Summer Crush is a wonderful hydrangea, but sometimes it can have some troubles, which we will talk about today.
Root rot and disease are two of the main reasons why Summer Crush dies. To revive a hydrangea, water it only if the top 1-2 inches of soil are dry and provide well-drained soil. Also, spray the leaves with fungicide and make sure there is good air circulation around the shrub.
Powdery mildew and root rot
Root rot
Root rot is a very common cause of death for Summer Crush. Root rot is caused by very frequent watering, or poorly drained soil, or a place where water collects. If there is too much water around the roots, they begin to soften, and rot easily destroys them.
The outward signs of root rot are yellowing and falling leaves. Also, the surface of the soil around the shrub is constantly wet.
The first thing to do is to stop watering frequently or to divert the water away from the shrub, depending on what caused the overwatering. Next, water the hydrangea only when the soil is 1 to 2 inches dry.
Next spring, transplant Summer Crush to more draining soil away from the roof downspout. Avoid transplanting as soon as you see the hydrangea become diseased because you will only make it worse.
Dehydration
Summer Crush, like all hydrangeas, needs sufficient water. Newly planted plants are especially sensitive to underwatering.
If you do not give a hydrangea enough water, the leaves will droop first. Next, they will turn brown around the edge. Regular underwatering can kill the plant.
To avoid regular dehydration, plant hydrangeas in well-drained but still slightly moist soil. The substrate should not dry out quickly after watering, but the water should not stagnate there either.
The first year after planting, water Summer Crush as soon as the substrate is 1 inch dry. In the second and subsequent years, water after 2 inches of soil has dried around the shrub.
Use at least 1 to 2 gallons of water when watering. Use deep watering avoiding frequent surface watering.
Light issues
Summer Crush needs at least 4 hours of direct sunlight a day for proper development. If you don’t give it access to direct sun, it will have a loose crown and will not bloom. Also, the leaves will be soft and droopy.
Prolonged shading will result in exhaustion and death. To avoid this, place Summer Crush in a location with 4-6 hours of direct sun in the morning and shade the rest of the day.
The second problem is too much light. If you expose it to direct sun all day, it will burn the leaves and flowers. The plant will look unhealthy, but it will survive somehow.
To get it back to normal you need to give it some shade in the afternoons. This can be done by using a garden umbrella or by transplanting the hydrangea to a more suitable location.
Diseases
And the last of the possible causes of Summer Crush’s dying is an illness. Diseases can cause serious damage to the plant and it will look terrible. Eventually, it may die.
The most common diseases are leaf spot and powdery mildew. Leaf spot disease affects the leaves and they become covered with many black dots. After a while, the leaves will fall off.
Powdery mildew appears as a darkening of the leaves covered with a white, translucent powder. Leaves become slightly deformed, yellow, and die off.
To get rid of both diseases you need to ensure free air movement around the bush. Spraying leaves with an aqueous solution of horticultural oil works well against powdery mildew.
Leaf spot can be cured by spraying Hydrangea with copper-based fungicide. Two to three sprays two weeks apart are usually required.
Will a dead Summer Crush Hydrangea come back?
Your Summer Crush Hydrangea will come back if the cause of death was frostbite on the branches. In most cases, a hard frost will kill the top part of the plant, but the roots and crown are still alive under the snow.
The next spring, new branches will emerge from the rhizome and you will even see flowering in the summer, as this hydrangea blooms on new wood among other things. If you take proper care of Summer Crush, trouble rarely occurs with it.
If root rot is the cause of death, you will not be able to revive the hydrangea. All you can do is tear off the branch (if it has not dried out yet) and root it. The main thing for rooting is to use sterile soil and an environment humidity of more than 80%.