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You can talk about beautiful flowers without mentioning the hydrangea plant. Used by most Japanese to represent love, warm appeal, and water vessels, this plant is a native of Asia( Japan, China, India) and some parts of America.
The hydrangea is a perennial flowering shrub. The hydrangea plants can grow up to 10ft and can live for a long period of 50 years.
Hydrangea plants like all other garden plants have problems that can prevent the plants from growing. One of such problems is known as the curling of leaves.
In this article today we are going to discuss why your hydrangea leaves are curling, the specific types of curls they possess, and how best we can fix these plant curls.
Types Of Hydrangea Leaf Curl
- Leaves curling upwards: hydrangea leaves that curl and roll upwards is often caused by insufficient watering. When the hydrangea shrub is dehydrated, the leaves will begin to dry and curl up.
- Leaves curling downwards: hydrangea leaves curling downwards is often a result of excess dampening of soil, pest attack etc.
Causes Of Hydrangea Leaf Curl
When hydrangeas plants experience leaf curl, it is caused by one of the following factors:
- Dehydration
- Insufficient Minerals
- Diseases
- Pests
The factors listed above will be discussed in detail
1. Dehydration
Hydrangeas will not accept dehydration or insufficient water, these shrubs need water to survive and grow. When the plants are dehydrated, the leaves begin to curl upwards to prevent the plants from sunburn.
Even if they are dehydrated for a brief period, it will leave a mark on the plants and even cause them to change colours.
Dehydration of hydrangea often occurs in planting pots, transpiration and during the heat in the summertime.
How To Fix Leaf Curl Caused By Dehydration
- Ensure that your plants are provided with the right amount of water needed
- To check if your soil is dry, feel the soul up to one inch, if the soil is dry and cracked, it shows that it is dehydrated and needs to be watered.
- When hydrangea is transplanted, they sometimes lose moisture, so it is important to water the plants adequately after transplanting is done.
2. Insufficient Supply Of Minerals
Certain minerals are very important when growing plants, for example; lavender needs enough supply of Nitrogen for the soil to develop fully.
Hydrangeas too require certain minerals needed to thrive which is Phosphorous.
Phosphorous is essential for hydrangea growth because this mineral is essential for photosynthesis. When the hydrangea is lacking Phosphorous, it will make it difficult for the plants to carry out photosynthesis.
The hydrangea will be deprived of energy used to sustain the plant growth.
How To Fix Curls Caused By Insufficient Minerals.
- To minimise curls on hydrangea, make use of supplements that are rich in Phosphorus alongside other essential nutrients.
- The hydrangea temperature should be maintained properly to prevent the Phosphorous from being affected during uptake.
3. Diseases
Diseases can also be one of the most common causes why hydrangea leaves curl and look deformed.
A fungal infection, for example thrives in wet and moist environments, if the leaves are watered directly, they can cause Fungi infection to attack the leaves, causing them to curl upward and turn yellow.
Moulds and root rot also attack the hydrangea shrub and leave them with a sick appearance.
How To Fix Curls Caused By Diseases
- It is always important to keep gardens clean to prevent diseases from coming up.
- Water plants in moderation and always ensure that there is good airflow.
- Remove plant wastes that can decay and rot from around the hydrangea.
- In the case of Fungi, make use of copper-based fungicides
- If the plants are attacked by a virus, it is best to cut out the infected parts to avoid spreading since there’s no cure for viruses for now.
4. Pests.
Pests are always a nightmare to plants, they are known to attack and in worst cases kill the plant if they are large in numbers.
Pest of hydrangea Insects that feed on leaves; insects such as aphids, mealybug, scale insects, mites and leafhoppers.
These insects stay under the leaves and feed on their sap, causing the leaves to curl upwards. Another type of pest is the hydrangea moth; it lays eggs and even these eggs hatch and create a cocoon of leaves, the larvae then feed on the sap of the cocoon and even feed in the flower buds of plants.
How To Fix Curls Caused By Pests
- Remove the leaf cocoons together with the larvae.
- To get rid of aphids, spray the leaves with potassium salt or acaricides.
- The infected hydrangea plants should be sprayed with horticultural oil.
How Do I Get Rid Of Leaf Curls On Hydrangea?
It is important first to ascertain why your leaf is curling, when this is carried out it will be easier for you to know what specific way to get rid of the curls on the leaf.
- If your plant is dehydrated, the hydrangea leaves will curl upwards to prevent sunburn, watering the plant once it is noticed will help receive and get rid of the curls.
- Root rot can also cause hydrangea leaves to curl, to get rid of root rot, hydrangea plants should be kept under sunlight to absorb excess moisture from the plant.
- When pests and diseases attack the plant, they can cause the plant to curl or even change colour and appearance. To get rid of harmful pests, the hydrangea should be sprayed with insecticide (for insects, fungicides (Fungi infection), horticultural oil, fatty acids etc.
How Do You Treat Leaf Curls Naturally?
- To treat hydrangea leaf curls naturally, the hydrangea leaves should be sprayed with copper and sulphur.
- It is also best to select disease-resistant varieties of seeds before planting.
- The infected plants should be pruned and burnt once they appear.
- Get Rid of plant leaves and debris that are infected to prevent spreading
How Does Leaf Curl Spread?
When leaf curl is caused by diseases, the diseased part can come in contact with the healthy hydrangea and spread to other parts of the hydrangea that is healthy, causing them to curl inward. Leaf Curl can also spread when there is a lack of water in the soil.
When one plant is curled up because of lack of water, it will become dry and start to curl.
In conclusion, the article above has effectively discussed why hydrangea plants curl and how they can be fixed when this happens.
This article will prove to be very helpful to our garden plants if we follow the suggestions given above.
