Is vinegar good for hydrangeas?

If you pour vinegar directly on your hydrangeas, you will most likely damage the plant, since vinegar, in its natural state, has such an acidifying effect that it usually acts as a herbicide.

However, this does not mean that vinegar should not be used for plants. In fact, the benefits of vinegar for hydrangeas there are multiple, you just have to know how to use it. To begin with, the main and best known of its beneficial properties is its ability to acidify soil pH.

Hydrangeas, being acid-loving plants, need a pH of around 5.5 or less in their soil, so if your hydrangeas show signs of chlorosis from too alkaline a pH in their soil, which prevents them from absorbing nutrients properly, a supply of well-used vinegar will help them recover.

If your hydrangea seems weak and its leaves retain the veins of a green tone but the rest turn yellow, it is most likely a iron deficiency chlorosis. This happens when the pH is not low enough for the plant, which makes it difficult for it to absorb the iron present in the soil. It is a very serious problem, which seriously affects the plant and can end up killing it. The most common reason for this to occur is due to irrigation with running water from areas with hard water, that is, with a high lime content. The accumulation of lime in the soil ends up altering its pH, turning it alkaline, and the plant suffers the consequences. The solution with plants that do not tolerate this type of pH is none other than watering with rainwater, letting the running water stand for a day before watering with it so that the lime settles at the bottom, or acidify the soil in some way, such as vinegar.

Another marker that your hydrangea needs a more acidic soil It occurs when, if you bought your hydrangea from a variety with blue flowers, they start to turn pink or white. Each hydrangea has a natural flower color depending on its variety, but the wrong pH can change it. This is an unfortunately common practice among amateurs who do not know that by forcing the plant to grow in an environment that is not suitable for it, they are mistreating it without knowing it. A) Yes, if your hydrangea had blue flowers and over time you are they change coloris that it needs you to lower the pH of its soil.

Another great option is to use specific hydrangea compost, which contains many of the nutrients it needs and also helps acidify the soil.

To incorporate the vinegar into the hydrangeas without damaging them, it is best to mix it directly with the irrigation water. You have to be very careful with the concentration since, as we have said, a very high concentration acts as a herbicide: it adds between 1 and 4 tablespoons of vinegarwhether white, apple or wine, for every 5 liters of water to irrigate. Stir the mixture well, then use a spray bottle to water the base of the plant. How do you know exactly how much vinegar you have to use? It will depend on how much you need to lower the pH of the soil.

To measure this, the simplest thing is to purchase pH meter strips, which are cheap and easy to acquire, and will allow you to control the acidity setting of the soil. Remember that the goal for healthy hydrangeas is to keep it around 5.5.

You can also use vinegar as homemade fungicide for plants. In this case, it is necessary to prepare a mixture with a higher concentration: a tablespoon of vinegar for every liter of water. With this mixture it is sprayed on the affected plants twice a week and after each rain, since when the heat arrives and the humidity rises, the fungi are in their ideal environment to reproduce. Once you have finished the treatment and eliminated the fungi, do not continue spraying vinegar on them. This will also work as a repellant for many pests.

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