Hi all,
I split and transplanted a Hydrangea two years ago, it did not
flower last year, but does have flower buds forming this year.

Is there anything I can dress the ground around them to get blue
flowers please?

Mick.

"Mick" wrote in message
...
Hi all,
I split and transplanted a Hydrangea two years ago, it did not
flower last year, but does have flower buds forming this year.

Is there anything I can dress the ground around them to get blue
flowers please?

You need to make the soil more acidic (pH 7). There are various ways you
can do that,. I use sulphur powder, although that takes a few months to
work, and the soil needs to be reasonably warm, so currently is a good time
to be doing this.

If you have a naturally chalky soil you might end up having to dig in a
couple of kilos to make any difference But I've seen chemical packs in
garden centres specifically designed to turn pink hydrangeas blue Not used
them myself but presumably they operate on the same principle.

On Sun, 04 May 2014 11:33:39 +0100, Mick
wrote:

Hi all,
I split and transplanted a Hydrangea two years ago, it did not
flower last year, but does have flower buds forming this year.

Is there anything I can dress the ground around them to get blue
flowers please?

Mick.

You need to get the soil below pH 7.0

A very easy way is water it daily with a very weak acid solution. A
bottle of vinegar in 5 gallons of water is about the right strength.
If you drink lots of real coffee always put the used grounds on the
soil.

Steve

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On 04/05/2014 14:00, Frank Booth wrote:
"Mick" wrote in message
...
Hi all,
I split and transplanted a Hydrangea two years ago, it did not
flower last year, but does have flower buds forming this year.

Is there anything I can dress the ground around them to get blue
flowers please?

You need to make the soil more acidic (pH 7). There are various ways you
can do that,. I use sulphur powder, although that takes a few months to
work, and the soil needs to be reasonably warm, so currently is a good time
to be doing this.

If you have a naturally chalky soil you might end up having to dig in a
couple of kilos to make any difference But I've seen chemical packs in
garden centres specifically designed to turn pink hydrangeas blue Not used
them myself but presumably they operate on the same principle.




A Blue hydrangea that has turned pink because of the wrong ph level will
revert to blue once you can reduce the soil alkalinity.
In the old days they said to bury rusty nails under the plant.
See http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=122

On 04/05/2014 17:48, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Sun, 04 May 2014 11:33:39 +0100, Mick
wrote:

Hi all,
I split and transplanted a Hydrangea two years ago, it did not
flower last year, but does have flower buds forming this year.

Is there anything I can dress the ground around them to get blue
flowers please?

Mick.

Several methods are generally suggested. Most fundamental is making
the soil more acidic, as others have said. Other suggestions include:
watering with a solution of aluminium sulphate; watering with a
solution of sulphate of iron; watering with a solution of Sequestrine;
using a commercial hydrangea bluing compound. All of those items are
available at good garden centres. Scattering rusty nails around the
base of the plant is traditionally recommended, but I suspect it won't
be as effective as the other methods.


At least you'd only have to do that once.
Oak galls are a handy source of gradual release acid. Maybe bury some
with the nails? No shortage in my local woods

On Sun, 04 May 2014 14:33:32 +0100, Stephen Wolstenholme wrote:

On Sun, 04 May 2014 11:33:39 +0100, Mick wrote:

Hi all,
I split and transplanted a Hydrangea two years ago, it did not flower
last year, but does have flower buds forming this year.

Is there anything I can dress the ground around them to get blue flowers
please?

Mick.

You need to get the soil below pH 7.0

A very easy way is water it daily with a very weak acid solution. A
bottle of vinegar in 5 gallons of water is about the right strength.
If you drink lots of real coffee always put the used grounds on the
soil.


Coffee grounds are a great soil conditioner. Great in compost too
obviously, but no reason not to use them directly.

I think it would take a long time to reduce the pH that way though.


--
Gardening in Lower Normandy

On 06/05/2014 09:43, Emery Davis wrote:
On Sun, 04 May 2014 14:33:32 +0100, Stephen Wolstenholme wrote:

On Sun, 04 May 2014 11:33:39 +0100, Mick wrote:

Hi all,
I split and transplanted a Hydrangea two years ago, it did not flower
last year, but does have flower buds forming this year.

Is there anything I can dress the ground around them to get blue flowers
please?

Mick.

You need to get the soil below pH 7.0

A very easy way is water it daily with a very weak acid solution. A
bottle of vinegar in 5 gallons of water is about the right strength.
If you drink lots of real coffee always put the used grounds on the
soil.


Coffee grounds are a great soil conditioner. Great in compost too
obviously, but no reason not to use them directly.

I think it would take a long time to reduce the pH that way though.


Unless you could get them from a café or a branch of Costa.

Am 04.05.2014 12:33, schrieb Mick:
Hi all,
I split and transplanted a Hydrangea two years ago, it did not
flower last year, but does have flower buds forming this year.

Is there anything I can dress the ground around them to get blue
flowers please?

Actually it is not acidity which turns the colour into blue. It is
availability of aluminium for the plant. Most soils contain enough
aluminium but in a neutral or alkaline situation it is not available for
the plant. Making the soil acidic or adding aluminium salts like
aluminium sulphate allows for the formation of the blue colour.
see for example http://wolmershaeuser.de/hydrangea.html
(sorry, it is written in German)
Cheers
Gotthelf

--
http://www.wolmershaeuser.de

On 10/05/2014 10:05, G Wolmershäuser wrote:
Am 04.05.2014 12:33, schrieb Mick:
Hi all,
I split and transplanted a Hydrangea two years ago, it did not
flower last year, but does have flower buds forming this year.

Is there anything I can dress the ground around them to get blue
flowers please?

Actually it is not acidity which turns the colour into blue. It is
availability of aluminium for the plant. Most soils contain enough
aluminium but in a neutral or alkaline situation it is not available for
the plant. Making the soil acidic or adding aluminium salts like
aluminium sulphate allows for the formation of the blue colour.
see for example http://wolmershaeuser.de/hydrangea.html
(sorry, it is written in German)
Cheers
Gotthelf


Thanks for explaining that. Never really understood it until now.