My Pretty White Blooms!

Everyone…say hello to this little addition to my home: beautiful blooming white hydrangeas!

My aunt gave this pot to me a few days ago, and I am determined as ever to NOT kill it. 😛  My fingers aren’t very “green” to begin with, so this is a HUGE responsibility on my shoulders right there…

I was told that hydrangeas stay in bloom for up to 3 months!  Well actually I was surprised to see it white, because I had expected blue ones, but my aunt tells me that if I want the color to change to blue, I need to put some nails in the soil.

This was new to me, but I googled it up and found that the color of hydrangeas can be changed by altering the acidity of the soil it grows in.  Soil which is slightly acidic will favor blue hydrangeas, whereas soil which is slightly alkaline will produce pink hydrangeas.  I’m assuming though, that neutral soil will keep the hydrangeas white.  To make the soil acidic, we are advised to add some aluminum to the soil in the form of aluminum sulphate (Source).  But since I do not know where to get this, I chose my aunt’s method, and added some nails to the soil.

I’m not sure if the nails are made of aluminum or iron, but with what’s left of my chemistry knowledge, I’d say that any metal will be oxidized into a suplhate compound in the soil, which will then render it acidic.

Anyhow, I will post updates if/when I notice a change in color.

Meanwhile, I’m enjoying these pretty little things 🙂