Hydrangea is a flower plant that is mostly abundant in the Eastern Asia, specifically in the countries of Korea, China, and Japan. Since it has plenty of varieties, it can also grow differently from one other. Commonly, hydrangea grows as a shrub that usually reaches up to 3 meters tall, while in some cases, it is a climbing vine or a small tree.
Whichever variety you’re growing, they share some common growing problems and one of these is producing small leaves. If this is your first time to grow hydrangea and you noticed that it’s now performing well in terms of leaf production, make sure to read the entire article to know what may be causing this and how you will be able to fix this.
Probably your hydrangea is growing small leaves is because of inadequate amount of water, not enough fertilizer, powdery mildew, too much full sun exposure, or other growing problems and diseases such as botrytis blight, ringspot virus, or anthracnose.
Causes of small hydrangea leaves
- Inadequate amount of water
What to look out for:
Wilting, small and thin leaves, dried soil
What to do:
Especially during the warm seasons, hydrangea easily shows symptoms of underwatering, including the production of small and thin leaves. Hydrangea absorbs water quickly, thus constant moisture is required when growing this plant. Especially when you are growing your hydrangea indoors, you may need to water it more than twice in a day for better leaf production.
- Not enough fertilizer
What to look out for:
Poor leaf production, more flowers
What to do:
Hydrangea prefers rich soil and if you happen to have a loose, sandy one, you may need to supply it with some organic composts or fertilizer. Since hydrangea is a flowering plant, adding fertilizer on a regular basis is not necessary; however, if you prefer to see more leaf production and less blooms, you might need to feed your hydrangea more nitrogen-rich fertilizers.
- Powdery mildew
What to look out for:
Powdery leaf spots, falling off of leaves, poor plant growth
What to do:
Since powdery mildew usually attacks young developing shoots and foliages, this fungal disease can greatly affect the overall growth of your hydrangea, including the supposed vigorous production of new foliages. So, to avoid your plant from being totally damaged by powdery mildew, immediately remove the infected leaves and save the rest of the plant by applying some fungicides. This troubleshooting should improve your plant’s condition and overall performance.
- Too much full sun exposure
What to look out for:
Small leaves, leaf discoloration, poor flower production, wilting
What to do:
Too much sunlight, in addition to inadequate amounts of water, can lead to wilting and poor leaf production of hydrangea. To make sure that your hydrangea grows properly and produces larger and healthier leaves, you should expose your plant to morning sun and provide it with sun shade during the midday or in the afternoon to avoid too much heat exposure.
Other growing problems and diseases
Hydrangea sure is a beauty which is why it is a perfect choice for floral decoration both indoors and outdoors. However, a plant this alluring also has a huge tendency to attract fungi, viruses, and other diseases that may, to some extent, cause their demise.
Here are some of the growing problems and diseases that you may encounter as you grow your hydrangea plant.
- Botrytis Blight
Botrytis Blight usually attacks and kills the flower buds before they can even fully bloom and once infected, these flowers can rapidly transmit the fungal disease to the leaves. The most common manifestations of Botrytis Blight are the visible water-soaked spots on the flowers which eventually turn to reddish brown lesions.
To prevent Botrytis Blight from spreading, immediately eliminate the damaged flowers and leaves. Additionally, This type of fungal disease is heavily stimulated under damp and cool conditions. So, to be able to fix this, give your hydrangea a good air circulation by thinning your plant as deemed necessary; water your plant early in the morning to let it dry out all day; and avoid overhead watering.
- Anthracnose
Anthracnose is another fungal disease that is usually formed more aggressively in cool and moist conditions and commonly strikes on heavily fertilized plants. When your hydrangea plant is infected with Anthracnose, its leaves or flowers will have some huge brown lesions at the center which become more lightly colored overtime.
You can prevent Anthracnose from spreading across the entire hydrangea by getting rid of the infected flowers, leaves, and stems. It will also be helpful if you spray some copper-based fungicide but make sure that you only apply an ample amount.
- Ringspot virus
Ringspot virus on hydrangea plants can be easily identified through the presence of brown spots with yellowish edges on the surface of the leaves. Once your plant has been infected, the leaves will start to be distorted and curled and the overall growth of the plant will be impeded.
Unfortunately, the only way to eliminate this type of virus is to completely kill your hydrangea; and for you to prevent ringspot virus from being transmitted to your other plants, make sure to sanitize the tools that have been in contact with the infected plants. Make it also a point to make your garden debris free so pests and insects won’t be able to act as tools in spreading the virus.
- Mosaic Virus
From the name itself Mosaic virus is manifested through a mosaic-like pattern of yellow spots on the surface of the hydrangea leaves. This virus can be rapidly transmitted to other plants by the pests and insects who are feeding on your plant, or simply through unsanitized tools that had direct contact with the infected plant.
Currently, there is no cure for this type of plant disease. So, when infected, you immediately have to get rid of that plant. Also, make sure to always keep your garden tools sanitized and avoid gardening when it’s rainy as viruses easily spread in damp conditions.
- Leaf Spot
Some of the symptoms that your hydrangea is suffering from a fungal disease called leaf spot are the presence of purple or brown round spots beneath the leaf’s surface which are more likely to increase in size as the infestation worsens. When left untreated, the infected leaves will then turn to yellow and eventually fall off.
Immediately remove the infected leaves off of the plant or keep the entire hydrangea away from other plants to avoid the disease from spreading. Spraying some fungicides should also aid the treatment process. To prevent your hydrangea from having leaf spots, avoid overhead watering.
Tips on growing hydrangea properly
Hydrangea comes in different varieties and colors and depending on the type you have, growing conditions and requirements may vary. Meanwhile, below are some of the general yet useful tips that may come in handy when you decide to grow your own hydrangea.
- Partial sun should be enough.
Unlike other plants, hydrangea is not much of a full sun love. As a matter of fact, it will thrive better if you just expose it to partial sun. Perhaps, you could expose it to full sun in the morning and then give it some shade during the midday until the afternoon. This is especially more applicable if you are growing the Bigleaf hydrangea (H. macrophylla).
- Water your hydrangea regularly.
Hydrangea prefers moist soil, thus a regular watering schedule is truly a must. Also, in this case, a well-draining soil is important so your plant will not be soaked with too much water. All throughout the growing season, you could water your hydrangea 1 inch per week and eventually increase that to thrice a week to encourage root growth.
Also take note to water your hydrangea early in the morning so it has the entire day for the moisture to dry out and prevent it from being vulnerable to some diseases that thrive in damp conditions.
- Apply fertilizer accordingly
If you prefer to have a leafy hydrangea more than a flowery one and the soil is quite poor , then a good amount of fertilizer can be helpful, however, if you prefer the other way around and you have good quality soil, you may not need to feed your hydrangea with too much fertilizer.
- Keep the soil moist
Aside from watering regularly, adding mulch on the surface of the soil will also help in keeping the soil moist and cool. Apart from this, mulch can also serve as organic compost once it breaks down overtime.
Benefits of hydrangea leaves
Hydrangea is known for its wonderfully looking flowers that usually come in different colors. Thus, this flowering plant is commonly used for aesthetic purposes. But, some researchers have actually initiated some studies on how hydrangea can actually contribute to the medical industry. As a matter of fact, listed below are some of the conditions where hydrangea can be used as a medicinal plant, however, it should be noted that more evidence regarding the rate of effectiveness is still needed to back up the claims.
- Kidney stones
- Prostate infections
- Urethral infections.
- Enlarged prostate
- Hay fever
- Bladder infections
Additionally, hydrangea contains plenty of minerals including calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and sulfur and is currently being used to make natural and organic tea.
