Hydrangeas are acidophilic plants that need acidic soil. If there is no such land in the garden, then it is necessary to artificially give the substrate the required properties. Before applying mineral fertilizers for these purposes, gardeners should consider natural home remedies for acidifying the soil. The article is devoted to how and how to properly hydrange hydrangea in order to be able to change the color of inflorescences.

How often should hydrangea be watered

Hydrangea (Hydrangea) is very demanding on the presence of water in the soil. This feature is reflected in the name of the culture, consisting of two Greek words - water and a vessel. This deciduous shrub loves moisture and requires heavy watering, especially in summer.The need is due to the fact that almost throughout the warm season the bush is decorated with numerous spherical inflorescences. For full flowering of the culture (from June to September), a large amount of water in the basal substrate is necessary. The plant responds to a lack of moisture by immediately wilting leaves, branches and peduncles.

How watering affects a plant

The hue of hydrangea depends on the aluminum content in the soil where the shrub grows.. The element enters into a chemical reaction with the dye in the petals and changes their color. On soils rich in this element, the plant has blue, blue or lilac inflorescences; on poor clay lands they turn pink. This factor only affects varieties with colored buds such as hydrangea macrophylla. Varieties with white flowers under the influence of acidic substances do not change.

Important! Before starting to acidify the soil in the garden, the owner of the estate should determine its pH to make sure that the procedure is really necessary.

Watering a flower

Many problems that arise when growing garden and indoor hydrangeas can be solved with proven and effective home remedies. In this case, you do not have to shop at the store and turn to various chemicals. Many of them allow gardeners to combat a number of diseases and plant pests, and are present in almost every household (sour milk, citric acid, potassium permanganate, vinegar, copper sulphate or alum).

After dissolving in water, some of the substances can be sprayed onto the leaves, which will allow them to enter the plant tissue much faster. This type of feed is called foliar or top dressing. Irrigation with liquid fertilizers of the soil layer in which hydrangea grows is called the lower or root application. Before applying dressing of any kind to the root of the plant, it is recommended to carry out abundant, but not excessive watering with clean water..This will guarantee that the food goes directly to the roots, and does not linger in the upper soil layer. You can also purchase a ready-made product in any garden center that changes the color of hydrangea inflorescences (Agrecol, Biopon, Intermag Blue Hydrangea).

Important! It is worth watering acidophilic plants only with rainwater, which, unlike tap water, does not contain calcium and, therefore, does not reduce the level of acidity.

Citric acid

This substance is primarily associated with lemon juice, and therefore it seems to be a safe product of natural origin. This is not entirely true. Although the product is widely used in the food industry as a regulator of acidity and an antioxidant, it can be obtained both naturally (by fermentation) and synthetically. Exposure actually reduces the pH of foods and therefore acidifies them. Hence the people's belief that it is also possible to influence the substrate for growing plants.

Gardeners should consider that there are no official recommendations on the dosage of citric acid for the soil and the effectiveness in this area is not confirmed. Although its effect on plants seems harmless and many lovers recommend this home technique, you can use it only at your own peril and risk. And you have to experiment to find the right dosage empirically.It should be added that not lemon juice will be used, but crystals obtained synthetically in the chemical industry. It is definitely better to take a mineral fertilizer that has a similar effect, but is scientifically proven and has the exact dosage indicated on the package.

Did you know? The potted substrate is acidified with coffee grounds, since the rest of the drink contains phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, nitrogen that is slowly released, and there is almost no calcium that has the opposite effect. All these elements are very important for acidophilic plants.

Potassium permanganate

It is possible to achieve pink color of hydrangea inflorescences without difficulty, giving the soil acidity a pH value of 5.0–6.5. In such a substrate, the roots of hydrangia cannot fully absorb aluminum, therefore, the flowers will not be blue or blue, but will begin to gradually turn red. For this purpose, the use of water with several crystals of potassium permanganate gives a good effect.The solution can be either pale pink or more saturated, beetroot, the brightness of the petals depends on its concentration. The concomitant positive effect of the use of potassium permanganate will be the disinfection of the soil from fungal spores. The gardener should remember that by increasing the acidity of the soil under hydrangea above pH 6.5, he will receive dark purple or saturated lilac buds.

Vinegar

This is another home remedy for acidifying the earth, often recommended on the Internet. In any case, in the garden this substance is widely used as a deterrent for snails, ants and wasps.

Important! You can add acid to the garden substrate by mixing the soil with peat and sawdust of coniferous trees, as well as mulching the trunk circle with a chopped pine bark.

Vinegar acidification:

1. For use, vinegar is diluted with water. Recommended ratio: take 8 parts of water for one part of vinegar and water the soil with a fresh solution.
2. It must be borne in mind that such a procedure is carried out long before the hydrangea is planted, at least 3 weeks before the planned date.
3. Vegetative plants cannot be moistened with such a liquid, this can cause a root burn, after which the bush will become sick or even die.

If the gardener still decides to use vinegar to acidify the substrate on the beds under hydrangeas, this must be done with great care. Immediately before starting transplantation, it is recommended that the pH of the substrate be measured a second time to ensure its suitability.

Alum

You can change the color of inflorescences of the hygrophilous hydrangea from pink to blue by adding preparations containing aluminum (alum of potassium, sodium or ammonium) to the soil substrate. To do this, prepare a fresh solution in the following proportion: 10 g of alum is mixed with 2 l of water. The shrub should be watered with a liquid mixture every two weeks from spring until the buds appear.

Did you know? Gardeners use vinegar as the main component of a home remedy for weeds. It kills annuals with high efficiency, no worse than glyphosate-based herbicides such as Roundup and Sprinter.

Copper sulphate

Copper sulfate is a copper sulfate that looks like a scattering of small crystals of the color of azure. The substance is used to change the color of Hydrangea petals. It increases the percentage of sulfur content in the soil, adds acidity and disinfects the substrate from fungal spores that cause crop diseases.Most often, this substance is used to protect the garden from powdery mildew or other diseases caused by fungal spores. A one percent solution of copper sulfate is prepared and the plant is treated according to the sheet, which will be a good disease prevention. Copper sulfate is also added to water in low concentration (per 10 l of water, 5 g of copper sulfate) to feed shrubs monthly under the root or leaf.

Sour milk

In sour milk there are many bacteria that are very useful for acidophilus plants. Not only hydrangeas, but also most other flower and vegetable crops (chrysanthemums, tomatoes, cucumbers) respond perfectly to such top dressing.

Did you know? Some types of crushed stone used to mulch decorative beds, such as granite or quartz, also have an acidifying effect on the soil.

Sour-milk fertilizer:

1. Take a liter of any fermented milk products (yogurt, kefir, whey) and mix in 10 liters of water. The result is an opaque, cloudy, whitish liquid.
2. It can be applied both to the surface of leaves and branches, or simply poured under a bush.
3. Given that such a biological solution does not harm plants, it can be used without maintaining the intervals between procedures.
4. To apply foliar fertilizer to the crown, you can use a garden pump sprayer or an ordinary broom. He is dipped in liquid, and with a sharp movement of his hand spray moisture on the leaves of the bush.

Requiring minimal care, hydrangea shrubs throughout the summer months adorn the infield with bright greenery and elegant inflorescences. The gardener can easily change the color of the petals of the crop (from pink to blue and vice versa) provided that the soil acidity level in the flower bed is correctly selected.