Hydrangeas are wildly popular shrubs for their spectacular blooms, with large flower heads in bright blue, pink, and white. However, they are also known because it is possible to change the color of their flowers so that we can choose which colors we want each plant to adopt. Doing it is not as simple as it seems, but with a few tricks, it is within everyone’s reach.
If you want to know how you can change the color of the hydrangea flowers to vary between blue hydrangeas, white hydrangeas, pink hydrangeas, and, in some cases, even achieve an intense tone that reaches red or maroon, keeps reading this article about how to change the color of hydrangeas.
Is it possible to change the color of a hydrangea?
As we have just said, it is possible to change the color of the flowers. The color of the hydrangea flowers depends on the bracts that the plant produces around the true, much smaller flowers, and the color of these bracts does not depend on anything other than the pH of the soil, that is, its level of acidity. or alkalinity.
Hydrangeas are plants that usually prefer acidic soils, but they can grow in a wide range of pH values that goes from approximately 4.0 to 8.0, giving rise to different colors in these ranges.
In addition, it is important to note that experiments changing the soil pH must be done at least 60 days before flowering and that any subsequent changes will no longer have the desired effect on the plant.
If there is a case of loss of color in hydrangeas, it is most likely that they need more nutrients or that the pH is changing. Additionally, the different varieties of hydrangeas have different natural colors. Although it is possible to modify these colors by altering the pH of the soil, the ideal thing will be to provide them with acidic soil, which is also the best way to enhance the color of hydrangeas.
How to change the color of hydrangeas to white
Some varieties of hydrangea produce white flowers on their own, but pink or blue hydrangeas can be lightened to the point where their flowers are almost white.
However, to achieve this, it is necessary to raise the pH of the soil to no less than a value of 8.0, which can also result in a large number of complications for the plant, being common that we see cases of iron chlorosis appear, which can end leading to serious health problems for the plant.
Obtaining white flowers from other pinks or blues is not impossible, but it is very risky and difficult and, therefore, not recommended, since it is not the natural or optimal state of the plant, so it is better to directly acquire a plant from white variety.
How to get blue hydrangeas
To get hydrangeas back blue, or if you are just looking to keep hydrangeas blue, the first and most basic step is to get a pH below 5.0, which is the acidic soil that these plants usually need.
To make the soil acidic, you can use vinegar for hydrangeas, citric acid, or iron sulfate. Once the pH is below 5.0, we can add the homemade hydrangea blender, which is nothing more than aluminum sulfate. It is enough to dissolve 2 grams of aluminum sulfate for each liter of water, and water with this mixture once every 3 days for two months before flowering. If the pH is not kept acidic enough, or the plant does not have enough aluminum, we will surely have hydrangeas that lose their color.
How to make hydrangeas pink
The roses hydrangeas are the most common to see because when a hydrangea with another natural color is irrigated with water from the tap, which usually has a high content of lime, the pH of your soil is losing acidity, reaching the point where it rises above 6.0 and the hydrangea flowers end up turning pink, even if it was not the natural shade of their variant.
It is possible to increase the pH of the soil by adding calcium nitrate, paprika, or wood ash to make the hydrangea give pink flowers, but keeping it in this state for a long time is not recommended and will jeopardize the health of the plant, which could lead to suffering chlorosis. You can also use fertilizer rich in nitrogen and phosphorus and low in potassium, as well as copper sulfate or phytochrome, a natural colorant that is quite difficult to obtain.
For all this, again, it is advisable not to extend the treatment for a long time to avoid damaging the plant and, if we really want one, in this case, pink, it is best to buy the variety of this tone.
How to get garnet hydrangeas
To avoid the loss of color in hydrangeas that occurs whenever the soil pH rises, it is possible to add a hydrangea blender, that is, aluminum sulfate, but keeping the pH around 6.0 or 6.5. This will give rise to red or garnet hydrangeas, or rather a very intense pink, so intense that it can look like this. As always, the hydrangea will end up needing acidic soil to grow healthy, so these practices should not be maintained for a long time in the same plant.
