How to Grow Hydrangea? A Guide to Cultivation and Care Essentials
How to cultivate and care for hydrangea? Hydrangea, also known as hydrangea, pink ball flower, grass hydrangea, purple hydrangea, and zi yang hua, is a deciduous shrub with stout branchlets and prominent lenticels. The flowers of hydrangea are pure white and full, large and beautiful, and their color can turn red or blue. It is a common potted ornamental flowering plant, with a flowering period from June to August. Today, the editor will talk about the key points of hydrangea cultivation and care guidelines, hoping to be helpful to everyone.
1. Hydrangea flower color is variable, initially white, gradually turning pink or blue. At present, there are already 400 varieties of hydrangea worldwide.
2. Hydrangea prefers a warm, humid, and semi-shaded environment. The suitable growth temperature is 18-28 degrees. When the winter temperature is below 5 degrees, growth will stop. During the flower bud differentiation stage, the temperature should be kept at 5-7 degrees for 6-8 weeks. When the temperature is at 20 degrees, flowering is promoted.
3. For potted hydrangea, the potting soil should be kept moist, but it should not be watered too much. Especially in rainy weather, measures should be taken to drain accumulated water to prevent hydrangea from being waterlogged and causing root rot.
4. Hydrangea's demand for sunlight is semi-shade. During normal cultivation, direct sunlight should be avoided, and 60-70% shading is most ideal.
5. For hydrangea planting, the potting soil should preferably be loose, fertile, and well-drained sandy loam. Of course, substrates such as peat soil can also be used for cultivation. The pH of the potting soil has a clear effect on flower color. When the soil is acidic, the flower color later turns pink; when the soil is alkaline, the flower color later turns blue.
6. When hydrangea is used in garden landscaping, it can be planted under sparse tree shade or beside forest shade. Because hydrangea does not demand much sunlight, it is suitable for planting in small courtyards with poor sunlight, or planted in clusters in a corner of the courtyard, and is even more suitable for planting as a flower hedge or flower border.
7. Hydrangea likes fertilizer. During the growing period, generally apply dilute decomposed soybean cake water once every 15 days. At the same time, in order to keep the soil acidic, 1-3% ferrous sulfate can be added to the fertilizer solution when fertilizing. During the bud stage, apply potassium dihydrogen phosphate 1-2 times. This helps produce large and brightly colored flowers. Also note that fertilizing should be stopped in high-temperature seasons and severe winter seasons.
8. The main diseases of hydrangea include wilt disease, powdery mildew, and leaf spot disease. Usually pay attention to environmental sanitation and reasonable watering and fertilizing, maintain air circulation, and avoid excessive humidity. When diseases occur, broad-spectrum fungicides can be sprayed for prevention and control.
9. The main pests of hydrangea are aphids and mirid bugs, which can be killed with general insecticides.
How to Cultivate and Care for Bare-Root Hydrangea for a High Survival Rate
Hydrangea is pure white and full, large and beautiful, and its flower color can turn red or blue, making it pleasing to the eye and refreshing to the mind. It is a common potted ornamental flowering plant. In this article, the editor will bring you information on how to cultivate and care for bare-root hydrangea for a high survival rate. Let's take a look below.
1. Cut off all dead roots, rotten roots, and dry roots. It is best to cut them at a slant so that the roots can fully absorb nutrients. Then put it into soil, water it well, and place it in a cool place.
2. For open-field planting, it should be planted in a shaded place without direct sunlight, such as under a large tree or on the side or back of a house. It is suitable for clustered planting along the edge of grass paths, and combined with other flowers and trees to form a flower path.
3. In summer, it should be placed under a shade shed for management, and water should be sprayed frequently on the leaf surface and the ground to keep the air humid.
Bare-Root Hydrangea Planting Methods
4. Hydrangea prefers fertile, humus-rich, well-drained slightly acidic to slightly alkaline soil. For open-field cultivation, apply decomposed organic fertilizer before budding in early spring to ensure vigorous growth and flower bud formation. For potted cultivation in the north, the potting soil must ensure sufficient fertility. Therefore, generally change the potting soil once every 1-2 years to replenish fertility, and during the growing period, water with dilute liquid fertilizer once a week.
5. Under conditions of sufficient fertilizer and water, it grows quickly and produces large, brightly colored flowers. After flowering, the sterile flowers turn yellow, so the flower heads should be cut off in time, and the branches should be shortened and pruned. Generally, only two nodes at the base are kept to encourage new branches to sprout. When the new branches grow to more than 10 cm, pinch the tips, keeping 2-3 nodes. At the same time, thin out weak branches so that nutrients are concentrated in strong branches, making their growth full and ensuring large and full flowers the next year.
6. Prune before winter, then move indoors for management, control watering, and stop fertilizing in preparation for overwintering. If the indoor temperature is kept above 15°C and a certain humidity can be maintained, then it can be placed in front of a window with sufficient light to continue cultivation and strengthen fertilizer and water management. Not only will the leaves not fall, but it can also continue to bloom, allowing both foliage and flowers to be enjoyed in winter.
How to cultivate and care for bare-root hydrangea for a high survival rate has been shared with everyone here. Friends who like hydrangea should quickly try this cultivation method.
Cultivation and Care Techniques for Hydrangea
Hydrangea prefers a warm, humid, semi-shaded environment. It is not drought-tolerant, not cold-tolerant, likes fertilizer, and has a relatively high water requirement, but it is averse to waterlogging. It is suitable for growing in well-drained acidic soil. The pH of the soil has a very obvious effect on the flower color of hydrangea. When the soil is acidic, the flowers are blue; when it is alkaline, the flowers are red, but it is better to cultivate it in acidic soil.1. Propagation: Hydrangea is very easy to survive and can be propagated by cuttings or division. Cuttings are best done in spring and summer. Use 1-year-old branches, cut them into 10-15 cm long sections as cuttings, insert them into a sand bed, and they will root in about 20 days, then transplant them into pots for cultivation. Division propagation is best done in early spring before the plant sprouts. According to the root vigor of the mother plant, it can be separated into several plants, cut off dead roots and overly long roots, and transplanted into prepared pots for cultivation and management, while also pruning the branches.
2. Fertilizing and watering: Hydrangea likes fertilizer. During the growing period, generally apply decomposed dilute cake fertilizer water once every 15 days. The application of cake fertilizer should avoid the dog days to prevent diseases and pests and damage to the root system. In order to keep the potting soil acidic regularly, 100 grams of ferrous sulfate can be added to every 50 kg of liquid fertilizer for irrigation; at the same time, regularly irrigating with alum fertilizer water can make the plant have luxuriant branches and green leaves. During the bud stage, apply potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution 1-2 times to produce large and brightly colored flowers.
Hydrangea has large leaves and luxuriant branches and leaves, and has a relatively high water requirement. In spring, summer, and autumn during growth and development, it should be watered sufficiently to keep the potting soil often moist. Especially in hot summer, due to high evaporation, in addition to sufficient watering, water should also be sprayed on the leaf surface once a day or every other day. Hydrangea has fleshy roots, and too much water can easily cause root rot, so watering should not be excessive, and accumulated water in the pot should be poured out in time after rain. After September, as the weather gradually turns cool, the amount of watering should be gradually reduced to make the branches grow robustly, which is beneficial for winter dormancy.
Before Frost's Descent, move it indoors and keep the room temperature at about 5°C to promote dormancy. Before winter, remove the leaves to prevent leaf rot. Starting from mid-December, gradually move it to a sunny place, and move it outdoors after Grain Rain the following year.
3. Repotting and soil changing: For potted hydrangea, generally repot and change the soil once a year. Repotting and soil changing are preferably done in spring. The cultivation soil is prepared with leaf mold, garden soil, and sand at a ratio of 4:4:2, and an appropriate amount of decomposed cake fertilizer is added as base fertilizer. When changing pots, prune the plant's root system, cutting off rotten roots, dead roots, and overly long fibrous roots. After the plant is moved into the new pot, first compact the soil, then water thoroughly, place it in a shaded place for about 10 days, and then move it outdoors for normal management.
4. Pruning and shaping: To make the crown of potted hydrangea beautiful, the plant shape upright, and produce more flowers, the plant must be pruned. Because hydrangea flower heads are too large, supports should also be set up in time for tying, which can both keep the flowering plant upright and make the plant appear fuller.
Hydrangea grows vigorously and is tolerant of pruning. Generally, after the cutting seedlings survive and the new shoots grow to 10-15 cm high, pinching can be done to encourage the lower axillary buds to sprout branches; when the new branches grow to 8-10 cm, carry out a second pinching. Hydrangea generally blooms on two-year-old strong branches. After flowering, the old branches should be cut short, keeping 2-3 buds, to limit the plant from growing too tall and encourage new shoots, which is beneficial for flowering the next year. After autumn, cut off the tops of new shoots to stop branch growth, which is beneficial for overwintering. Thereafter, in early spring of each year in March, cut off diseased, pest-damaged, and weak branches from the base, keep only strong branches, and shorten the strong branches (keeping 2-3 buds per branch) to encourage new branches and make flowering abundant.
After the above pruning and shaping, the tree shape is compact, full, and well-balanced, with many flowers, large blooms, and bright colors.
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