Hydrangea - Hydrangea macrophylla
The hydrangea is grown as a houseplant. It also provides excellent material for wreaths in the period from the end of March to the end of April.
Many varieties with white flowers are known (e.g. „M-me E. wet”, „Soeur Therese”), pink (e.g. „Eldorado”, "Garden Director Art", "Lower Saxony", „Raymonds Draps”), red (e.g. „Alpengluhen“, "Belgium", „King George”) and bluish (e.g. „Enziandom”, „Lemmenhof”). All varieties with pink and red flowers can be dyed blue.
Ways of conducting. We propagate hydrangea by cuttings from February to the end of May. The timing of this work depends on it, on how many shoots the hydrangea will be carried out. By preparing seedlings from February to mid-March, plants with 5-8 or even more shoots can be produced. Seedlings made in the second half of April or May usually provide material for the development of single-stem plants.
Table. Land mixtures for the cultivation of hydrangeas
Multiplication. The cuttings are prepared from the tops of the root suckers or side shoots, which is cut off when cleaning accelerated plants. They are cut with two, and better with three pairs of leaves, the cut need not necessarily be made below the knot. The lower pair of leaves are cut off, leaving only 1 cm petiole; middle leaves, if they are very large, is shortened by 1/3-1 / 2, to prevent excessive evaporation, the upper leaves are left intact. The seedlings are placed on the windowsills in the multiplier or - from mid-April - in the inspection in a well-compacted substrate (mixture A), spaced 3X4 cm. In both cases, the temperature should be kept at 18-20 °. In the initial stage, carefully shade the cuttings and sprinkle them 2 or 3 times a day. After a week, we shade only on sunny days and spray 1-2 times a day.
Further cultivation. After 3-4 weeks, when the seedlings have already developed a few roots, we plant them into pots with a diameter of 8-9 cm or for inspection at a distance between them 10 X 10 cm, to mix B.. Hydrangea requires humus soil, rich in nutrients, acidic. For this reason, the main components of the mixtures are peat and frame soil. In order to enrich it with nutrients, it is recommended to add to 1 m3 of mixture 3 kg of horn filings, 3 kg superphosphate i 1,5 kg of potassium sulfate.
Keeping multi-shoot plants. When plants from early seeding (from February) they will have 5-6 pairs of leaves, so around mid-April, we trim them over 3-4 pairs. After the next ones 6 weeks (in early June) vertices can be snapped off again. However, this procedure cannot be performed later than the end of June. From among the developed shoots, we remove the weak ones, and we leave the strongest, which should be 8-12.
About two weeks after the first pinching of the top, transplant the hydrangea into pots with a diameter of 11-12 cm., filled with mixture C and let it down, usually after 60 pieces in one inspection window. In mid-June, the plants should be transplanted for the last time into pots with a diameter of 13-15 cm filled with D mixture with the addition of mineral fertilizers and left for two weeks for the inspection (po 18 pots in 1 OK no), that they will take root well. If grown outdoors during the summer, after taking root, the pots with hydrangeas are pitted on the beds at a distance between them 30 X 40 cm.
Plants obtained from cut cuttings from mid-March to mid-April should be pruned only once, yielding plants with 3-5 shoots. One overdoing is also reduced; mix D is used immediately, excluding transplanting into mixture C..
Keeping single-stem plants. Hydrangeas carried out on one shoot no; they grow as strongly as the previous ones, so we plant them in smaller pots. From pots with a diameter of 8-9 cm, they are transferred to pots with a diameter 10 cm (setting after 60 pieces in the window), and the last time for pots with a diameter of 12-13 cm filled with Mixture D. (30-35 pieces in 1 OK no). Usually 5 to 6 weeks elapse between transplanting dates. In the beds, cut the plants at the spacing 25 X 30 cm.
Plant care. After each hydrangea replanting, cover the frame boxes with windows and shade them for 3-4 days. Hydrangea requires a lot of water, so we water it abundantly, and on sunny days we shade and sprinkle it, even 2-3 times a day after transplanting.
During the period of intensive growth, So, from June to mid-August, we water the hydrangeas once a week with slurry or faeces, diluted in proportion 1 :20, from July with the addition 3 g superfosfatu i 1 g of potassium sulfate per 1 liter of solution. In mid-August, we stop powering, and from mid-September we limit watering.
Wintering. The hydrangea remains on the beds until October. In the second] in mid or at the end of October, we transfer it to frame boxes or belts; depending on the size of the plants, it is set 45 do 70 pots in 1 OK no. We cover the boxes with windows, and when frost comes, we cover it with mats and leaves. The temperature under the windows should range from 0 do 5°, therefore, on sunny days, the boxes are aired. The hydrangea stored in this way gradually loses its leaves.
Accelerating. After a rest period of at least 8 weeks, you can start driving the hydrangeas. Usually in the second half of December - early January, on a clear day, the hydrangeas are taken from the belgiums and placed in a cold greenhouse, with a temperature of 10-12 °. The pots are tightly placed - 25-36 pieces per 1 m2.
Plants in the greenhouse are watered moderately and sprinkled 1-2 times a day. After 4 weeks, when shoots begin to develop, we start to supply the plants as in the summer, and the temperature is raised to 15-18 °. We place the pots like this, that there are 16-25 pieces per 1 m2, and when the plants start to touch each other, we place them even less often - 9-12 pieces per 1 m2. In order to protect against curvature of the shoots, it is recommended to tie them to the stakes. When flower buds begin to appear, we stop feeding.
The hydrangea blooms in March, so after 3 months from the start of driving. Because hydrangea has the largest sales in our country during the Easter season, the date of commencement of forcing should be so selected, so that the main flowering falls out at this time.
The entire production cycle of plants grown on 8-12 shoots continues 14 months, for 3-5 shoots - a year, and for one shoot - 11 months.
Coloring. The flowers of varieties with pink and red flowers can be colored blue. For this purpose, at the last transplanting, add 10-15 g of potassium alum to the soil in the pot, with half of the alum mixed with the soil, and the rest he scatters on the surface of the earth from the stem. Alum is also used in the form of a solution, but the staining procedure is then more troublesome.