Why does nobody talk about how much water temperature matters for hydrangeas?

I started using lukewarm water instead of straight cold from the tap and my hydrangeas went from wilting in 2 days to lasting a full 8 for the first time in 5 years of arranging. Has anyone else noticed this with their own supply water or am I just slow on the uptake?

3 comments

3 Comments

milalewis16d agoMost Upvoted

Who knew hydrangeas were basically Goldilocks lmao

the_rowan15d ago

Oh man, this is such a deep rabbit hole and I love that @milalewis pointed out the Goldilocks vibe because it's actually even weirder than that. The real game changer nobody talks about is that hydrangeas absorb water through their petals too, not just the stems. So if your tap water has high mineral content or chlorine, it literally burns those delicate petals off faster than cold or warm water alone. I switched to filtering my water through a basic Brita pitcher before using it on my cuttings and they went from 8 days to almost 12. The temperature thing is real but the water quality angle is the hidden variable that most people just gloss over completely.

rosepark15d ago

That whole bit about "absorb water through their petals" really got me. I always thought hydrangeas were just stem drinkers so honestly hearing this kind of flips what I thought I knew. I'll have to test the filtered water thing out this week cause my tap is definitely hard water city.