Hydrangea color? Help!!

Hillsboro, IL

My soil is on the acidic side. I wanted my blue hydrangeas to be a deeper blue, so I added an organic soil acidifier...now they're a dark pink!! What did I do wrong and what's the fastest way to get them back to blue for July 4th holiday?

Dublin, CA(Zone 9a)

What exactly was the "organic acidifier" that you used? My number one suspect in this case would be that you accidentally used something that raises the pH rather than lowering it.

Have the hydrangeas been planted in the ground for a while and always been blue? If they were recently transplanted then it could be that your soil wasn't acidic in the first place--amendments take time to act so you may just need to be patient, or else you may not have added enough to take alkaline soil and make it acidic.

The third possibility is if your soil tends to be on the alkaline side and you've amended it fairly regularly to make it acidic to keep them blue, but it had been a while since you'd last amended, then the flowers could have drifted back to pink because your soil pH was going back to its natural alkaline state, and the new amendments that you added need a little time to work (or as above, maybe you didn't add enough)

Burien, WA(Zone 7b)

Spray paint? I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.... I doubt anything can turn them back to blue in that short time period.

Hillsboro, IL

Haha :/ I was afraid of that. Since it turned a dark pink within a week of adding the acidifier (they were mostly blue to begin with) I was hoping I could reverse it quickly as well. I took a probe Ph tester and discovered that the soil in that area actually is a level 7. So much for knowing my soil. I went around various other places in the yard and found the Ph level to be anywhere between 5 & 7. So. I guess the acidifier didn't actually turn the hydrangeas pink, rather the soil! So...what's the proper way to lower the Ph level to a "blue" level and how long until I should see results? I've attached a picture of the organic acidifier, if that tells you anything, ecrane3.
Thanks for any help you may be able to offer.

Thumbnail by 1840_yard
Dublin, CA(Zone 9a)

Well, unless they put the wrong stuff in the bag there's nothing wrong with what you added. When did you add it, and how much did you use? If you used the amt they suggested on the bag and you didn't do it that long ago then I'd wait since it can take some time to work. If you didn't add the max amount then since your soil pH is still 7, I'd go ahead and add more to get to the max they said, then sit back for a couple months and see what happens. If the pH isn't as low as you need, then at that point you can add more. If you want blue for the 4th of July then you'll have to follow shune's suggestion unfortunately--these things take time otherwise.

Hillsboro, IL

Ok. Thank you so much for your helpful guidance. I'll keep plugging away...and be a little more patient. ;)

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