Although the hydrangea is one of the water-hungry plants, after all it evaporates a lot of moisture through the leaf surface, it reacts very sensitively to waterlogging. If your hydrangea starts to wilt despite being watered enough, you may have meant too well and overwatered the plant.

How does waterlogging occur?

If you water the hydrangea regularly and the drainage hole in the planter is clogged with substrate, the excess moisture will collect in the flower pot. If the water can run off, but then remains in the saucer for a longer period of time, the hydrangea does not like this either.

Outdoor hydrangeas often take care of themselves after longer periods of rain, when the water cannot drain away or seep away sufficiently. Waterlogging occurs mainly in heavily compacted and heavy soils.

The consequences for the hydrangea

Due to the waterlogging of the substrate, hardly any oxygen can reach the roots. Harmful fungi settle and destroy the fine root system, so that the hydrangea can no longer absorb moisture despite the excess water. If you unpot the hydrangea, the potting soil smells unpleasantly putrid and musty due to these decomposition processes.

Rescue measures for pot hydrangeas

If you intervene in good time, many hydrangeas can be saved and will sprout vigorously again after a short time. Follow these steps:

  • Unpot the hydrangea and gently remove as much of the wet soil as possible.
  • Healthy roots look crisp and have white tips. Carefully cut off roots that feel mushy.
  • Place the hydrangea in a planter from which the water can drain well. Cover large drain holes with potsherds to keep substrate from clogging them.
  • Fill in about a quarter of the clay granulate as a drainage layer.
  • Plant hydrangea in rhododrone soil.
  • In the future, water only when the top centimeters of soil feel dry.

Avoid waterlogging outdoors

In heavy soil, it is advisable to put a drainage layer of coarse sand and gravel in the planting hole before planting the hydrangea. If this is no longer possible, you can work mature compost into the soil to improve the soil. Mix in some ripe sand as well, this will make the subsoil more permeable. Loosen the soil around the hydrangea regularly so that it does not compact again.

tips and tricks

With planters, make sure that the drainage holes are already broken. This is often not the case and you have to open the necessary drain with scissors or a hand drill.

Category:

Vegetable garden