Hydrangea (Endless Summer) Leaves Turning Purplish Brown w/Holes

sampson2001 (zone 6a - cleveland - clay

9 years ago

I'm a novice and looking for some help with the subject topic. I planted 5 ES Hydrangeas on April 27th and within one week the leaves started to turn purple-brown and some have holes. I used a soil amendment mixture of compost-manure, sweet peet and cheap topsoil (33% +/- of each). I also incorporated 1-cup of Organic Plant Tone Brand fertilizer into the amended soil. The native soils here are clays and I dug the hole 2x the width of the root ball. The roots were not root bound and I did loosen the roots thoroughly by hand. We haven't really had a severely 'wet' week and I have been watering about every-other day with a watering can (watered on the foliage and allowing to drip down). I think the watering amount is about 2/3 of a gallon. We have had some cold nights since I have planted them and I ordered these online, so when I received them besides from being smashed during shipment the plants were in decent shape with good green foliage. I have a 2yr old Hydrangea planted in the same bed which just started to begin producing foliage at the base of the plant but doesn't have nearly the amount of foliage or new growth as the new online plants. The pH of the soil is 7.0. The plants are underneath a purple-leaf sand cherry which hasn't completely bloomed but should provide decent shade. The plants are on the south side of my house and get more sun then they probably like but I live In Cleveland, OH and April/May is more overcast than anything else. I have attached pictures (it rained this morning so the leaves are wet)

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (15)

sampson2001 (zone 6a - cleveland - clay
Original Author
9 years ago
more pics
sampson2001 (zone 6a - cleveland - clay
Original Author
9 years ago
more pics
Related Professionals
Woodinville Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Surprise Landscape Contractors · Bedford Heights Landscape Contractors · Brandon Landscape Contractors · Bristol Landscape Contractors · El Segundo Landscape Contractors · Lake Worth Landscape Contractors · Lynwood Landscape Contractors · Middletown Landscape Contractors · Petaluma Landscape Contractors · Post Falls Landscape Contractors · Rockland Landscape Contractors · Roswell Landscape Contractors · Stony Brook Landscape Contractors · Rockford Siding & Exteriors
sampson2001 (zone 6a - cleveland - clay
Original Author
9 years ago
more pics
sampson2001 (zone 6a - cleveland - clay
Original Author
9 years ago
more pics
October_Gardens
9 years ago
Looks like bug damage to me. Spray with insecticide / fungicide combo.
luis_pr
9 years ago
Mineral deficiencies in potted hydrangeas that are forced to bloom purple colors will temporarily cause this. Give them some organic compost or cottonseed meal as fertilizer and apply a foliar feed like liquid seaweed to help get all the minerals levels up. They should recover on their own soon.
October_Gardens
9 years ago
Looks like bug damage to me. Spray with insecticide / fungicide combo.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
9 years ago
Couple of thoughts.......avoid any overhead watering. When you need to water, do so at the root zone and do so thoroughly. Excessive water on foliage can lead to fungal diseases and leaf spotting. Second, you may have over-amended. Soil conditions radically different from those the plant was grown in can lead to shock. Ideally, if amending is required, it should be done over the largest possible area, never just the planting hole. And never a good idea to fertilize immediately on planting - the plant can't metabolize it.

The good news is there is nothing wrong with your plants. The purple-brown coloration is just a reaction to cold, common to many plants, especially if not acclimated to the area or with more foliage than established inground plants may have. The spotting may be just a touch of leaf spot but nothing to get concerned about. Just change your watering methods and pray for warmer weather :-))
sampson2001 (zone 6a - cleveland - clay
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks for all the replies. I don't think bugs are causing this I was leaning more towards shock, watering and or cold weather. I'll keep an eye on them and see what happens.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
9 years ago
No bugs :-)) Cold and/or excessively rich soil. It'll all work itself out soon.
sampson2001 (zone 6a - cleveland - clay
Original Author
9 years ago
Cool. so what is the right method for new plantings? If you were going to plant potted plants what would you (gardengal) do? Just cheap topsoil and no fertilizer?
What about planting trees? I have some 2" maples coming on Friday.

Thanks
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
9 years ago
See my response to your post about the maple :-))

Amending planting holes is no longer a recommended practice for a variety of reasons. If you must amend, do so over the largest possible area - ideally as far as the tree/plant roots will spread. In most cases, this is not at all practical. The fall back is always to plant in indigenous soil only, altering the size or shape of planting hole to accommodate the existing soil conditions. Any amendments are applied as a mulch or top dressing.

Here is a link that might be useful: the myth of soil amendments
sampson2001 (zone 6a - cleveland - clay
Original Author
9 years ago
To gardengal: Do you think I should dig up and re-plant the hydrangea's with native soils? I also planted 5 Pieris, 1 redbud (bare-root) and 1 jap maple (potted) in a similar fashion (no compost or peet, just topsoil w/fert). Do you think these will be okay or should I spend a saturday re-planting everything?
hokierustywilliamsbu
9 years ago
Gardengal is right on in my opinion-leave them alone and hope for warmer weather!!!
splitrock
9 years ago
Well, Japanese Maples are pretty sensitive to fertilizer. You might want to do a replant on that one.