Nikko Blue Hydrangea. What is the secret to making them bloom?
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I think I've discovered the secret to making Nikko Blue Hydrangea bloom like crazy.
Leave them alone! Really. Quit tinkering with your plants trying to give them every little thing they need. What they really need is good soil, and adequate amount but not an over abundance of water and some sunshine. That's about it. Quit fertilizing them and pouring all kinds of concoctions on them.
They know what to do. They are genetically wired to do one thing and only one thing. Make leaves and make flowers! Okay, so that's two things. But they know that. They don't need you sticking your nose in their business. If you give them the three things mentioned above and leave them alone they will grow and bloom.
When Should I Trim or Prune my Nikko Blue Hydrangea?
Nikko Blue is in the macrophylla family of hydrangeas and therefore most people say to prune it right after it blooms. That's great advice and you should follow it, but this spring I discovered something that has me a little perplexed. I bought about 50 Nikko Blues this spring. They were in the field and were dug just a tad late. On top of that I think they got tazed by a little frost. That's a new gardening term, Tazed. In other words, they didn't look so good, and were pretty much unappealing.
So I decided to prune them really hard, even though it was the middle of May.
What happened? After they were pruned they flushed out with beautiful new growth and then started blooming like crazy! Not only did I prune them in the middle of May, I cut them back really hard.
I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it many, many times in the future.
Quit tinkering with your plants!
They don't need all of those store bought concoctions to make them do this or do that, sing and dance and jump over the moon. They just don't need it! They need good soil that drains well, water on a regular basis, and sunshine. That's what they need. That's all they need.
Mike! Liar, liar Pants on Fire!
You just said you fertilized these hydrangeas in June! You're telling me not to fertilize and you are fertilizing. You tell me one thing and then you do something else yourself. What gives Mike?
Great question! You caught me. This is really important for you to understand. The plants in my landscape do not get fertilized ever. Except maybe the roses because if and when I remember to do so I spray them with Bayer 3-1 Rose and Flower Spray and that does contain some fertilizer. All of the other plants in my landscape do not get fertilized ever. They haven't been fertilized since I bought them.
Why no fertilizer for the plants in my landscape? They just don't need it. They do absolutely fine without it.
Why Do I Fertilize Plants in Containers?
Plants that are grown in the nursery in containers are grown in what is called a soil-less growing mix. In other words, the soil in the pot is not soil at all and it does not contain any soil. It's usually a combination of bark mixes. There are a lot of reasons for this and a big one is drainage. These bark mixes drain really well. But that means that a lot of nutrients are getting washed away before they can be absorbed by the plant. And these soil-less mixes are really low in nutrients to begin with. So plants grown in containers have to be fertilized. Plants in a landscape do not have to be fertilized. I hope that makes sense.
How Do I Make My Nikko Blue Hydrangea Blue?
If your Nikko Blue is not Blue, or Blue enough you can add Aluminum Sulfate to the soil and that should make the blooms more blue in color. You can get the Aluminum Sulfate at any full service garden center.
How Do You Propagate Hydrangeas?
Most hydrangeas are easy to propagate if you do them in the summer using soft new growth. Not spring, but summer. Mid June or later.
So. what did we learn from this article?
Quit tinkering with your plants. Just let them be plants. They know what to do. In order for plants to make a flower bud they have to slow down or almost quit growing all together to work on flower buds. But if you are dumping all kind of performance enhancing concoctions on them they can't slow down and make flowers. It's like you holding the accelerator pedal all the way to the floor then trying to turn the corner. It just not going to work!
Background
Following the collapse of the prawn industry in the mid-80's, an interesting industry slowly emerged in the early 90's as dynamic and aggressive women entrepreneurs turned their expensive hobby into a multi-million profitable and enjoyable "sunshine" industry. This paved the way to the birth of the Floriculture Industry in the Province of Capiz. From an obscure industry, it grew to become one of the rapidly expanding agri-business sectors in the province today involving more than 5,000 stakeholders, florists, landscape artists, contractors, technologists, input providers, farm technicians and gardeners.
Capiz is a major producer of potted orchids and orchid cutflowers, landscape materials, fresh foliages and potted ornamental plants in the whole of the Visayas. It is also recognized as one of the sources of the best and rarest ferns in the country today. Presently, it is slowly building a name as the premier source of exportable cutfoliages in the country.
Roxas City leads in the number of producers in the province with ten (10) commercial farms located here. It is also considered as the marketing center with the presence of 4 trading outlets such as the Paseo de Catedral, Balay Kapisnon, Teodoro Arcenas Trade Center, and Talon Garden Center. It is followed by the municipalities of Sigma, Dao, Panay and Ivisan. As of December 2005, total land area devoted to floriculture is estimated to be more than a hundred hectares.
Underlying the strength of the industry is the Capiz Multi-Purpose Cooperative (CMPC) which serves as the primary coordinating body of the cutflower and ornamental plant growers province-wide. It works closely with relevant national government agencies (NGAs), local government units (LGUs) and industry associations to provide an enabling business climate for the industry to develop and grow. All of the big producers in the province are members of the Capiz MPC. It is a duly registered organization with the Cooperative Development Authority and Department of Trade and Industry.
The local ornamental industry cluster is composed of the core industries, the supplier industries, and other industries that provide related and other services. The cluster is made of interlinked and interdependent key and supporting industries and institutions.
Vision
A unified, self-reliant, environment-friendly and globally competitive Floriculture Industry towards the improvement of the quality of life of its members and the community and be known as the "Cutfoliage Capital of the Philippines"
Service & Input Providers - this category include the following:
Landscape Artists - those who provide landscaping services to households, public and commercial buildings, subdivisions, memorial parks, others. There are about 9 known professional landscape artists in the province at present.
Floral Artists -those who provide floral arrangement services for such occasions as weddings, funerals, debut, graduation, product launching, grand openings, etc. Most of the floral artists are concentrated at the Paseo de Catedral located near the Roxas City Metropolitan Cathedral since they are also cutflower traders.
Cutflower/Ornamental Plant Traders - are those who are engaged solely in selling cutflowers and ornamental plants. They either sell in a permanent stall/place (such as Balay Kapisnon, Paseo de Catedral) or are ambulatory (as most of the traders during municipal/city market days).
Input providers - include those who are engaged in selling of garden inputs and accessories such as organic fertilizers (Hacienda Olive), terra cotta/plastic pots, and soil-less plant medium.
Industry Status and Performance
Production
Cutflowers
The province produces only few varieties of cutflowers in commercial-scale. These are orchids (white dendrobiums), roses, and asters (white & lilac). Other low-grade varieties produced in limited scale include dahlias, azucena, African daisies, assorted heleconias, and gladiolus (orange). Orchid cutflower and heleconias were at their production peak from1995 to 2000 with 4 commercial farms producing an aggregate yield of 1,500 dozens per week. Production volume slowly dropped over the past 5 years as more and more flowers coming from outside of the province flooded the local market. Presently, only 1 farm is growing orchids.
Fresh foliages and Live Plants
The foliage plants comprise 80% of the ornamental plants industry in Capiz and has become an important source of livelihood for many families. Most foliage plants are grown in commercial farms and backyard gardens of Sigma, Dao, Panay, Ivisan and Roxas City.
The foliage plants are sold either as cut, potted or live plants. Potted plants serve as indoor and landscaping plants, while cutfoliages are for floral arrangements.
The demand for foliage plants is increasing. For the last 10 years, foliage plants whether as cut or live, have the biggest share in the export market. At present, Capiz is the only province exporting cutfoliages to Japan in the whole of Luzon and the Visayas.
Major Products Sold
The products and services of the industry include cutflowers, potted flowering plants and greens, cuttings, cutfoliage, landscaping materials, non-soil rooting media, floral arrangement services, landscaping services.
A. Cutflowers - are so called because they are detached from parent plants and are formed into bouquets, leis, arrangements, centerpieces and the like. They are grown and traded for their aesthetic value. They are given away in appreciation and as an expression of love, joy, and encouragement on such occasions as weddings, anniversaries, birthdays and special events like Christmas, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, and All Saints'/Souls' Day. Major cutflowers produced by the province are orchids such as dendrobiums, and vanda terrete; roses, puto-puto, heleconias and gladiola.
B. Filler Flowers - includes white and lilac asters, and baby's breath.
C. Cut and Containerized Foliage Plants - refers to fresh leaves, twigs and branches cut fresh and utilized in floral arrangement, evergreen, and foliage plants grown in container for interior and exterior decorations. Major cut foliage produced by the province are dracaenas, polycias, palmeras, song of India, song of Korea, kamuning, cordylines, bottlebrush, rhappis and ferns.
D. Pot Plants - flowering annuals, shrubs, herbaceous perennials grown in containers used for exterior and interior decorations. Most popular flowering pot plants grown here include orchids, euphorbia, hibiscus, and bromeliads.
Landscaping Materials - plants consisting of evergreen and flowering trees, shrubs, herbaceous perennials, grass covers and furglass used for landscaping purposes. The following are some of the high-value palms grown in the province: Champagne, Bismarck, Hawaiian Fox Tail, Red & Blue Palm, and Sugar Palm. Meanwhile, some of the widely grown ground covers include mundo grass, golden peanuts, carabao grass, Bermuda grass, and chichi Rica.
Non-Soil Rooting Media- coco coir/dust, organic fertilizer, drift woods, fern wood and chips.
Organic Fertilizer - locally produced and manufactured soil enhancers. One of the brands commonly used is RANCAP which is made by Hacienda Olive in Pontevedra.
Services - landscaping, flower arrangement, plant cliniquing/ consultancy
Existing Trade Houses
1. Paseo de Catedral
Arsobizpo St., Roxas City
2. Balay Kapisnon
McKinley St., Roxas City
Tel. No. (036) 621-3445
3. Talon Garden Center
Primer de Mayo Street, Roxas City
VII. Industry Potentials
The industry has vast potential for development because of the following factors:
Available Technology and Support
§ Availability of suitable production technologies from external sources.
§ Government and research institutions such as DTI, DA/BPI, DOST, PCARRD could very well provide the needed technical and logistical support for the development of the industry.
§ Production technologies are available for essential oil extraction which has big demands in the domestic and export markets.
Strong labor force and growers' association
§ Affiliation to industry associations at the national level
§ Existence of the Capiz Multi-purpose Cooperative, which serves as the umbrella organization of all cutflower and ornamental plant growers in the province.
§ The province has a supply of trainable labor force.
Favorable Environment
The province has no pronounced dry or wet season which is well suited to grow ornamental plants. The province is likewise seldom visited by strong typhoons.
Vast tracts of land are still available for development.
Growing Demand
Growing international and domestic demand due to the growing appreciation of the aesthetic value and environmental importance of ornamental crops.
Proximity to other Asian market which places Capiz in a good position to serve emerging markets.
Opening of the Iloilo international airport enhances capability for international trading.
VIII. Projections
Imports (intra-national & international)
Fresh cutflowers will dominate the province's imports of ornamental plant products. These imported flowers are those which are not locally produced due to climatic conditions such as chrysanthemums, lilies, roses, anthuriums, stattice, gerberas, carnation and some varieties of gladiolas. Coming in close, will be other live plants, cuttings and slips which will also be used as planting materials fresh cut flowers or mother plants. Far in third rank are orchid seedlings. Flowers have seasonal demands