Hydrangea blooms changed colors?
Question:I bought some lilac purple hydrangeas. Soon after buying them I repotted them and all the blooms turned a pale green, what can I do to turn them back to the purple, or really any other color besides the green. Not sure if it matters but I replanted them in Miracle grow potting soil, and I live in Japan. Thanks
Answers:
Hydrangeas blooms change color due to change in the soil ph
Bury a soda can, foil, or something metal (aluminum) near the flowers. Their PH has changed. This happens often with hydrangeas. The PH in your soil determines their color so if you "plant" something metal close to the plant, it should change colors (back to violet) for you.
Hydrangea bloom color depends on soil pH. It is much easier to change a hydrangea from pink to blue than it is from blue to pink. Changing a hydrangea from pink to blue entails adding aluminum to the soil. Changing from blue to pink means subtracting aluminum from the soil or taking it out of reach of the hydrangea.
You should be able to find the aluminum in nurseries or plant supply shops. Not sure about the availability in Japan though.
To change its color fast, buy ironite from any local nursery. Work it into the soil around the plant. Also you can put a few rusty nails around the surface of the soil.
The change in color indicates a change in the ph of the growing medium - in this case, Miracle grow potting soil. If you want deep blue hydrangea you can bang several iron nails into the soil. You have to use iron, though. Stainless steel won't work.
All hydrangea are the same plant. It is the soil that determines the color of the blooms. I, unfortunately, stop being of help there. I don't know what soil conditions determine which color. I do know that I had pinkish / purplish blooms when I lived in VA, and our soil was very basic - high acid?
LIMITATIONS TO
HYDRANGEA COLOR CHANGE:
White hydrangeas can NOT be changed to pink or blue by the grower. (The Almighty sometimes adds pink and red to blooms as they age).
If you live in a hot climate, it is unlikely you will ever see a "true red" hydrangea. No matter how convincing those pictures in the catalogs are or how much lime is added to the soil, one can only achieve a very deep or dark pink, but not a true red (at least here in the South. I'd love to hear from you if you have a different experience).
One can rarely change the intensity of a color (how strong or pale the color is). The intensity develops for a number of reasons: the heredity of a particular hydrangea variety, weather conditions (hot or cold, humid or dry), health of the plant, and possibly other natural factors. Fertilizing hydrangeas once or twice a year may result in a little more saturated color simply because the health of the plant may be improved.
A few varieties of hydrangeas tend more toward the pink or the blue range of colors, but will not retain even this color if soil conditions are not right.
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