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.
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.
Keep this in mind as your choosing and caring for your plant. Requirements: in this area hydrangeas prefer full morning sun with afternoon dappled shade. They like well-drained, moist soils. Fertilizing: recommended granular, slow-release fertilizer of 10-30-10, in the spring/early summer.
To prepare hydrangeas for winter in colder areas, add a thick layer of mulch around the base of the plants to protect the crown and roots from freezing temperatures.
The simplest method is to mound shredded leaves or bark mulch around the base of the plant to about 12 inches or so. Put the mulch mound in place in late fall after the ground freezes, and uncover plants in spring when temperatures begin to stay above freezing.
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.
To reduce the size of a hydrangea that blooms on new wood, cut off about one-third of each stem in late fall or early spring before it begins to leaf out. If your hydrangea blooms on old wood, prune right after it has bloomed when the flowers are fading.
Don't apply fertilizer to any type of hydrangea after mid-August. You don't want to encourage late season growth that is more sensitive to winter damage. This is especially important for types of hydrangeas that set flower buds on the previous year's growth (old wood).
If you over-fertilize, it can burn the root system of your hydrangea bushes and actually inhibit bloom production. For more tips on fertilizer and how to achieve big, beautiful blooms, please click here. My hydrangeas have brown dry spots on the leaves and brown petals on the bloom.
Recommended for root development of all types of plants. Normally is selected for feeding trees and landscaping plantings. Recommended for root development of all types of plants.
If you're growing hydrangeas, use coffee grounds to affect their color. Coffee grounds add extra acidity to the soil around hydrangeas. On a chemical level, this increased acidity makes it easier for the plant to absorb naturally occurring aluminum in the dirt. The effect is pretty blue clusters of flowers.
Hydrangeas should be fertilized twice during the year – once in early spring to promote flowering and once in early fall to finish out the season. Well-performing Hydrangeas only need a low-concentration, balanced fertilizer with equal NPK values, while a 15-30-15 fertilizer higher in phosphorus will improve flowering.
Water at a rate of 1 inch per week throughout the growing season. Deeply water 3 times a week to encourage root growth. Bigleaf and smooth hydrangeas require more water, but all varieties benefit from consistent moisture.
When you deadhead hydrangeas, you aren't harming the plants at all. Removing the spent blooms triggers flowering shrubs to stop producing seeds and instead put their energy toward root and foliage development. This makes plants stronger and healthier, so by deadheading, you'll be doing your hydrangeas a favor.
Learning how to fertilize hydrangea shrubs is equally as important as the type of fertilizer chosen. Apply a slow-release chemical for shrubs and trees once a year. Depending on the variety, a balanced time-release fertilizer can be applied a few times a year, in spring and early fall.
Supply the Right Amount of Water. Along with planting them in the right place, properly watering your hydrangeas is essential to bigger and better blooms. "Hydrangeas should be watered deeply several times per week to encourage deep root growth," says Enfield.
Hydrangeas are long-lived shrubs, sometimes living for up to 50 years if properly cared for. They enjoy morning sun but afternoon shade, and they need frequent watering during the growing season. Prune them in the fall after the blooms fade so they can grow on strong stems the following summer.
If you don't prune hydrangeas then they can eventually resemble a tangled mass of woody stems, and the flowers will become smaller and less showy.
Mulch Matters
Weird winters with little snowfall and drastic temperature swings are detrimental to plants. To give hydrangeas their best chance at success, apply a layer of chunky mulch around the base of the plant. Decorative mulch is helpful but we recommend straw, marsh hay, or fallen leaves.