Indoor hydrangea is a beautifully flowering potted plant that can please large inflorescences of different colors and shades from early spring to autumn.
Indoor hydrangea: how to care and grow
A real beauty, large-leaf hydrangea, which requires a lot of time to grow and care at home, will not cause much trouble.
In the eighteenth century. French physician and naturalist F. Commerson, traveling around Japan, saw amazingly beautiful colored and lush shrubbery. Locals did not know his name, and Commerson called him hydrangea in honor of his beloved.
Hydrangea Hamburg
Hydrangea breeding began in 1900. Then indoor varieties were bred, which today number about 100.
The most popular varieties:
- Mme E. Mouillere (inflorescence diameter 20 cm, white, narrow leaves);
- Hamburg (diameter of inflorescences is 16 cm, color is pink, bush height is 40 cm);
- Airlie Blue (bright blue inflorescences, tall).
Hydrangea Airlie Brue
Hydrangea is also called hirdrangea (lat.), And among the people - a barrel of water, which suggests that the flower is very hygrophilous. Hydrangea was first brought to Europe from Japan in 1820.
Important! For cultivation at home, only a large-leaf variety is suitable.
Large-leaved hydrangea is a bush with leaves up to 15 cm in length, light green in color with a pointed tip. If you take care of it, spherical inflorescences will grow up to 20 cm in diameter. The height of the bush is from 1 to 1.5 m, so that the flower remains compact, it is treated with inhibitors, and the correct formation of the bush also contributes to this.
A large-leaved species can grow both in the garden in southern Russia and in the Middle lane (Moscow Region), but only in winter it will have to be covered. For outdoor cultivation, it is better to choose a garden variety.
Leaf hydrangea
If indoor hydrangea has faded, what to do next
At home, the flower may begin to bloom in February. In this case, it will bloom in July. After flowering, the leaves fall off the bush and life processes slow down.
If deciduous hydrangea is chosen, few flower growers know how to care for it. At this time, you should stop feeding and reduce watering. After falling leaves, the bush should be cut immediately. If you do not do this on time, hydrangea will cease to bloom at all or give meager ugly inflorescences. Weak shoots are removed completely, and young and strong shoots are cut in half. Also it's time to plant a bush in a large pot.
Hydrangea pruning in autumn
Important! In the spring, flower-bearing buds are formed on the shoots of the current year, so old shoots should be safely cut, and young ones should be carefully trimmed so that the buds remain on the shoot.
In total, it is recommended to leave 5-6 shoots per bush.
Re-pruning is done in spring. When the bush begins to grow rapidly, so as not to let it stretch out, the tops of the shoots are nipped. In this case, the bush becomes more compact and lush.
Spring hydrangea pruning
Hydrangea transplant in a new pot
After falling leaves and pruning the plant, it's time to transplant it into a new pot.
Hydrangea should be transplanted once every 3-4 years, but she loves to be transplanted annually and thanks for this with lush flowering. The process itself, as for other plants, is stressful, planting should be quick and accurate.
Note!It is best to transplant hydrangea by transshipment.
A new pot needs to be taken more than before. Since the roots of the flower do not grow deeper, but only grow in breadth, the depth of the pot can not be increased, but the diameter is better to take 1.5 times more.
Drainage (crushed stone, expanded clay, gravel) is necessarily poured at the bottom of the pot. Then the soil of the following composition is poured:
- turf land - 2 parts;
- sheet land - 1 part;
- peat - 1 part;
- sand - 0.5 parts.
Then, very carefully, by transshipment, you must rearrange the flower in a new flowerpot:
- Remove the bush from the old pot with an earthen lump and move to a new one.
- Fill the empty space with prepared soil.
- Check that the root neck of the bush is above the soil.
- To crush soil and to spill water.
Hydrangea transplant
Soon, hydrangea will enter a dormant period, and the flower pot must be removed to the place of wintering.
Reproduction by dividing the bush
Hydrangea propagates by seeds, dividing the bush and cuttings. The most time-consuming method is seed propagation, as they have poor germination and low survival rate. And the most reliable and simple method is cuttings.
Important!Seedlings for seedlings should be green, not yet lignified.
If you use the cuttings obtained during the spring formation of the bush, then by the autumn a young bush with 2-3 shoots is already formed.
The stalk should be about 8 cm long and contain 3 internodes. The lower leaves at the shoot must be cut off, leaving only 2 upper leaves. The remaining leaves are shortened by half, so that the young shoot gives all the strength to the development of the root system. You need to root the branches in pre-prepared pots, filling them with a mixture of peat and sand, and cut the caps out of plastic bottles. Shanks need to be stuck in the prepared moist soil and cover with caps.
The soil should always be moist. Every day, the cap must be removed for 30-40 minutes, so that the soil is ventilated. The stem will take root in about a month, then it will already be possible to transplant it to a permanent place in a pot with a diameter of at least 10 cm.
Hydrangea propagation by cuttings
When to feed
After a period of rest, the shrub needs strength to take out young shoots, large strong leaves and many full and beautiful inflorescences. To help the plant, it needs to be fed.
The first top dressing is performed when the kidneys are awakened and buds are distilled in early February. At this time, the plant needs a lot of nitrogen. Further fertilizers need to be applied 1 time in 2 weeks. For fertilizing throughout the season, complex fertilizers for indoor flowers are suitable, which contain acids (hydrangea loves acidic soils) and there is no alkali (it can destroy a flower).
Composition of complex fertilizers for hydrangeas
For your information! Fertilizers for rhododendrons or azaleas are suitable for large hydrangea.
After flowering, top dressing is still needed to lay the forces for next year, but they need to be gradually reduced and stopped completely, approximately, in the middle of autumn. In winter, fertilizers are not needed at all.
Hydrangea is an amazing flower, and the introduction of various substances into the soil can change the shade of inflorescences. Moreover, their color may differ even on one bush, if you water it from different sides with different additives. For example, lime will give inflorescences a lilac hue, a mixture of ash, humus and lime - pink, a mixture of peat and potassium sulfate - blue. Inflorescences of white color grow on neutral soils. It turns out a hydrangea mix, home care for which is reduced to fertilizing according to the established scheme.
Hydrangea mix
How to care for hydrangea during dormancy
In winter, hydrangea has a dormant period. In mid-autumn, the pot with the plant should be cleaned in a cool room with a temperature of 5-8 ° C. At the same time, he does not need lighting, for example, a cellar, a dry basement or an insulated loggia will do. Watering is reduced, but it is completely impossible to stop it, so that the roots do not dry out. The rest period lasts 2-2.5 months, after which the pot is transferred to a warm and bright place for awakening. The change in temperature should be gradual, the flower does not tolerate sudden changes.
Hydrangea wintering
Flower arrangement, light and temperature conditions
To arrange the pot with hydrangea, eastern and western windows are suitable. With direct and prolonged exposure to sunlight on a plant, it becomes stained and does not feel well, which is reflected in its appearance.
Note! The flower can be placed not on the window, but in another place with diffused lighting.
Do not forget that the flower comes from the subtropics and loves humid air. In summer, especially on hot days, the flower should be sprayed daily in the morning.
A pot with a plant can also be placed in a container of water at the level of drainage. This will increase the humidity of the surrounding air and moisten the soil in the pot.
He likes hydrangea watering and abundant care. It does not tolerate drying out, you need to carefully monitor the moisture of the soil. But the plant will not grow in the swamp, so drainage in the pot should be at least 3 cm so that the roots do not begin to rot.
Potted hydrangea in the garden
Important! In summer, if possible, the pot can be taken out to the balcony, to the garden or planted in open ground, the flower likes fresh air, but without drafts.
The plant feels comfortable at room temperature, but does not tolerate heat and sudden changes in temperature.
Hydrangea is a magnificent miracle
In general, large-leaved hydrangea is an undemanding plant. Growing within one season will not create any difficulties at all, even a beginner will cope. But the long-term maintenance of the beauty will require some effort. This applies to the creation of conditions for wintering, regular watering, pruning and grooming in extreme weather conditions. But the plant will reward the efforts spent on long, continuous flowering of large, lush and very beautiful inflorescences, the shade of which can be adjusted personally at will. Hydrangea will undoubtedly decorate both the house and the garden.
