Hydrangeas are beautiful shrubs known for their large blooms. They come in a variety of colours including pink, green, blue, purple, and pink, which is perfect for adding a burst of colour to gardens. The flowering shrubs are also relatively easy to grow, making them a favourite choice for many gardeners across the UK.
Now, if you torn between which colours to plant, then you’ll be glad to know that changing the colour of your hydrangeas can be done by adjusting the acidity of your garden’s soil. Now, doing so isn’t as complicated as it sounds. While there are plenty of chemicals you can use to change the pH level, everything you need to make your hydrangeas turn into a stunning blue colour is already in your kitchen.
According to Ideal Home, using teabags will help make your soil more acidic, giving you blue blooms.
Graham Smith, a gardening expert from LBS Horticulture said: “Adding teabags to the soil will change the colour of hydrangeas because tea contains tannic acid, which lowers the PH level of the soil and increases its acidity.”
Ted Bromley Hall, managing director of IBRAN Limited, explained: “The colour-changing ability of hydrangeas is directly related to the soil level and aluminium availability. When the soil is acidic (pH below 6.0), aluminum becomes more available to plants, resulting in blue flowers.”
The results are simple to achieve. All you need to do is bury used teabags near the plants’ roots. You can also use teabags to make a black tea fertiliser, which provides essential nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium that are vital for plant health.
The teabag method is a cheap and effective way to experiment with the flowers. However, before using the method is it important that you know your soil’s pH method.
Soil pH metres offer accurate readings. The device can be bought in most garden centres or online for affordable prices ranging between £10 and £15.
Another method, which is even cheaper, involves using baking soda and vinegar. All you need to do is take two glasses and put a sample of soil in each. Add some vinegar to one of the samples, making a mixture that is slightly thick. If it bubbles then your soil is most likely alkaline.
With the other sample, make a mixture using a bit of water, add baking soda to it and if the mixture bubbles then you most likely have acidic soil. If nothing happens your soil is neutral, but verifying with a pH metre is recommended.