Hydrogena help

Hi looking for a bit of advise with one of my hydrogena plants. 3 days ago this plant was flowering well and looking good, now its wilting and looking dead.
I have another of the plants that isnt looking like this, though it's not flowed as much as this one was doing.

 

Hydrangea** really should check phone hasn't auto corrected before posting lil

 

@Mackem87
Depending on where you are then they are flowering early. Mine have just got flower buds developing and are some weeks from flowering.
Where they bought and planted recently? If so they had probably been grown under glass or in a polytunnel to get them flowering and they are now in shock from the change in environment. I would remove the flowers. Check how dry they are at the roots and water if dry, then water when the leaves start to droop.

 

Hi they were bought and planted on the 9th of May. I'm from Sunderland, I bought 2 of these plants at the same time, the one that's in the picture had some flowers but not all that many, whereas the other one hasmt flowered at all yet. Thought this one gets a little more sun than the other.
It has been battered by the windy conditions last few days but dont suppose that would have caused this ???
So you recommend I dig it back out and check roots and water them?

 

My other Hydrangea is looking fine, so cant understand it

 

When the leaves wilt, it may be having heat stress or may have injured roots due pests underground. It can also have been injured by a late frost although the symptoms are not quite visible yet. Right now, I would think heat stress if you do not have pests problems.

Temperatures above 29C, windy conditions, lack of sufficient water or lack of mulch are things that will cause heat stress. If you maintain the soil well mulched and as evenly moist as you can, they should be able to perk up at night or by morning.

But make sure that you do not over-water. A hydrangea in soggy or wet soil could develop root rot if the soggy conditions persist for too long. In such scenario, the roots will rot and the plant will show signs of lack of moisture 24/7 (at all times) because the rotted roots are unable to send enough water to the leaves.

In the picture, the top of the soil seems dry so I would hope root rot is not the case. Instead, the plant is loosing moisture through the leaves faster than it can absorb water through the roots. It is a common problem around May in my area as temperatures start to climb and cause wilting.

In days when temperatures spike or if temps begin to stay above 29C most of the time, consider ratcheting up the amount of water to Summer's higher levels too.

Hydrangea roots are in the top 10 cms of the soil so keep them well mulched. This helps maintain soil moisture, protects from temperature extremes and the decomposing mulch provides food to the plant.

As tempting as it can be, try not to compare two plants of similar size when one has a problem. Deer can randomly choose one over the other for example. Frost can hit one plant over the other and the root systems of the two may be totally different, which may make one plant more fussy than the other.

Since the roots are in the top 10cms of the soil and this part of the soil can easily dry, insert a finger into the soil to a depth of 10cms and see if the soil feels dry or almost dry. If so, give it some water. Water early in the mornings and water the soil, not the leaves to minimize the chances of promoting powdery mildew and leaf spot diseases. If this is a recently planted shrub, water starting around the root ball as most roots will still be there and move outwards in all directions. The amount of water use per each watering per plant should be enough to moisten the soil down to 20cms of depth. If you use too little water and the soil remains too dry, increase the amount of water. The type of soil will make you use different amounts of water. Sandy soil will need more water for example. Start with 4 liters and see if that needs to be tweaked up or down.

 

@luis_pr
Temperatures of 29°C or more are as scarce as hen's teeth in Sunderland and pretty rare in the rest of England apart from the South East Corner of England.
@Mackem87 As Luis says the dry windy conditions could cause your hydrangea to go like that. Curiously you are not alone in having problems with wilting hydrangeas there have been a number of posts recently on the forum re hydrangeas, Acers have also been prompting a few posts recently as well.

 

Yes, windy conditions can also dry out the top soil if the top soil is not well mulched. But lack of enough water will cause this too if temps are not that hot. I checked and temps have been quite mild with a few possible frosty nights at the start of the month and on May 6th through the 14th. Historical information also shows some windy days from mid May on forward.