My hydrangea's been doing beautifully. I look today and I don't know what it is but something is wrong. I have a couple of pics so I'll post one with this and the next one as an answer to this. If any of you know what it is please let me know what to do about it.
Thanks Vicki
Here is the 2nd image. Not the same but still a problem. Help!
Thanks
Is it just a few leaves that look that way? Most of the leaves in your pics look really healthy so if it's just a couple leaves looking like that I wouldn't worry, most plants are going to have a few leaves here and there that have brown edges and things along those lines, but as long as it's just a few leaves there's usually nothing to worry about (and not much you can do about it)
The brown spots would bother me a little as it is quite early to be having fungal problems but, I too would not take action yet unless -as ecrane suggested- the problem is widespread into more than a few leaves.
At this point, the problem resembles several fungal infections that hydrangeas can develop. The best bet going forward is to do anything that you can to prevent further development of fungal infections. As weird as this sounds when talking about plants like hydrangeas, you want to limit environmental moisture above the ground. Here are a few things that you can do:
* maintain good air circulation around the shrub by maintaining some distance or separation between plants
* water the soil, not the leaves
* water ONLY WHEN SOIL FEELS ALMOST DRY to a depth of 4"
* pick up plant debris under and around the shrub
* use 4" of acidic mulch; replace the mulch with new mulch if the problem spreads to other parts of the plant
* water only in the mornings
* collect and dispose of fallen leaves/blooms in the trash (do not add the the compost bin)
* monitor the shrub twice a week or so by taking digital pictures. Pictures can show changes more accurately than "our memory" can remember so take pictures often and try to re-take them from the same angles in order to aid comparing selected leaves from one week to another.
* if the number of problem areas doubles then it will be time to apply other measures such as fungicides.
Note that for a sure and definite diagnosis, you can always send a leaf sample in a sealed plastic envelope to your local Agriculture Extension Service.
