what is wrong with my hydrangea

[succubus]

Hi everybody! Few months ago I got my hydrangea macrophylla and it was flowering purple and was fine on my kitchen window as there is sun in morning and shade in the afternoon. I decided to move it outside on the balcony. It was doing fine and start having new leaves coming out. I recently noticed the leaves are going black only the old ones. Also a bit before that I cut the blooms a lil bit late I know but I cut them right under the bloom not affecting the new stuff coming out. I also wanted to chane colour to blue so I watered once with water and little baking soda to lower the acid. It looked fine next few days so then I put some tomato feed and now I am not only getting black leaves but some places yellow/silverish to them. I know I prob did something wrong but I really want to keep my flower strong and healthy! I also want to move to bigger pot would that be good idea to do now?
Thanks

[Lindsaylew82]

Sometimes they do that when trying to change colors. The ph change can make nutrients in the soil unavailable to the plants. Great little article about them!

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamen ... purple.htm

I would definitely up pot them. That pot is Teeny tiny!

[luis_pr]

Hello, succubus. Yes, you can put them in a container/pot. Start with an 18" container or something close to that size but add some wheels if your winters are cold. That way, you can easily move the plant into a protected garage or other structure during the winter months when it looks dead (but don't forget to water it).

I think I would not worry too much about the purplish leaf color -for now- as turning hydrangeas purple requires that the wholesaler force defficiencies in soil minerals. The best you can do is add organic compost to replenish the NPKs and minor elements now.

However, I am concerned about the silvery color on the leaf in the first photo. Oddly, it resembles two things and I could not see up close enough to tell them apart. A leaf change to gray or silver can suggest a powdery mildew infestation starting. But it can also be that the plant is getting too much sun in that new location. If it is getting too much sun in the balcony, the leaf should eventually dry out more and feel paper-y to the touch as it dehydrates. The leaves of newly purchased hydrangeas can be quite sensitive to the sun in their first summer.

To protect against PM, make sure you never water the leaves and instead water the soil/potting mix. A water and milk spray (ratio of 9 water to 1 milk) can be applied to combat PM. You can increase the milk ratio more but do not go overboard with that.

I would feed the plant either organic compost or cottonseed meal, both of which are slow acting and do not have too much nitrogen.

In time, the purpleish leaf color should improve. The leaves look like the primary leaves developed this year under greenhouse conditions. In future years, you will get hardier ones. Dispose of the leaves in the trash when Fall weather makes the plant go dormant. If PM is present, you do not want to spread spores by throwing the leaves in a compost pile.

Because potted plants require more frequent waterings, make sure the container has nice holes so the water can easily exit but maybe add a metallic mesh at the bottom to block visitors and a few small-medium rocks above the mesh.

You may also need to keep an eye on the soil pH and soil minerals. To do that, it may be a good idea to purchase those cheap kits that test the soil for soil pH levels and those that measure Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Pottasium Levels. The kits are cheapo and not that accurate but close enough for what one wants to know: is the soil pH too low/high? are the levels of NPK too high or low? in other words, they help warn you when things move to the high-low extremes.

To change the color to blue, you can amend the soil by adding aluminum sulfate. Read the label directions to determine how much to apply. Unfortunately, many of those directions fail to discuss this for container plants or do not go into enough details so play it by ear and do NOT exceed recommended dosages as too much can burn the roots. Sulphur-only or aluminum free amendments would not be my first choice for potted plants because minerals leech blueing minerals due to the frequent watering and the important mineral when turning blooms blue is an adequate supply of aluminum. Yes a low soil pH is also needed as that allow the roots to absorb the aluminum. Problem is... the frequent waterings may leech aluminum out thru the drainage holes. To prevent that, a little, consider watering such that you stop watering as soon as water begins to come out the container holes. After a pause to allow the water to be absorbed, slowly apply the rest of the water.

Good luck with the hydrangea
Luis

[succubus]

Thank you so much for your detailed answeres!!! I will move to bigger pot today and will put organic compost and will hope to get better. The day before I spotted the silverish spots on the leaves it was actually quite sunny. I didnt think to move the plant to the shade silly me probably that was the problem. I am new at the gardening stuff but I have that fascination with Hydrangeas. I don't have much space for plants only my balcony but I decided I will have tomatos in pot and yesterday I bought mini rose and I am also trying to grow another Hydrangea from a branch of the one from the pictures above. Someday my boyfriends will come home to see house full of Hydrangeas haha
Thanks again for the help everyone!
I am attaching pic of my new rose

[ElizabethB]

You do need to pot the hydrangea up to a much larger pot. 18" was suggested - I would opt for 24". It is a shrub and not really a pot plant. Most potting soils have a neutral pH (7). If you want blue/purple blooms you need a low - acid pH. I use granulated elemental sulfur. For a 24" pot a teaspoon mixed into the soil will reduce the pH sufficiently to give you blue/purple blooms.

Your rose is nice but it also needs a much bigger pot 18" - 24". All purpose potting soil is fine if you do not have a compost pile and can make your own mix.

One of my big gripes with "Big Box" stores and even some nurseries is that they sell plants best grown in the ground as pot plants or house plants.

Get both of your plants in bigger pots and they should do a lot better than they are now. Gently remove them from the existing pots. Inspect the roots. If the roots are wrapped around the root ball you need to loosen them and even trim them before potting up.

Good luck

BTW The hydrangea does fine in partial sun or morning sun. The rose will thrive best in full sun - if it is in a large enough pot.

[luis_pr]

That is a nice rose too. It reminds me of a goft rose that I received once as the bloom resembles the color and form of my blooms (mine are half the size of your blooms though). Miniature rose material. I like to see it in the Spring full of blooms but it stops blooming this time of the year so I make do with pictures. It is just too hot so most big plants reduce their bloomage or stop altogether. My stripped rose even reverts to its parent blooms until temps go down. Enjoy the bloomage. Feel free to transplant it to a container too. You could also put it outside on the ground if the weather in your area allows it.

[succubus]

Thank you so much for your help! I moved my Hydrangea to bigger pot, topped up with compost and I moved it inside where it seems to like it on my kitchen window. I also watered once with mixture of water little bit of milk. The result is the new leaves are coming out healty and shiny!
I moved the rose the next day I got it to a bigger pot and it looks happy and healthy. I also bought yesterday new blue Hydrangea!! It is absolutely gorgeous! As I said earlier some day my house will be all Hydrangeas haha
I attach pictures if anyone is interested in the progress. Thanks again for the help