Changing the color of your blooms

[ChanellG]

I wouldn't think the beet juice would harm the plant, or even the presence of the ants, for that matter. I just know once ants move in they are very difficult to get rid of. It would only have been a matter of time before they found their way inside the apartment!

 

[maddie]

I wouldn't think the beet juice would harm the plant, or even the presence of the ants, for that matter. I just know once ants move in they are very difficult to get rid of. It would only have been a matter of time before they found their way inside the apartment!

Luckily I noticed that they were around.. and repotted my plant before long. I also notice that the ant do not bother the cutting I have dipped in honey and potted. But come summer and they infest your plants.. even though I am two floors above the ground.

 

[ChanellG]

Luckily I noticed that they were around.. and repotted my plant before long. I also notice that the ant do not bother the cutting I have dipped in honey and potted. But come summer and they infest your plants.. even though I am two floors above the ground.

I notice they don't trouble me as much during the winter. I guess they don't like the cold any more than you or I do, lol. I had a drink in the freezer once and I forgot about it; naturally the container expanded as it froze and some of the liquid sprayed over the inside of the freezer. Would you believe the ants found their way into that freezer? Of course they didn't all survive the cold...

 

[Yatte]

I have a whole bedding full of hydrangea, only one bush have green flowers, one bush pink and the rest are all white, I can get them to change their colour a little bit but they still look white. Do you think that maybe they are of the snow ball variety? I am really at a loss, I so want them to turn blue. I even tried adding pine needles to the soil (know for making the soil acidic) and still nothing happens. They have big and healthy flowers.

Maybe I should just accept the cards that I have been dealt, but some colour would have been nice in that bedding.

 

[maddie]

Yatte white doesn't basically qualify as a color.. and you cannot change the color since there is no color to change. All you can do is play around with the pinks and blue. My blue flowers had become green actually an ugly green when I added a lot of banana skins to the pot. Since then I have stopped doing that. I have been adding lime.. little by litte and coffee grounds to the pot after changing the soil. Hopefully I will have deeper blue blooms the next time my plant blooms..

 

[ACSAPA]

This is an interesting thread because I thought that you were stuck with the color of flowers that you got, and that you would have to buy different seeds for a different color of blooms. I didn't know that changing the acidity of the soil would change the color of the blooms. I'm always learning new things from you guys.

 

[maddie]

This is an interesting thread because I thought that you were stuck with the color of flowers that you got, and that you would have to buy different seeds for a different color of blooms. I didn't know that changing the acidity of the soil would change the color of the blooms. I'm always learning new things from you guys.

ACSAPA, I am not sure if changing color is possible with other flowers. My African violets have now become a very light color nearer to pink than the deep purple they were when I bought them. Looks like I can really play around with these colors. But only African violets and hydrangeas are known to change color.. I haven't read any other documented version of other blooms hanging color.

Edit
My search tells me that forgetmenots, lungwort, Larkspur etc change colors.. basically it is seems like the pink mauve purple change colors I guess.

 

[Yatte]

maddie, how interesting your statement about the white not being a color is. According to science white is the combination of all colors not the absence there of. But I guess science and flowers seem to differ.

My mother gave me the advice to break open all my used tea bags, and to sprinkle the tea leaves on the ground surrounding the hydrangeas. She has the most beautiful blue ones, maybe she is just lucky or knows a bit. people tend to tell her she has green fingers quite a lot.

I think I should quit trying to change white into blue or pink. I hope your coffee grounds and lime experiment is successful.

 

[maddie]

maddie, how interesting your statement about the white not being a color is. According to science white is the combination of all colors not the absence there of. But I guess science and flowers seem to differ.

My mother gave me the advice to break open all my used tea bags, and to sprinkle the tea leaves on the ground surrounding the hydrangeas. She has the most beautiful blue ones, maybe she is just lucky or knows a bit. people tend to tell her she has green fingers quite a lot.

I think I should quit trying to change white into blue or pink. I hope your coffee grounds and lime experiment is successful.

What I meant was it is not a true color.. a combination of colors it is. .. What I have read so far tells me that white does not change colors while pinks and blues do.
My experiments started with the fact that my hydrangeas changed colors from blue.. into some unsightly green. I do really hope that my hydrangeas turn blue or even mauve

 

[ChanellG]

I have a whole bedding full of hydrangea, only one bush have green flowers, one bush pink and the rest are all white, I can get them to change their colour a little bit but they still look white...
Maybe I should just accept the cards that I have been dealt, but some colour would have been nice in that bedding.

Well, I'm not expert, but the fact that they are in a flower bed may make it more difficult to have color variety. You can't amend the soil around one plant without it affecting all of the others in some way. Why not try propagating cuttings from the ones that do have color and growing them in containers to see what you get?

You might try the same thing with a cutting from a "white" one. If you are able to change the color in a container you'll know it's possible in your flowerbed.

 

[maddie]

My hydrangeas all turned out green this time. One little bunch at the base is finally looking blue.. I hope the rest of my flowers turn really blue.. I guess half way through my experiment I lost track of what I was putting in my soil. I need to do a more controlled experiment. I need to work harder.

 

[headfullofbees]

Sulph(f)ate of iron is used to help hydrangeas turn blue.
Will control any moss too!
Or you could bury a few rusty nails close to them.

 

[ChanellG]

Maddie, are they pale green? I actually like that color sometimes on a hydrangea. My favorites are creamy whitish ones and pale blue ones, but they are all beautiful. Well, all except the weird flamingo pink ones, LOL. Wish I had one...

 

[maddie]

Maddie, are they pale green? I actually like that color sometimes on a hydrangea. My favorites are creamy whitish ones and pale blue ones, but they are all beautiful. Well, all except the weird flamingo pink ones, LOL. Wish I had one...

They were creamy with a good spread of green and a little pink. The last bunch was deep blue. I hope I will have more flowers this year. I love hydrangeas and I want more

 

[ChanellG]

I have been thinking about getting some hydrangea blooms in the floral section of the super market and then seeing if I could root them. As much as I love them, they don't last as long as other cut flowers so I haven't been getting them. Now that I know about aspirin for rooting plants and now that I've learned that some florist plants can be rooted I am thinking about giving it a try.