Pro tip: check your potting soil pH before blaming the plant

I kept losing my hydrangeas in the same corner bed for like 6 years. Tried different varieties, more water, less water, even moved them around. Then last spring my neighbor brought over a cheap soil test kit from her garden club and it read 8.2. That whole time I was fighting alkaline clay while trying to grow acid lovers. Swapped in some peat moss and sulfur at a spot that was about 12 feet from the old bed. They finally flowered blue this August, not a hint of pink. Has anyone else had a similar surprise with their soil tests?

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sarahsullivan1mo ago

Wait, you had 8.2 pH? That's basically straight up dirt from a desert, not a garden bed. I got the same shock when I tested mine last year, thought I was doing everything right too, turns out my "compost enriched" soil was sitting at 7.9 the whole time. It's crazy how long we'll blame ourselves and the plant before we even think about the ground. Honestly, I didn't even know hydrangeas could switch color like that, blue at 12 feet away is wild. Makes you wonder how many other plants we've killed for no real reason.

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