Attached are my two hydrangeas that I propagated two months ago. They are still in their seed starting soil. I have two questions please

1) Should I transplant it into another pot that has potting soil (more nutrients) since the seed starting soil has no nutrients.

2) When should I put it in the ground? This fall (what month please) or next spring (April)?

Thanks

@luis_pr would give excellent advice about this.

Hello, Andy2019. Have you looked to see how much of a root system these 2-month old cuttings have? Near what city are they located?

Hi....No, I didn't want to disturb it because I'm afraid I'll kill it.

I'm in Los Angeles.

The cuttings look like they are sufficiently old to be moved to a larger pot with ericaceous (acidic) potting soil for azaleas, camellias, hydrangeas and blueberries. Once the root system has matured more, it can be planted in a location that gets only morning sun and afternoon shade; has 3-4" of organic mulch (no rock mulch); gets evenly moist soil in the summer (you can reduce the amt of water once it goes dormant but continue watering throughout winter to avoid letting the soil get bone dry). Hydrangeas have a very shallow (4") root system with tiny, fibrous roots so avoid disturbing them as best as you can. Test the soil often to see if it is either dry, moist or wet. Aim for moist always at a depth of 4" when planted in the ground. Do not water if the soil is already wet. After watering, periodically confirm you used enough water by checking that the soil at a depth of 8" feels moist after allowing for the water to percolate. Never water the leaves. This species of hydrangea blooms on old wood or on both old and new wood. It will develop dormant flower buds somewhere between every July-September inside the ends of the stems. Then the buds typically open in Spring. Remontant cultivars (called rebloomers in advertising) will produce a second flush of blooms in late summer/fall from new stems that started growing in the spring or as soon as those new stems get tall enough to produce flower buds and immediately bloom. The plants break dormancy in two stages. New stem growth typically appears first. Leaf out of the leafless stem occurs much later, as late as the end of May in the south. First blooming of cuttings can be unpredictable so give them a pass if they forget. To remove brown mophead blooms, deadhead them by pruning above the first pair of leaves. You can also let mophead form blooms drop but be aware they tend to remain attached for almost less than a year. But if this cultivar produces lacecap form blooms, it will self-clean the blooms quickly once the fertile flower in the middle of the bloom are pollinated.

Lots of good information. Since I didn't know if it blooms on old wood or new wood so I didn't trim it at all for the past 23 years. This is the first time that my propagation works in the last 3-4 years that I tried to propagate it.

Regarding my 2nd question, when should I put these two seedlings in the ground please? This fall (Oct or Nov) or next spring (April)

Thanks

It depends… but once they have a well developed root system that can handle cold/hot temperature extremes, wildly fluctuating temperatures and very windy conditions. Next year probably in either spring or fall (even better). Your mild temperatures should help speed root development.

I'll move the two cuttings into bigger pot with potting soil so they have more nutrients this month and I'll put them into the ground next fall (Oct 2024) to ensure they can survive in the ground because they died on me so many times before so I want this time to be successful

Here's the mother plant >23 years in the ground that I got the cuttings from.

Oh, I saw on YouTube and they said to give it some epsom salt in the spring. Should I do that?

Do you mean use Epsom Salts for the interveinal leaf yellowing? There are no articles in the scientific literature promoting Epsom Salts as the solution for lack of blooms. But if you do have a magnesium deficiency though, see if it is being caused by a soil pH that is too alkaline (above 7.0) and acidify the soil if that is the case. Otherwise, a soil assay is the only way to confirm you have a deficiency or not. To add Epsom salts as a way to correct a deficiency, follow the directions in the package. You can also prepare a solution of 1 gallon of water + 1 tbsp of Epsom salts, mix/dissolve it well and apply it as a foliar spray to the leaves. Alternatively, amend the soil with some organic compost; composted manure; dolomite lime; or with Sul-Po-Mag/K-Mag per product directions.

For some reason my hydrangeas don't have a lot of blooms this year so I searched YouTube for answer and they recommend adding Epsom salts. I will not trim my hydrangeas since you said it blooms on both old and new wood.

What do I need to do to make my hydrangeas have a lot of blooms every year please?

Clarification: Sorry. I did not mean to suggest that your plant blooms on both old and new wood. Rather, I was pointing out that there are varieties of Big Leaf Hydrangeas that bloom only on old wood and some that bloom on both old and new wood. The second ones are called remontant cultivars (or "rebloomers" in advertising) and they produce a second flush of blooms in late summer/fall 2023 from new stems that started growing in the spring 2023 or as soon as those new stems get tall enough to produce flower buds and immediately bloom. Your 23 year old plant could be either type as rebloomers appeared in the market around then. You would have to observe if it blooms from new spring 2023 stems this year to see if it is remontant but I will assume it is not. If unsure which stem originated from spring 2023 then monitor starting in 2024.

Review the following general scenarios to see which may apply to the case of your 23 year old specimen and any other Big Leaf Hydrangeas that do not bloom:

* If you prune the ends of the stems AFTER the stems develop dormant flower buds inside the ends of the stems from July-September but BEFORE the stem blooms in spring, there would be no blooms in spring from the stem that you pruned.

* If you let the soil dry out after they develops dormant flower buds, the flower buds may be aborted by the shrub. Always keep 3-4" of mulch and maintain the soil evenly moist in the summer. Reduce watering during winter but do not let the soil get bone dry.

* Depleted nutrients: try determining if there are nutrient deficiencies in the soil by either doing a soil assay or testing the soil with a home test kit that checks the levels of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. These kits are sold at some nurseries or big stores like Lowe's/etc. Contact your agriculture extension service for a soil assay.

* Patchy frost damage could be a problem in Los Angeles as it occurs at temperatures as high as 42°F if the dew point and winds are favorable. While a regular frost would basically kill all the flower buds, patchy frost tends to affect parts of the shrub (the top only; or the left side; or the right side; or the front side; or the back side (it varies), etc.

* Old shrubs may start to lose vigor when they get large so for large shrubs, consider also rejuvenation pruning. During the time that the shrub is dormant in winter and for three consecutive years, prune as follows: on year 1, prune the 1/3 longest stems of the shrub all the way down and leave the remaining stems unpruned; on year 2, prune the next 1/3 longest stems of the shrub all the way down and leave the remaining stems unpruned; on year 3, prune last 1/3 longest stems of the shrub all the way down and leave the remaining stems unpruned;

* Fertilize only with a general purpose, slow release fertilizer with a NPK Ratio of around 10-10-10. Avoid high nitrogen fertilizers like some formulations of Miracle-Gro and make sure that lawn fertilizer does not fall anywhere near the hydrangea's root system. Stop fertilizing 3 months before the shrub goes dormant but restart in February if there is no frost or patchy frost.

* Ensure there is sufficient morning sun as a lack of sunlight can reduce vigor and flower bud set. However, this usually occurs when the plants are in dense shade.

Once again, lots of good information. I moved one of the cuttings into a bigger pot with potting soil already. I'll do the same for the other cutting and I'll put both of them into the ground next fall (2024). Thanks

I read the comment about never getting hydrangea leaves wet. I live on the rainy Oregon coast, so my hydrangeas are constantly wet 3/4 of the year. Now is our dry season, so I water them every other day.

I sold a house in 2016 with a light blue lace cap hydrangea in the front yard that was probably 40 years old. Everyone walking by remarked about how beautiful it was.

Well, the buyers of the house had a professional landscaper remove it! If I had thought about it, I would have taken cuttings.

Indeed, just try to avoid watering the leaves.

PS - Hope the landscaper had some smarts and took the shrub for himself or his business.

How much sun do I need to give to my cuttings please? And morning or afternoon sun is best please?

They can take morning sun only. When moving them from low/indirect light conditions to the outside, acclimate them so they spend several days in full but bright shade outside, then a few days getting a low numbers of hours of morning sun, then more hours of morning sun and so forth until they get morning sun until 11am.