I planted some Hydrangea's last fall It's now late June, and we're starting to get some heat during the days. It seems like I have to water this plant daily in order for the wilting to recover. Is this normal for this plant? Will it develop a decent root system if I water it daily like this? Interested in some advice. It looks great - until it wilts!!!!
Poke around the root ball of what was planted last fall...I've had lots of plants where the original ball is bone dry in spite of my watering of the garden. Can take quite a while for things to get incorporated into the overall soil of the flower bed. And hydrangeas wilt in hot direct sun here anyway...either sprinkle every hot afternoon, or plant in some shade. Mine have some noticeable leaf burn from a hot spell several weeks ago... Glen
OK, thanks. I'll plan to water frequently. It only gets a few hours of direct sunlight daily, but that does seem to wipe it out if it's hot at all.
I find shading my hydrangeas with a larger tree canopy overhang if possible helps with the wilt issue because of direct sun.
We have extreemly hot, humid summers here in the North Carolina piedmont. Hydrangeas wilt even in shade. I use an automatic drip-irrigation system to keep ours happy. It works very well, watering for 1 hour 3 times a day. Because it's drip, very little water is needed and none is wasted. The Hydrangeas have thrived over the years since I installed the system.
And what about mulching, are they mulched or is the sun beating directly on the soil around them, baking it? The first-mentioned phenomenon (dry original rootball in midst of moist soil) is the result of the difference in texture between the soilless potting medium they were growing in when you bought them and the soil around them now (same problem as with liberal amending of planting holes). The finer-textured soil has a greater attraction for water than the coarse potting medium. They will probably not stop wilting until they root into the soil. If you generously amended the backfill when planting or planted in pits of planting mix or potting medium the roots will not be able to tap into the better (more retentive) conditions of the soil outside the planting hole until after they get across the amended area. I recently examined a container-grown tree I planted several years ago that still had a bone-dry cylinder of soilless potting medium at its base. http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda Chalker-Scott/Fact Sheets/Planting fact sheet.pdf
