Crunchy Brown Leaf Edges Two Years in a Row!

My mother bought me a big hydrangea in a pot in the spring of 2007. I think it came from a supermarket not a garden center. I planted it two weeks later in late April. The label read Macrophylla and nothing else descriptive. The blooms were mostly pink. The leaves started getting brown edges and continued like that all summer. Finally, I cut back most of the branches since the leaves looked so bad. Now, this year I didn't get any blooms. Since I don't know the hydrangea type, I don't know if it blooms on old or new wood. I'm guessing old wood since I didn't get any blooms. Maybe I trimmed it too late in the summer for flower buds. Anyway, this year the leaves looked beautiful but eventually started getting the same brown edges! Why are the leaves doing this???

How much sun is it getting? They like morning sun, and in your area they can probably take a little afternoon sun, but a lot of PM sun is probably going to fry them. Either that or it could be something fungal, it looks pretty crowded in there with the corner of the house and the other plants so the air circulation may not be ideal. Watering in the evening and using overhead watering which splashes water back up onto the leaves both can contribute to fungal problems as well. Either way the problem's unsightly but not fatal so there's no need to trim off the affected parts, if it is fungal though make sure to clean up the leaves from around the plant when they fall off this fall.

As far as the flowers--if it came from a supermarket it's most likely one of the macrophyllas that bloom on old wood, so pruning too late in the year will definitely keep it from blooming the following year. However, in your zone if you don't protect it for the winter, the buds will often get frozen and it won't bloom then either. It looks like it might be in a pretty protected spot so maybe it would bloom even without protection, but if you want to be sure you'll have blooms then you should consider protecting it (many people build a wire cage around the plant and then fill it up with leaves)

Could it be getting too much water? I've come close to killing potted plants before (not hydrangeas) and the leaf edges turn yellow. Eventually the yellow tissue dies and turns brown and crispy.

Karen

Hmm. Good things to think about Ecrane. This hydrangea is on a South facing wall of my house. I'm attaching a photo of when it was first planted last year. The corner is made by a room that is extended three feet out. This could definitely cause problems with air circulation but at the same time keeps it protected from harsh winds and cold winter weather. I like the cage idea. I will try that for the winter. It gets sun from morning through around 2 pm maybe - whenever the sun shifts enough to cause shade from the extension. I really haven't been watering an extraordinary amount (two good waterings per week). In fact I was wondering if I should water it more since I read that hydrangeas like to stay moist. I am hopeful that it will flower next year but still unsure of how to get rid of the brown on the leaves. Good to know it's not fatal. If it blooms next year but then gets the crunchy brown leaf edges, I will move it for better air circulation and cover it for protection in the winter.

That might be a little too much sun for it, hard for me to say since I didn't grow hydrangeas back when I lived in Cincy so I'm not sure how many hours of sun they can handle there. Out here if I don't think it would be happy with quite that much sun, but in your area maybe that's OK, although I'm a bit suspicious that it may be a bit too much since you've seen the same thing happen 2 summers in a row now. I'm less suspicious of the air circulation thing now--looking at the pic from last year things don't look very crowded at all so if you still had the same problem I think it's something else (still could be fungal caused by evening watering or splashing water on the leaves though) It also wouldn't hurt to check up on your watering also, but make sure you check it before you start watering more--I'd stick your finger down a few inches into the ground and see how it feels. If it's really dry then you could consider watering more.

Thanks, Ecrane. Maybe you've nailed it on the sun thing since the leaves seemed fine in May but the brown came later - possibly with the increased heat of the summer. Do you know when is a good time to transplant if I didn't want to miss a flowering season? I think moving it to the East side of the house would be the spot I would try.

I'd hold off a bit before you decide to move it--unless someone who lives near you says that's definitely too much sun for it, I'd work on watering technique first (not splashing on the leaves when you water, etc) and see if that helps, and also check to make sure that you are watering it properly. If it's getting too much or too little water that could cause those symptoms too. But if it really is the sun, anytime you move it there's a chance it won't bloom the following year, many plants will take a year off from flowering because they know they need to focus on root development so there's really no way to guarantee things one way or another, the plant will do what it does. Summer is definitely not the right time to do it--out here fall would be the best time but in your area spring might be better, hopefully someone who lives near you will have some thoughts on that.

I'll work on the watering. Checking it with a finger will help. I do tend to water in the evening at least once a week since I don't have time before work during the week. I'll try to avoid getting water on the leaves.

When i first got my hydrangeas they had too much sun and didn't do well. Now with about 4 hours of sun they're much better. One small one that I started is on the NW side of the house gets very little sun (due to neighbor's house and trees). It hasn't bloomed as much but it's still pretty small (2nd year) so time will tell. I don't think it will bloom as much as the others that get a few more hours of sun.

Our sun can be awfully hot though. (I live in Cincinnati). And when the hot sun beats directly on them, hydrangeas can look pretty pathetic, wilting, seem to be begging for a drink. I have learned though, that once the sun moves away, they perk up without water. Watch what they do when there's no sun on them. If they perk up, they probably don't really need water.

Other large-leaf plants do this too. Sweet potato vine comes to mind. My neighbors watered my plants for me while I was on vacation. When I got home, my sweet potatoes looked like your hydrangeas above (yellow, then crunchy eventually along the edges). Apparently whenever the vines started to wilt, the neighbors watered them, nearly killing them with kindness. The vines are recovering now.

Karen