Can I use ericaceous compost for all plants? Hydrangea arborescens. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Ericaceous soil or compost is highly acidic, lime free. Think about this: bigleaf hydrangeas are the most well-known type of hydrangea. Because the hydrangeas require well-drained, humus-rich soil, amending your soil ensures excellent blooms and foliage as well as the general health of your plants. Hydrangeas need a well-drained potting mix. Grow these plants in rich, well-draining soil. Ericaceous plants are those which prefer acid soil conditions. They are the shrubs with the big blue or pink blooms with a few pinks and purples thrown in for good measure. This helps them to retain moisture in the soil. Hydrangeas are not bog plants by any means and they need good drainage, but one look at those fleshy stems and succulent leaves will tell you that they … Grow hydrangea plants in any rich fertile, moist soil. Ericaceous soil or compost is highly acidic, lime free. All hydrangeas seem to prefer soil that is acidic, but they can be grown in neutral soil too. If you want or have blue hydrangeas you need ericaceous compost. Every 7 days during the growing season dissolve 50g of hydrangea colourant in 5 litres of water and water the soil round the plant. Copyright of hydrangeaguide.com 2020. Certain varieties of hydrangeas, (such as mophead and lacecap hydrangeas) require acidic soil with a pH of 5 to 5.5 in order to produce blue flowers. When you are cultivating these types of hydrangeas, they need an area that is exposed to morning sunlight but shaded in the afternoon. If you grow pink hydrangeas in acid soil, they will turn blue. Types of Hydrangea. There are a few plants that lean toward acidic fertilizer and hydrangeas are one of them. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. Ericaceous compost is a type of compost that's perfect for cultivating acid-loving plants but with the large mophead hydrangeas, you use ericaceous compost to make the flowers bloom blue. If you are concerned about the environmental impacts of using peat moss in your garden, you can use a peat substitute such as coir. Acid loving plants need an extra boost of Iron to assist with the formation of Chlorophyll. Most hydrangeas are pink, blue or white. Hydrangea paniculata. If you want blue hydrangeas and have an alkaline soil, the simplest way is to keep them in a pot with ericaceous compost or change the soil where you are to plant them. Regularly re-test to verify that you have the desired pH. This is specially formulated for rhododendrons, azaleas and other lime hating plants and will be perfect for your hydrangea if it in a pot; hydrangeas make excellent subjects for pots and containers. Search for a stockist online. In fact, hydrangeas are a great choice for people who want to grow succulents. They can even take slightly alkaline soil too, but are best grown in ericaceous soil in containers if your garden soil has a naturally high pH reading. You will probably have heard of ericaceous compost in terms of what you can grow in it. Your soil will always return to its natural state. Adding compost to alter the pH of the soil will determine the color of the blooms you get. Be sure you are growing a bigleaf variety, the hydrangea macrophylla if you are trying to control the color of the blooms but you can’t change white flowers any other colour. To make a simple potting mix for ericaceous plants, begin with a base of half peat moss. 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