The hydrangea copes well with the temperatures in the home and is therefore extremely popular as a richly flowering pot plant. In this guide we would like to inform you about the special requirements of the hydrangea.
The hydrangea also thrives as a houseplant, but needs a lot of water
location
Give the hydrangea a bright spot at the flower window. However, direct sunlight, especially during the hot midday hours, should be avoided.
room temperature
Hydrangeas get along well with the usual room temperatures between 20 and 23 degrees. However, the beautiful umbels of flowers fade faster indoors if the temperatures are consistently warm.
pour
The hydrangea also needs a relatively large amount of water indoors. Always keep the substrate moist, but avoid waterlogging. Pour away excess liquid from the planter or saucer after a few minutes to keep the roots from getting wet and starting to rot. In regions with very hard water, you should water the houseplant with rainwater or filtered water, as too much lime is poorly tolerated in the long run and leads to yellow, chlorotic leaves.
Blue hydrangeas require acidic soil
With blue hydrangeas, it is advisable to occasionally treat the irrigation water with vinegar. The pH of the substrate should level off at just under seven. Check this soil value with test strips at regular intervals.
substrate
Hydrangeas do poorly in regular potting soil. Therefore, place the hydrangea in rhododendron or azalea soil, which has the optimal pH value and stores water for a long time without becoming waterlogged. It is repotted about every two years.
fertilization
Hydrangeas that are indoors, like hydrangeas transplanted outdoors, need a special fertilizer. Hydrangea, azalea or rhododendron fertilizer is well suited, which you add to the irrigation water once a week during the growth phase.
Blue flowering hydrangeas
These varieties must be supplied with blue fertilizer once or twice a year. Alternatively, you can dissolve about six grams of aluminum sulphate, which you can get in the pharmacy, in the irrigation water once in the spring.
Peculiarities in care
- Regularly break out faded flowers so that the plant starts new flowers.
- After flowering, you can transplant the hydrangea outdoors.
- Alternatively, you can overwinter the hydrangea in a cool, frost-free room.
tips and tricks
Since the whole apartment is often heated, you can bring the indoor hydrangea to a cool place overnight, for example the stairwell or bedroom. This measure makes the flowers last longer.