A pH of 7 is neutral, and household vinegar has a pH of around 2.4 (which is quite acidic). The theory is, applying diluted vinegar to the soil will lower the pH enough to change the color of your hydrangea blooms. This strategy will make the soil more acidic, but not for long!
Try not to get the vinegar-and-water solution onto the leaves, because it can burn the foliage. There is one more trick up the apple cider vinegar sleeve: You can actually change the color of hydrangea flowers from pink to blue.
To start "blueing," most hydrangeas need a pH level of 5.5 or lower. To make your soil more acidic, dilute 1 cup of apple cider vinegar into about 1 gallon of water. If you're fresh out of apple cider vinegar, you can also use white vinegar, but be aware that white vinegar tends to be much stronger.
Some gardeners report success in turning their hydrangeas blue by applying coffee grounds to the soil. The coffee grounds make the soil more acidic, allowing the hydrangea to more easily absorb aluminum. In addition, fruit peels, lawn clippings, peat moss and pine needles, are thought to have a similar effect.
Make a vertical slit in the incision and hold the stem upright in the boiling water for about 60 seconds. Place the hydrangeas back in your floral arrangement and they should revive themselves in an hour or so.
It's best to start adding coffee grounds to the soil months before the blooming season begins, ideally in the late fall. You can repeat the process with your typical fertilizing schedule. With a little caffeine and a lot of patience, your hydrangeas should reward your efforts come spring with the boldest blue globes.
Homemade compost is a great source of slow release nutrients for hydrangeas. Either top dress the soil beneath your plants with your compost and water well or brew up a batch of compost tea and give your plants a deep drink of it. You can repeat your application of compost tea in 2 to 3 weeks.
Place the hydrangeas on the cutting board and use the sharp knife to cut the end of the hydrangea at a 45 degree angle. Then cut a small slit vertically up the middle of the newly trimmed stem. Place the hydrangea(s) in the vase filled with hot water. Let sit for a minimum of one hour and voila!
Hydrangeas produce a “sap” that clogs their stems and blocks water from traveling up it to those gorgeous blooms. The boiling water helps to do away with the sap.
First, add a 1/4 cup of sugar to the room temperature water in the vase. The sugar helps feed the stems and increases the life of the cut flowers.
If you want to grow blue hydrangeas but you live in an area where your soil is alkaline, you will need to reduce the pH of your soil, and ensure it contains aluminum ions. What is this? There are home remedies such as coffee grounds, pine needles and apple cider vinegar which can help to make your soil acidic.
If your hydrangeas do get infected, you have several easy, effective, and homemade options. You can dilute either hydrogen peroxide or garlic oil in a spray bottle and spray it directly on the affected leaves.
Espoma Organic Traditions 6 lb. Garden Sulfur Soil Acidifier is an all-natural mineral that can be used to lower the pH of your soil. It can also provide plants with sulfur, a nutrient that promotes growth and dark greening. It will turn hydrangeas from pink to blue.
Put Hydrangeas In Water Immediately After Cutting
And adding a little bit of flower food to it would be a great idea too. Use a sharp knife or clippers to cut each stem on a diagonal and submerge! Cut hydrangeas in the morning and choose only the most mature blooms. They will look a little more papery than others.
But hydrangeas are among the few plants that can draw moisture in through their florets, so it's possible to perk up wilted blooms by completely submerging them in water and letting them sit for a few hours to rehydrate.
Miracle-Gro Performance Organics Blooms Nutrition
This is an all-purpose blossom booster that's suitable for use on a wide variety of perennial and annual blooming plants, including hydrangeas. It provides various minerals, including copper, calcium, and iron, to supplement common nutrient deficiencies.
Also, when you do water, after a week or 10 days, water with a water soluble fertilizer such as Miracle Grow, Rapid Grow or Peters 20-20-20. Apply this water soluble fertilizer every second or third watering and see if the plant doesn't do better.
Hydrangeas grow best if they are fertilized once or twice in the summer. Although some authorities recommend special fertilizer mixes to get the maximum results, hydrangeas do amazingly well with a more relaxed approach. Either chemical fertilizers or organic matter can be used successfully.
In most cases, the grounds are too acidic to be used directly on soil, even for acid-loving plants like blueberries, azaleas and hollies. Coffee grounds inhibit the growth of some plants, including geranium, asparagus fern, Chinese mustard and Italian ryegrass.