Nikko Blue Hydrangea

Nikko Blue Hydrangea is one of the hydrangeas that can be "customized" to suit your desires. Its rare in the plant world to make plants conform to our will so take advantage of this. Pink: For hydrangea Nikko Blue Hydrangea to be pink, the plants must not take up aluminum from the soil. If the soil naturally contains aluminum, one must try to keep it away from the hydrangea's system. Following are a few tricks that might work:

Add dolomitic lime several times a year. This will help to raise the pH. Shoot for a pH of about 6.0 to 6.2 (If it goes above 6.4 hydrangeas may experience an iron deficiency). Since hydrangeas take up aluminum best at lower pH levels, raising the pH will help to keep the bluing effect of aluminum out of the hydrangea's system.

Use a fertilizer with high levels of phosphorus. Phosphorus helps to prevent aluminum from creeping into the system of the hydrangea. Choose a fertilizer close to the ratio of 25/10/10 (Phosphorus is the middle number).

In areas that naturally produce blue hydrangeas (soils with aluminum), consider growing pink hydrangeas in large pots. If hydrangeas are grown in pots, it would be best to use soil-less mixtures, since these mixes would probably not have aluminum in them. In a pot, it will be much easier to control the requirements for growing pink hydrangeas.

Blue: To obtain a blue hydrangea, aluminum must be present in the soil. To ensure that aluminum is present, aluminum sulfate may be added to the soil around the hydrangeas. Authorities recommend that a solution of 1/2 oz (1 Tbsp) aluminum sulfate per gallon of water be applied to plants (which are at least 2-3 years old) throughout the growing season. Important: Water plants well in advance of application and put solution on cautiously, as too much can burn the roots. To make the aluminum available to the plant, the pH of the soil should be low (5.2-5.5). Adding aluminum sulfate will tend to lower the pH of the soil. Another method for lowering the pH is to add organic matter to the soil such as coffee grounds, fruit and vegetable peels, grass clippings etc. If the soil naturally contains aluminum and is acid (low pH) the color of the hydrangea will automatically tend toward shades of blue and/or purple. The choice of fertilzer will also affect the color change. A fertilizer low in phosphorus and high in potassium is helpful in producing a good blue color(25/5/30 is good. Potassium is the last number). Superphosphates and bone meal should be avoided when trying to produce blue. After stating this with much certainty, I hasten to add that it is virtually impossible to turn a hydrangea blue for any length of time if it is planted in soil with no aluminum and that is highly alkaline (chalky). One would have to be very diligent in keeping the soil properly conditioned as stated above. Perhaps the best idea for growing blue hydrangeas in an area with alkaline soil would be to grow them in very large pots using lots of compost to bring the pH down. The above suggestions for bluing would also work for a potted plant. Reduce the strength of the Aluminum sulfate to 1/4 oz per gallon of water. In a pot, it will be much easier to control the requirements for bluing. Planting hydrangeas near a concrete foundation or sidewalk will often affect the color since the pH of the soil may be raised considerably by lime leaching out of these structures, making it difficult to obtain blue.

Nursery pot sizes are called gallon sizes. You’ll see one-gallon, two-gallon, etc. This can be misleading to gardeners as a one-gallon pot would lead you to believe that the pot would hold one gallon of milk. This is not the case. Gallon is just a term of reference leftover from the days of nurseries growing plants in metal containers.

• 1-gallon (#1) pot for example, can hold 3 quarts of soil yet they are still considered a 1-gallon pot.
• 2-gallon (#2) pot holds 1.5 gallons of soil
• 3-gallon (#3) pot holds 2.9 gallons of soil
• 5-gallon (#5) pot holds 4.9 gallons of soil

What you actually should be concerned with is the dimensions of the pot rather than capacity because let’s face it the size of the hole you dig is dependent on the dimensions, not the capacity.

These are approximate measurements and dimensions vary from manufacturer to manufacturer but all dimensions fall in the following specifications.

• 1 Gallon Pot - 6.5 to 7.5 inches wide by 7 to 8 inches deep
• 2 Gallon Pot - 8.5 to 9.5 inches wide by 8 to 9 inches deep
• 3 Gallon Pot - 10.5 to 11.5 inches wide by 9.5 to 10.5 inches deep
• 5 Gallon Pot - 12 to 13 inches wide by 11 to 12.5 inches deep

These are approximate measurements and they do vary from supplier to supplier.