Your potted hydrangea has been your pride and joy this year and of course you want to be able to admire it next season too. To ensure that the wintering goes well, you only need to pay attention to a few things and stick to them. You're in luck: this plant isn't particularly sensitive, so even beginners can get it through the cold winter without any problems. We briefly summarize how you can overwinter the hydrangea in the pot.
Are hydrangeas winter hardy?
Compared to some other potted plants, they are actually relatively hardy. For this reason, it is also entirely possible to overwinter the hydrangeas directly on the balcony or terrace - perfect if you don't have the necessary space in your apartment. Nevertheless, the hydrangea cannot withstand frost in the long term if it is in a pot and does not receive additional protection. But this isn't much science either, as you'll find out below.
Overwintering hydrangeas in pots – You should do this in advance
Before your potted hydrangea goes into winter quarters or is “dressed” appropriately, you need to consider and carry out a few things regarding care. This is important:
Cut hydrangea
Before winter, you should clean your plant, so to speak. This means that you should remove any parts of the plant that are dry or rotten. In this way you make them more resistant to diseases, for which diseased parts provide the ideal basis to develop. But really only limit yourself to damaged parts of the plant and remove themno more than necessaryis. Above all, a radical cut is extremely inappropriate now, because this would require the hydrangea to exert an enormous amount of energy - energy that it has to use differently in the winter.
Hydrangea care in pots – until when can you fertilize?
Fertilizer promotes growth, which is of course desirable in the warm season. However, in winter, young shoots are weak points that are sensitive to frost and will die. For this reason, stop fertilizing in the fall. The plants then have enough time to let their youngest shoots mature and make them more resistant to frost.
Get rid of pests
Take a closer look at your potted plant. Before you can overwinter the hydrangea in the pot, you should make sure that there is no pest infestation or disease. You can do that right away if you're cutting them anyway.Lots of pestsand fungal diseases can overwinter without any problems and then return with full force as soon as it gets warmer. And it doesn't matter whether you overwinter the potted plant outside or in a warmer winter quarters. For this reason, you should eliminate everything in time.
Next comes the actual preparations for the winter quarters: the right container and possibly insulation, for example. What should you consider when overwintering the hydrangea?in the pot?
Which bucket is the right one?
Yes, hydrangeas are quite hardy, but if they are in a container, their frost resistance is also lower. For this reason, you need to support them with the right container. It is important that the roots are protected from the cold and the size of the pot plays the biggest role in this. This should have a diameter of at least 40 centimeters. This is the only way to guarantee that the potting soil does not freeze completely and the roots die. If you also choose a pot that has thick walls, even better. Because these serve as additional insulation.
What if the bucket isn't big enough?
You can risk it and provide the pot with additional frost protection (see below) or you would rather play it safe and find a suitable winter quarters for the potted plant where the temperatures do not fall below 5 degrees, but are not higher either. The location should also be bright. If you want to overwinter the hydrangea in a pot indoors, you should move it before the first frost.
Overwintering hydrangeas in pots: Additional frost protection measures for outside
Does your plant stay outside because you gave it a suitable container? Keep in mind that you still need to winterize hydrangeas by taking a few additional steps. These are:
- Place the bucket on a house wall. The location should be protected from both wind and sunlight, but bright.
- Also insulate the pot from the outside. Simple bubble wrap is suitable for this. If you have jute available, you can use that too.
- Also protect the above-ground parts of the plant from frost during particularly cold periods. Special plant fleece is available commercially, which protects but does not rob the plant of light and air. Brushwood is also suitable.
DANGER:Regardless of whether you overwinter the hydrangea in a pot outside or inside, it should be watered regularly in winter so that it does not dry out. Therefore, always check regularly whether the soil is still moist.
