any natural way to make my nikko blue plant turn blue?

Question

right now my nikko blue plants are flowering white or pink sometimes. any natural way to make them blue?

Answer 1

Certain kinds of mulches will help acidify the soil. Pine needles spread around the base of your plant are good. leaves work great, especially oak leaves. I used regular cedar mulch on my hydrangea and I didn't have to put any aluminum sulfate on it this year. We keep them mulched year round but I still fertilize them with "Holly Tone" fertilizer for acid loving plants. They seem to really enjoy it. Its an organic fertilizer and it acidifies as well. Changing their color takes a little time so you will have to wait a little while to see results.

Answer 2

The Nikko Blue ( Hydrangea macrophyllia ) produces blue flowers when in an acid soil and pink when in an alkaline soil.
This would indicate that your current soil is on
the alkaline side.
I'd suggest doing a pH test to confirm this and then checking the soil needs for any adjacent plants, if in an open garden. Then if you determine that all can handle an acidic environment , apply a low pH fertilizer (on the pH scale 7 is neutral, less than 7 is acidic.)
One trick that you may be able to use is to spray the area at the plant base directly with a weak vinegar ( acetic acid ) solution.

Answer 3

To get blue flowers, you need acidic soil. You can put aluminum sulfate around the plants (should be available at a garden store) or water them with an aluminum sulfate solution. Rabbit manure is an excellent acidifying fertilizer, as is cottonseed meal.

Answer 4

Find out what kind of soil they need, there are fertilizers
available for plants that need alkaline soil. But I know of one
person who put blue food coloring in the water and her snowballs
turned blue, another put red food coloring and her white flowers
turned pink.
Hope this helps

Answer 5

The plant nursery will know what kind of fertilizer you should be using. Blue food coloring in the water also works--that's how they get those colored daisies.

Answer 6

Try the forums at http://www.suburbangarden.com/ they are geared more toward this type of questions