How to Grow Hydrangeas Inside
Hydrangeas grow beautiful flowers in several different colors. The plants grow well outdoors and often add interest to a yard or landscape, but they also will grow indoors with the right care. The plants do require sunlight, but they also need partial shade to survive. When growing a hydrangea indoors, you will need to take the proper care to ensure that you transplant them into larger pots when necessary.
Once you establish a hydrangea indoors, you will enjoy their bright colors and fresh scent during the growing season.
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Things You'll Need
- Hydrangea seeds
- Planter
- Nutrient-rich soil
- 3.5 inch to 4.5 inch pot
- Houseplant potting mix
- 10-10-10 fertilizer
- Water
- Scissors
Instructions
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1
Place the hydrangea seeds in a planter. Fill the planter with nutrient-rich and moist soil. Leave at least 1 inch of head-space at the top of the planter.
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2
Sprinkle the hydrangea seeds over the dirt. Plant the seeds in the late summer. Keep the soil moist, and give the hydrangea seeds a minimal amount of shade where they do not receive direct sunlight but they still receive filtered sun.
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3
Transplant the hydrangeas once they reach 2 to 3 inches in height. Place them in a pot that is 3.5 to 4.5 inches in depth. Clay pots help to promote the root growth of hydrangeas. However, you can use plastic or fiber pots if clay pots are not available as long as the pots have adequate drainage holes.
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4
Use a houseplant potting mix for the soil. Make sure that you moisten the soil with water before transplanting the hydrangeas to help them grow. Use a 10-10-10 fertilizer every month in the growing season between May through September.
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Keep the pots in a bright location. Ideal locations for hydrangeas to receive sunlight include a southern or western exposure and a bright morning filtered sun. Keep the plant in the coolest room in your house.
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6
Water the hydrangea often because it requires a lot of water. However, to avoid damaging the plant, do not overwater the hydrangea. Wait for the top 2 inches of the soil to dry out between each watering. Place a tray under your pot to collect water from the drainage holes. The excess water will provide humidity.
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7
Cut away dead and damaged leaves. You will need to trim the stems back when the plant begins wilting.
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8
Transplant the hydrangea into a larger pot as it grows. You will need to remove the plant carefully, and use scissors to cut the roots from the pot. Only upgrade to a pot that is 2 to 4 inches larger until the plant needs transplanted again.
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Tips & Warnings
Hydrangeas grow best indoors when started from a seed. However, you can buy a mature hydrangea from a nursery or store and keep it indoors. To keep the mature plant healthy, make sure that the plant's pot has adequate draining holes and the pot is not too large or too small. Mature hydrangea plants tend not to last as long as hydrangeas grown from seeds because of their initial growing environment, so it is important that you take care to prune and water the plant frequently to encourage new growth. Follow the steps listed after initially planting the seeds to take care of your indoor mature hydrangea plant.
References
- Photo Credit hydrangea image by Annett Goebel from Fotolia.com
