as long as you add organic fertilizer, the soil will become fertile.
As for what fertilizer to use, this is enough to make a person go bald. There are so many dazzling options on the market, so what exactly should you choose? (People with choice anxiety are crying fainting in the bathroom)
I tried all kinds of organic fertilizers, and finally found thatchicken manure and bone mealare the most helpful for hydrangea growth.
Mix these two organic fertilizers into the soil when planting hydrangeas, and you'll get a fertile soil. Isn't it simple?
There are many decomposition-resistant materials.
What I like to use is coarse coconut coir and pine bark. Coarse coconut coir has a larger diameter than fine coconut coir, so it resists decomposition. Using pine bark alone costs more, so mixing the two saves cost.
△ Left: coarse coconut coir Right: coconut coir (fine coconut coir)
I wonder if any of you have noticed that when you plant things, they're especially prone to root rot. At this point you need a littlegreen zeolite! Green zeolite can prevent plant root rot, so it can be said to be a very worthwhile material to add.
Finally finished chattering through the boring theory.. Now let's summarize the required materials:
Loose and airy, good drainage:peat, coconut coir, perlite, volcanic rock
Fertile:chicken manure, bone meal
Decomposition-resistant:coarse coconut coir, pine bark, green zeolite
How should these three types of materials be mixed in a suitable ratio? Pengpeng is in Fujian, and the soil mixing ratio is roughly
peat : coconut coir : perlite : volcanic rock : coarse coconut coir : pine bark : green zeolite : chicken manure : bone meal
= 3：3：2: 0.5: 3: 2：0.5：1:0.5
Due to photography issues, the material ratios shown in the pictures are not accurate. Please refer to the above.
The ratio I've given is based on Fujian's climate. Flower friends should adjust according to their own actual conditions, and by no means copy it exactly!
Appropriately increase the peat, coconut coir or perlite to adjust the ratio. How does the saying go? There is only the most suitable soil mix, not the most perfect soil mix.