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adam211_gw

Some leaves white, thin, papery

adam211
9 years ago

Hi,
I can't seem to diagnose this problem via a google. I just got my money back from one nursery after I ordered 4 Let's Dance Starlight Hydrangeas from them that had cercospora leaf spot.

I ordered 4 others from a different nursery and they came in sadly without buds, but happily looking very healthy and green. I just planted them and now a couple days later I'm just noticing that some of the leaves are very pale. I felt them and they feel like really thin paper, with no substance in them at all like the other leaves. It's like the green was sucked out of them. They don't feel dead or cispy (yet at least), just like the green life was sucked out of them leaving a paper thin shell. It's half or less of the leaves--bigger ones I think at this point.

Do I have a problem here, or is this just poor health that will fade now that these are planted? It's my understanding that the Let's Dance hydrangeas are rather robust.

Adam

Comments (8)

  • luis_pr
    9 years ago

    I think the leaves are getting too much sun and getting scorched. In cold regions where the sun is not strong during the summer, hydrangeas can be placed in full sun but where you and live, they need afternoon shade or the leaves in direct contact with the sun will turn yellowish or whiteish while leaves not in contact with the sun would remain nice and drak green.

    Since you recently planted it, feel free to transplant it to a place where it gets shade starting at 12pm or earlier.

    Suggestion: add 3-4" of organic mulch to maintain the soil moist longer and protect the roots during the winter and summer months.

    Another possibility is a powdery mildew infestattion but that would affect almost all the leaves and the leaves would look more grayish. They would not feel like paper either.

    Luis

  • adam211
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks for your response. They are in nearly full sun.

    I have a Cityline Venice right next to these and it started off with some browning but now it is doing well, and my neighbors have hydrangeas in full sun like these as well so I hoped they would be ok in Seattle. I know many hydrangeas say "part sun" at most, but since these are particularly listed as "part sun to sun", and since I live in relatively mild Seattle, I thought these would be fine?

    I may try to stick with it this year and hope they pull through. I did plant them much later than I'd have liked, and our weather has been unusually consistently dry (although I am regularly watering).

  • morz8 - Washington Coast
    9 years ago

    Those hydrangeas look like they needed to be hardened off, as though they hadn't had full exposure to the elements outdoors. That's either sun or wind burn, or both.
    Possibly taking them out of the box and putting them someplace sheltered for a few days, gradually introducing them to more sun and wind would have been better.

    Unlike most of the country, hydrangeas, rhododendrons are often fine in full afternoon sun here in the PNW. But, I suspect these were grown in a shade house or at least under some type of protection...

    If they've only been in the ground a couple of days and weather is supposed to continue dry, warmer and brighter over the next few days you might consider rigging up some kind of temporary mid day shade for them until they've had time to become acclimated, prevent further damage. Even a ventilated laundry basket upside down over them would help. And keep up with the water, don't let them dry out.

  • luis_pr
    9 years ago

    It is basically a form of transplant shock and the look resembles sun bleached wood seen in debris found in Rialto and Ruby Beaches in your NW Coast.

    Because they are forced to bloom at unnatural times and conditions, the first set of leaves you get may not be hardened enough. The greenhouse gave them shade and ideal perfect conditions. Then they get to the real world and things are different.

    The leaf damage you have will not self repair but the shrub will produce new leaves eventually. It may even drop the leaves and grow roots only until Spring 2015 and theeeeen leaf out; no telling for sure.

    I mention it just in case you think it may have died (because it could look dead without leaves but the roots are still alive). Should this happen, give it until mid-to-late May 2015 to leaf out before decding it did not make it.

    I had a gift hydrangea from Kroger's once; still do. Its leaves looked like they were, I do not know, thicker than usual, full of water. something not just quite right. The leaves did not dry out like yours but I suspected they might if I suddenly placed it outside.

    Since the plant was wide awake and blooming in late December though, I left it in bright shade in the original pot... in a location where it would not get too much wind either. Maybe 2 weeks of that?

    By the way, it was an extremely mild winter so the plant lucked out. Winter felt more like a 3-month long "early Spring" that year, with all kinds of plants (roses, hydrangeas, etc) blooming in mid January. Totally weird. No freezes to speak of. If cold weather had dropped by, it would literally have made a killing! The plant eventually was planted outside and produced new leaves. The second set of leaves looked better.

    Luis

  • October_Gardens
    9 years ago

    Ordered plants like that are one step up from a rooted cutting. I personally don't recommend growing any H. macrophylla that small in-ground for the first year at least. I'd use a 5-gallon pot with heavy moist potting soil in a brightly shaded area. Overwinter in a place where the roots won't freeze and then plant in-ground fall 2015 or spring 2016.

  • hc mcdole
    9 years ago

    I noticed the coir liner is sticking out of the ground too. It will wick away a lot of the moisture around the roots. I'd cover the liner to help keep the plant's roots moist. The surrounding soil looks damp but the top of the root ball looks on the dry side.

  • gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
    9 years ago

    Did you get those from a local nursery or by mail order? Local nurseries/garden centers generally never sell anything that small. I'd tend to agree with Springwood on the potting up and growing on before planting out. And if you did mail order, next time try a local nursery - we live in the wholesale nursery grower capitol of the universe and you can get just about anything you want just by asking. I know - I've worked in the nursery industry in this area for a long time :-))

    And I would be very cautious about planting any mac in full sun, even in our climate. The scorching it will outgrow but daily wilting is very common for even very mature plants grown in full sun unless one is extremely diligent with watering. We may not be hot in summer but we are very dry.

  • adam211
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I mail ordered these because I could only find them in large sizes at $50 bucks a piece at Wells Medina and wasn't able to locate them closer or cheaper. I would have settled for $25 a piece for something in between but couldn't find anything else.

    I was surprised at the small size, but I guess that's why I got them so much cheaper. The first ones I mail ordered were at least bigger than these, and I figured I could stand to wait a year or two while they filled out and save a couple hundred dollars. I didn't imagine I wouldn't even be able to plant and enjoy them. Other than the Cercospora, the first ones I ordered looked nice and were only slightly larger and blooming, so I didn't imagine I would have this problem.

    I only started gardening last April, so I am just beginning to build my garden knowledge. Thanks for your help, everyone.

    I'll pot them up then I guess and wait until next year (sadly).