Bloodmeal to change hydrangea color

Early Spring along with Pine Straw mulch and you'll be happy when they bloom

Thanks but fresh out of rusty nails.

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Thanks but fresh out of rusty nails.

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Get some common nails (steel, uncoated), put them in a can, toss in some vinegar and they will rust.

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I've never heard of this

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Not all hydrangeas change colors. But many that you see that are pink or blue can, based on the acidity of the soil.

I think bonemeal is very slow to change the acidity.

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I just assumed you picked your hydrangea color when you purchased them.

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I was just a kid and we had hydrangeas planted on both sides of the steps leading up to our raised house and they were pink.

My dad had died by then and my mom had heard about the rusty nail trick and had me go in the back shed to find a bunch of old nails, dig down about 6 inches around the plants and put a dozen or so nails around each one.

When they bloomed again they were bi-color pink and light blue and over the next year or so, turned to solid sky blue in color. They remained that color for years before the plants eventually died out and were not replaced.

They are white

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I’m not aware of white varieties changing colors due to soil ph. Any chance they’re limelight hydrangeas?

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This is correct - many varieties of paniculata hydrangeas, such as limelight, and oak leaf hydrangeas that produce white, or other color, flowers do not change colors based on soil pH.

The mophead hydrangeas will change color with a change in soil pH - pink flowers with basic soil (higher pH), blue color with acidic soil pH - and as stated alum, aluminum sulfate, is usually used to acidify the soil rapidly to induce color change in the flowers of mophead hydrangeas.

So OP, you need to know what type of hydrangeas you have.

Lime will also work