A few pics and a few questions...

[kfelton0002]

I have already posted about this but I am attaching some pics of my sad little hydrangeas for some input. They seem to be getting worse regardless of being watered daily. I live in zone 6b and it has already reached the 80's and 90's during the day. The smaller sadder much sparser plant is my 1.5 gallon Endless Summer, the other smaller plant is my Red Sensation. The bigger hydrangea with the bloom is my 3 gallon Endless Summer in a shadier spot than the others (nothing wrong with it, just posting it for reference as it is perfect). The two smaller plants receive around 8 hours of sun from morning until after 2pm in the afternoon. The smaller Endless Summer suffered heat damage during shipping so I attribute most of its ugliness to that. It sat in my truck after it was put there by the mail man without me realizing for hours in 80 degree heat. Each day the smaller ES has more and more brown leaves which is now moving to the branches as you can see by the pictures (I picked the brown leaves off) and the Red Sensation just looks bleh.

Question #1: Do the smaller plants need to be moved to a shadier place (especially ES) or does this just look like transplant shock/damage?

Question #2: I am attaching a pic of a spot next to the large ES that doesn't receive much direct sunlight. It is in the nook between my foundation and my porch steps. Does this look like a good place for my smaller ES? You won't really be able to see the plant until it gets bigger but I think it would be shady enough. It might get dappled morning sun in the mornings but mostly it is in shade.

Thanks for any advice or input. I am stressing horribly over these pitiful little plants.

[kfelton0002]

My pics uploaded sideways.. my apologies. lol

[luis_pr]

Question #1: Oh, no, kfelton0002. You are watering daily? Oh, no, please do not water them daily. That can be waaay too much, especially in soils that do not drain well. To know exactly when to water a hydrangea, try a watering program based on the finger method:

In the early morning hours, daily for 2-3 weeks, test the soil with your fingers to see if the plant needs water. Specifically, insert a finger into the soil to a depth of 4" (not counting the mulch) and only water if the soil feels dry or almost dry. Every time that you water, make a note in a wall calendar and after 2-3 weeks, check to see approximately how often you were watering (every 3 days? every 4 days? Etc.). Then set the sprinkler or drip irrigation to water 1 gallon of water every "x" days. If the temperatures change up/down by 10-15 degrees and stay there, use the finger method again. In dry winters, when the soil has not frozen but the plant has gone dormant, you can also water but maybe around once every two weeks or so.

Maintain 3-4" of mulch up to the drip line (further away from the crown if the site is windy). Check mulch levels throughout the year (Spring and Fall are good times). Prevent overwatering as this can cause root rot. The small ES that has lost many leaves may be suffering from overwatering. The first symptoms of root rot can be some leaf loss if the roots are starved of oxygen (the roots are surrounded by water and cannot absorb enough oxygen) and then you get leaf wilting 24/7 regardless of how much water you give them. Loosing some leaves is ok (especially at the bottom which is common) but loosing almost all leaves like this & having some browning of stems is a bad omen.

Once root rot kicks in, it becomes hard to stop the problem so many people replace the affected shrubs. I have heard of people who will remove affected plants and temporarily put them in a pot with potting mix until they recover. If you decide you want to do this, extract the plant & smell the roots to see if they smell rotted or see if they visually appear to be rotting. Water control is easier in a pot so people try this (but failure is high) and, if successful, they replace the plants back in the original place (although some people say that they also replaced the soil in the affected planting site for an abundance of caution). Having lost so many leaves and having some stems turn brown, I am not sure what the chances of the small ES are but feel free to try or replace it.

Then, mulch, mulch, mulch (3-4") so you do not have to water a lot. If you have drip irrigation and the temperatures zoom to the 100s, consider changing one of your watering times to manual watering with a hose to keep all soil areas around the plant moist (I do that once a week in July-August); drip does not do that well, especially on the top 4" where hydrangeas' small water absorbing roots are.

TLC: When your plants are established (takes 1-3 years), you do not have to worry about watering or wilting as much. Until then, keep an eye on the hydrangeas multiple times a week in the summer and check if they appear wilted. If the wilting episode looks extreme, immediately water and "ask questions later" (I.e., check why this happened later): I usually give them an emergency dose of 1/2 gallon of water.

But if the wilting episode is not extreme, I wait until nightfall or the next morning to see if I want to water them. Hydrangeas usually recover from these wilting episodes on their own given adequate water. In the morning, use the finger method to check the soil moisture and water if necessary.

Question #2: As for the site that you are considering, it seems bright enough to allow flower production. Just make sure that there will be a supply of water, amend the soil if it is clayish and the obvious, make sure that the plant can "fit" in that space when it reaches its estimated size at maturity (a commercial term that means in 10 years). The plant's size is in the plant's label or go to online nurseries that show this info. ES is usually 5-6' tall and wide. Not sure about RS.

If the site where all these shrubs are has clay soil, amend the clay soil because clay retains too much water.

Of course, you may want to look at light levels at different times of the day and times of the year to double check. But generally, mopheads can be forgiving and produce blooms even in full but bright shade.

However, I see some cement nearby that may leech and cause bouts of alkalinity in the soil so checking the soil pH a few times a year may be needed. Not a big deal here in my alkaline soil. If the site does not work for xyz reasons, you can transplant it. And do not feel bad if you have to transplant; you will n--o--t be the last person on Earth to have to transplant a hydrangea!

[kfelton0002]

We have very sandy soil and it becomes dry quickly. I added some potting soil and compost to the planting hole and mulched around it and the ground doesn't seem overly moist. I am going to dig it up and put it in the shade to see if it will recover. I am going to put a hybrid tea bareroot rose in its place since it receives so much sun. I read in our zone 6b area Endless Summers do not tolerate any more than 6 hours of sunlight well so I don't really want to risk it staying there anyway. I will leave the Red Sensation since it doesn't seem in too bad of shape and maybe it will be okay. It's directions say it can thrive in Full sun/full shade so I'm assuming its pretty rugged. It has a flower bud starting in the top so it must not be too bad. I have moved it twice so I imagine it looks rough because of that.

Another question: Is Bayer Advanced 3 in 1 Rose and Flower care granules okay to use for Hydrangeas? It is released over 6 weeks and I use it on my roses. It seems to be a good product for insects and as a fertilizer. Only time will tell if it keeps diseases at bay.

Thank you for your reply!

[luis_pr]

For sandy soil, you will have to replace at least half of the soil with organic compost and you have to water about 50% more than "normal". So instead of watering 1 gallon, consider 1.5 gallons.

Many vendors say things like that ("full sun") but do not describe the context of what they mean so they can sell more. I got bit by that. So yes you can plant in full sun but only in places where the sun is not harsh in the summer months. For example, I was sold a lilac bush once ("full sun Wayside said) and the leaves burned up on year 1 when the summer arrived. I now plant lilacs in morning sun and afternon shade. Took me several tries to get one up and running. Then construction accidents in the patio killed it so I am trying again.

[kfelton0002]

Yeah I am slowly starting to figure out the morning sun and afternoon shade bit with hydrangeas. I bought my mother in law a blushing bride by Endless Summer for mothers day and I have told her time and time again to plant it where it doesn't get much harsh sunlight. She hasn't done well with hydrangeas in the past so hopefully she will do better with her blushing bride. It is a beauty.

I moved my smaller ES after pruning off any damage down to the next budding nodes. There isn't much plant left and only time will tell if it will survive all the trauma of nearly being cooked in the truck after it was delivered and then being planted, then moved. I put some compost material around the plant and very little of the native soil that came out of the hole. And it is now in dappled afternoon shade. It receives only a few hours of morning sun, then is shaded by some trees after 11 or 12. Hopefully this will be a better location. Thank you for all your help with my hydrangeas! We live and learn.

[Shirley Pinchev]

You described planting your new plant by adding a bit of potting soil and compost to the hole. Adding various textures of soil to the hole will create a barrier from one type of soil to the next that acts like a bowl holding the water and creating standing water that can cause root rot. Water will move through the soil if you use the same soil as you took out of the hole. Break up the soil, if you want to add any amendments, be sure to mix well with the native soil. Bits of this or that do nothing to help the soil. The soil is as alive as the plants that you are planting. The organisms in the soil can not swim! They need moisture but not soaking wet conditions. An old fashioned but very successful way to plant is to dig the hole, fill it with water and then check to see if the water runs out. If it goes out very quickly, then you know that you are going to have to water more frequently. If the water takes 15 mins or longer to drain thorough the hole, you are going to have to be careful of the amount of water that you give the plants or - what I would do is to move to another spot in the garden. As a last resort - dig up the wilting plant and see if the roots are soaking wet or dry. I have saved plants with root rot by digging them up - you will know that they have root rot because they will stink! I used a fire hose - or very strong water jet and blasted all the rotten roots away and then planted in a container in fresh loose potting soil and let dry out for several days and then water very carefully and made sure the water ran quickly out of the container before putting it on a saucer. Might be too much trouble for you but I enjoy rescuing distressed plants.

[kfelton0002]

They are doing much better now actually. When I planted I mixed the potting soil with native soil. The worse one (small ES) lost all foliage due to being cooked in my truck for hours after it was delivered but now the foliage is coming back in well. It has dozens of newly sprouted leaves. The Red Sensation has several blooms forming so I'm assuming it is happier, other than some unknown pest nibbling at the leaves. I think these plants must be pretty tough to endure what they have so far. My large Endless Summer in the front of my house is looking spectacular with all of its blooms opening. I have dozens of hydrangea cuttings from various hydrangeas (some known, some unknown) in my mini greenhouse that are taking root so I will have back ups in case one doesn't come back next year. I have become all too good at propagating them. I have nearly 100% success rate with my technique. I have already warned my husband that I will have hydrangeas in every partially shaded area of our property. He tolerates my obsessions. lol