Visible pests or suspicious leaf spots on your Hydrangea should be addressed early. Use the signs below to identify the problem and choose the right treatment.
Spider mites. Rinse the plant in the shower, wipe the leaves, raise humidity, and treat with an insecticidal soap or neem product made for houseplants, repeating as its label directs until they are gone. Test the spray on one leaf and wait two days before treating the whole plant, and skip any plant the label warns against. Isolate it from other plants.
Not a match? Compare the signs below to find the one you have.
How to tell
White, cottony fluff tucked into leaf joints and along stems, sometimes with sticky residue.
The fix
Dab each one with a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol, then treat with a neem product made for houseplants, as its label directs. Test the spray on one leaf and wait two days before treating the whole plant, and skip any plant the label warns against. Check weekly: they hide.
How to tell
Small, brown, limpet-like bumps stuck to stems and the undersides of leaves, often with sticky honeydew.
The fix
Scrape them off gently with a fingernail or old toothbrush, then treat with a neem or horticultural-oil product made for houseplants, as its label directs, and keep checking. Test the spray on one leaf and wait two days before treating the whole plant, and skip any plant the label warns against.
How to tell
Small black flies run across the soil and fly up when you water. Their larvae live in soil that stays damp.
The fix
This plant must not dry out, so water from below to keep the surface drier, catch the adults on yellow sticky traps, and treat the soil with a Bti larvicide as its label directs.
How to tell
Brown or black spots, often with a yellow halo, usually after the leaves stayed wet or the soil was overwatered.
The fix
Remove affected leaves, improve airflow, and water the soil rather than the leaves. Keep the soil evenly moist as this plant needs: wet leaves, not moist soil, spread leaf spot.
How to tell
Dry, bleached, or brown patches only where strong direct sun hits the leaf, with no bugs or webbing. Hydrangea wants bright, indirect light.
The fix
Move it back from the glass, out of the strongest sun.
Inspect new plants before bringing them home, check the undersides of leaves now and then, keep humidity up to deter mites, and isolate anything infested. Keep pets away from a treated plant until the spray has dried.
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