We have advice on how to change the color of your hydrangea flowers.
The South loves the blues, we guess.
Changing the color of your hydrangeas is possible, with the caveat that it takes a lot of patience.
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Gardeners can alter the color of their hydrangeas by changing the acidity of the soil.
White hydrangeas won’t change color at all.
How To Turn Hydrangeas Blue
Strongly acid soil of 5.5 or below producesblue flowers.
Neutral or alkaline soil results in pink or red flowers.
How do you change the soil pH?
To make it more acid, add sulfur.
To make it more alkaline, add ground limestone or lime.
Potted plants get 1 tablespoon for every 4 inches of container diameter.
Spread the sulfur or an organic soil acidifier evenly out to the widest branches, and water it in.
Repeat at 60-day intervals until you get the color you want.
A pH of 5.5 should result in violet-blue blooms, while 4.5 will achieve a deep blue.
A soil pH of 5.0 will cause flowers to bloom in a more muted blue.
you could do the same whenplanting hydrangeasin the ground.
Reapply each spring when you fertilize, and again in 60 days, if needed.
Do Coffee Grounds Really Turn Hydrangeas Blue?
Some gardeners swear bycoffee groundsas a method for turning hydrangeas blue.
Which Hydrangeas Will Turn Blue?
Some hydrangeas change color easily.
The original ‘Endless Summer’ is one.
A potted blooming pink variety planted in strongly acid soil will likely bear bright blue flowers the following year.
A similar flower growing in near-neutral soil will feature half of its flowers as blue and half as pink.
Some of the mountain hydrangeas (H. serrata) also change color from pink to blue.
Hydrangeas specifically designed to be pink or multicolored might not respond to soil amendments.
Dreamin' hydrangea is one.
This variety features big multicolored blooms in blue, purple, and pink, without any soil amendments.
You won’t ever be able to change their color, just like with anywhite hydrangea.
Consider the following issues if you have trouble achieving the color variation in the hydrangea you planted.
By next year, you could be well on your way to bright blue hydrangeas.
New Jersey Department of Health.
Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet:Aluminum Sulfate.
Oregon State University Newsroom.Used appropriately, coffee grounds improve soil and kill slugs.
