Hydrangea stopped growing?

pottering girl

Why would a hydrangea start generating new leaves right at the bottom of the plant and then go no further.  I have four in a row, they were bought last autumn and used inside and then planted outside in November.  I only took the heads off so no hard pruning. 2 have growth up the stems and look fine and 2 seemed to have stopped generating leaves. I have given them some hydrangea feed.  Not sure whether to start again with the 2 slow ones.  Any advice? 

Fairygirl

Have you a pic you could show us? That would help.
It's possible that those two have struggled to establish well over winter. If they were inside, then planted out in November, they may not have been hardened off well enough. They're very tough plants, but it's still a lot to ask if they're suddenly put outdoors and have a lot of top growth to support. 

If they seem otherwise healthy, you could prune back to those healthy parts for this year. You won't get flowers, but they would get a chance to establish, and would then be fine next year. A pic would help though - in case there's other factors causing an issue. 

pottering girl

Thanks fairygirl. I have done a bit more research and it seems that the frost got to the woody stems so your advice to prune back to the new growth is spot on and I shall hope for healthy plants next year.  

Fairygirl

Good luck with them p.girl - but don't be afraid to come back with a pic if you're not sure. 
It's sometimes difficult to offer advice without seeing the issue, but if they have the right conditions, they're quite hard to kill! 

TheRickster

I investigated 4 potted hydrangeas today which hadn’t shown any growth compared to others. To my dismay the pots were infested with vine weavel grubs. I’ve cleaned the compost from the roots, soaked in water then repotted.

Dovefromabove

Vine weevils love multi purpose compost ... If that's what your hydrangeas are in  try using a mix of John Innes loam based compost with some MPC added (2/3 JI and 1/3 MPC works for me).  The hydrangeas love the improved water retention and the vine weevil grubs hate the grittiness. 
Win win 

D0rdogne_Damsel

Sorry to hijack the thread, but I have two lovely well establiahed hydrangeas and just noticed yesterday that the new leaves around the formimg flowerbuds look all crinkled, a little like savoy cabbage, On closer inspection there is what looks like 'spit' inbetween the leaves, I am worried I am going to lose the flowers. Any ideas? Thanks. 

Beaus Mum

Very early for flower budding DD? I would wash off the spit and cut off the wrinkly buds and I’m sure they will be fine. They have plenty of time to put out more buds 

D0rdogne_Damsel

Thank for the info. We are usually ahead here in France, so I hope new flowers will come. Shame, because the rest of the plkant looks so healthy.