# Watering hydrangeas

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watering-hydrangeas/453047>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 15, 2008, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watering-hydrangeas/453047 "2008-06-15T21:12:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watering-hydrangeas/453047/1 "2008-06-15T21:12:41Z")

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How often? Especially if they get sun most of the day…

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**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watering-hydrangeas/453047/2 "2008-06-15T21:15:26Z")

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[QUOTE=dougie\_monty]  
How often? Especially if they get sun most of the day…  
[/QUOTE]

Once. But you have to go back to 1960, and then only for twenty minutes.

If it’s true that the color is related to pH, can watering different amounts on different plants change things?

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**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watering-hydrangeas/453047/3 "2008-06-15T21:19:44Z")

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We have a number of them and we water the crap out of them at least two times a week. I mean that ours need a long thorough soak that penetrates deeply into the soil. They are a water loving plant.

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**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watering-hydrangeas/453047/4 "2008-06-16T01:52:02Z")

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Second. A deep soak twice a week (or more) in summer.

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**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watering-hydrangeas/453047/5 "2008-06-16T02:07:01Z")

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Ours are pink and don’t look well. Is that bad? Should I add some base to the soil. I have some fireplace ash that would work nicely.