Even with good care, your beloved hydrangea can sometimes have problems and be attacked by diseases or pests. Your hydrangeas have brown leaves? What can be the cause and solution of the problem?
Sometimes there are hanging leaves, sometimes yellow, sometimes eaten or even a combination of several of these types of damage. The reasons for plant problems of this kind range from diseases and pests to the wrong location and care mistakes.
If the hydrangeas have brown leaves, this can have various reasons
So when hydrangeas have brown leaves, you need to find the reason and fix it.
Hydrangea leaves discolored brown due to pests
Did your hydrangeas start out with yellow leaves that then turned brown? It is most likely certain pests that are up to mischief. Sucking spider mites, for example, are not uncommon in these shrubs and cause just such damage. The main problem with them is that they are usually not noticed until late because they are so small that they are hardly noticeable. As the name suggests, these mites spin thin threads and it is these that make an infestation recognizable.
If hydrangeas have brown leaves due to this problem, take appropriate action against the pests. A tried-and-tested remedy is rapeseed oil, which is usually also a component of commercial sprays. Or try our home remedies for spider mites. It is important that you do not forget the undersides of the leaves, as the mites also like to romp there.
Hydrangeas get brown leaves from fungal diseases
A fungal attack also causes brown leaves on hydrangeas, only this time they do not turn yellow first, but the leaf damage appears in the form of spots (e.g. with the leaf spot fungus). These are usually located in the middle of a leaf and ensure that the tissue becomes progressively thinner until it dissolves completely.
Act quickly to avoid spreading. For this purpose, the affected leaves should be cut off and disposed of (in the household waste and never on the compost). It is then advisable to treat the plant with a suitable fungicide to kill any remaining fungal spores.
If you care for the shrubs incorrectly
Also at lack of water the thirsty plant develops brown leaves that are also dry. But to be fair, it has to be said that it takes a while for such symptoms to appear. When there is insufficient water, the plant first draws attention to itself by letting its leaves droop. At this stage, you actually still have plenty of time to water and water the hydrangea leaves. So, brown leaves on hydrangeas due to this problem don’t appear until you’ve pretty much neglected them. Do the following:
Water the plant as soon as possible. In hot weather even twice a day. Water that is low in lime, such as rainwater, is recommended. Tap water is best filtered. Remove dried leaves. Avoid waterlogging.
Or maybe you fertilized wrongly? It must not be too much of a good thing, as this will lead to brown colored leaves. In contrast to a lack of water, the leaf does not dry out completely straight away, but first at the edges, until the leaf is completely dry and falls off. So have dry, brown leaf edges over-fertilization there. Do the following:
Repot the plant and use fresh hydrangea soil. For bedding plants, you can use Epsom salt to help. Use iron fertilizers (for flowering plants!) and compost (leaves and needles). Pour with lime-free water.
For freshly bought young plants: planting out too early
Especially if you bought your shrubs in early spring, you can be sure that they have been grown in a greenhouse where they have been toasty warm and have therefore developed flowers quite early. The whole thing makes the plants more sensitive, so that even if the location changes, they can quickly react with problems and brown leaves are particularly common.
In this case, you can rest assured that the problem will resolve itself once the plant has become accustomed to its new environment. Nevertheless, in the future you can remember to gradually acclimate them to the new location before planting them in the garden. If you want to cultivate the hydrangea as a container plant, also get it used to the new location outside.
The wrong location for hydrangeas will lead to sunburn
Plants of any kind develop light brown leaves if they cannot tolerate the blazing sun or have not had time to get used to the sunny location. In the case of hydrangeas, the reason is simply that it is too sunny for them, preferring partial shade. Therefore you should:
Choose a different location or
open an awning or other sun protection. Shade under trees is also good, as is an east- or west-facing location.
Lack of frost protection
In general, hydrangea shrubs benefit from winter protection as they are only partially hardy. Potted plants in particular need winter quarters or plant fleece. But you can go outside again quite early, namely as soon as they sprout again. However, frost protection is still necessary afterwards, because late frost can damage the new leaves, which is indicated by brown leaves. In the event of frost damage, the affected parts of the plant are cut off.