I've had my hydrangea plant for 3 years it was in full bloom when I got it and hasn't bloomed since then . I have it in a 10 gallon planter what can I do to get it blooming again. I've used old coffee grinds egg shells and good fertilized soil should I just be patient or am I doing something wrong? Please help

There are two types.
Sun and shade .
Sun type, bloom on last year's wood.
Shade type bloom on this year's growth.

Do you know what kind of hydrangea it is? If not, were the flowers pink, blue or white? Have you pruned it at all or did it die back from the tips in winter?

Can you post a picture of how does it currently look and it surrounding area?

Wow, Puremcdowell56. When I used to live in Atlanta, these guys usually gave no issues so, I too am surprised.

A variety that does not bloom reliably suggests to me that it is one the old wood blooming mopheads/lacecaps (also known as H. macrophyllas or H. serratas). These guys produce roundish or lacecap blooms that come in various shades of blue, purple, pink or white. They produce flower buds late in the year. July in the South. August-September in the north.... in July when I was in Atlanta. On or before mid-July down here (a friend cut all my blooms in mid-July one year). That means that if you were to prune after the end of June 2018, you would be cutting off the blooms that would open in Spring 2019. The solution is to prune after it has bloomed (so you envoy blooms) but before the end of June. Dates are approximate of course. ;o)

If you are having to prune your hydrangea, it may be too big for the planter. I have never had to prune one here... except when I get winter kill and dead wood. Should size be an issue, try to do rejuvenation pruning: prune the 1/3 oldest stems in Year 1; the next 1/3 oldest in year 2; and the rest in Year 3.

There are pests that love to eat the flower buds. Squirrels, bunnies and deer to that here. I am guessing some bunnies will not reach the top of the planter though. I saw lots of squirrels and a few deer in ATL though.

If you have hydrangeas in a planter, make sure you keep an eye on the nitrogen content (the "N" in the label's N-P-K Ratio). Too much nitrogen-righ fertilizer can prevent bloomage and produce nice green leaves only. For example, there are some varieties of Miracle Gro whose "N" ratio is 30, which means 30% is nitrogen.I try to use general purpose, slow-release fertilizers with a NPK Ratio around 10-10-10 or something close.

Winter kill was a problem sometimes in ATL. Temps below 20F, maybe 15F?, caused by stems to die off. Have you had any? If you are noticing that in Spring all the growth comes from the crown or base, that means that either there was not enough moisture or winter killed the buds/stems. Down here, I have my hydrangeas in the ground or temporary post. When I hear about very low temps, the night before I water deeply to help the plant. I also provide a little mulch, 2-4". And I try not to let the soil dry out too much in winter as it may make the plant kill the flower buds (I water every 2 weeks if it has been dry).

Dense shade can also be a problem but I really mean dense shade as opposed to what I see in my/most garden at worst... which I prefer to call bright shade.

Does this help?

Luis

The blooms were blue and some of the stems are woody while others look green

If the blooms were blue then this is a mophead or lacecap hydrangea. I would expect a rebloomer version would have developed late blooms in the last three years; since you say you have not gotten any blooms in 3 years then I assume it only blooms on old wood... their flower buds develop in July-September... at the latest (Sept) way up in the northern states.

Thus I would make sure you are not pruning the stems after June, that you are not fertilizing it too much/too often and that it gets some moisture once it goes dormant (snow can be considered moisture).

Growing a blue hydrangea that only blooms in old wood in zone 6 or less will also require winter protection of the hydrangea stems (not an issue for you in GA but I thought I would mention it just in case others in cold zones read this). For them, a potted hydrangea would need to be brought into a garage or heated room inside during winter. Any garage or shed may be ok in zone 7 but in colder zones like 4 or 5, it may help to use a heated garage.

Stems that are dried out looking.... completely... with no leaves... can be pruned all the way down by the end of May. On old shrubs, you can see part of the stem looking like hard dried out wood but at the very end the wood becomes green. This year's growth looks green. Last years maybe; even older stems would probably look dried out until you look at the very end of the stems. New growth from this year tends to be all green though.

luis_pr said:If the blooms were blue then this is a mophead or lacecap hydrangea. I would expect a rebloomer version would have developed late blooms in the last three years; since you say you have not gotten any blooms in 3 years then I assume it only blooms on old wood... their flower buds develop in July-September... at the latest (Sept) way up in the northern states.

Thus I would make sure you are not pruning the stems after June, that you are not fertilizing it too much/too often and that it gets some moisture once it goes dormant (snow can be considered moisture).

Growing a blue hydrangea that only blooms in old wood in zone 6 or less will also require winter protection of the hydrangea stems (not an issue for you in GA but I thought I would mention it just in case others in cold zones read this). For them, a potted hydrangea would need to be brought into a garage or heated room inside during winter. Any garage or shed may be ok in zone 7 but in colder zones like 4 or 5, it may help to use a heated garage.

Stems that are dried out looking.... completely... with no leaves... can be pruned all the way down by the end of May. On old shrubs, you can see part of the stem looking like hard dried out wood but at the very end the wood becomes green. This year's growth looks green. Last years maybe; even older stems would probably look dried out until you look at the very end of the stems. New growth from this year tends to be all green though.

The blue hydrangea in my area are all blooming except mine however should I prune it down to promote growth? Also contrary to belief my area got 3 inches of snow this past winter and my area only catches the setting sun so the snow did not melt off for nearly 2 weeks ....I just want my beautiful hydrangea to show off her beautiful blooms.. I am currently using fertilizer 10×3 the leaves are lush and green and cannot wait for her beautiful blooms thank you in advance

To much nitrogen, maybe ?

Philipwonel said:To much nitrogen, maybe ?

Maybe ? However I did use the old coffee grinds method and eggshells the plant itself looks great just no blooms . I got a bag of bone meal I'm going to try in june

If it is blue it either blooms only on old wood, or it blooms on both old and new depending on cultivar. I believe you are in USDA hardiness zone 8b. The most likely reason it is not blooming is that either your unusually cold spells in winter killed the flower buds, or it was pruned at the wrong time last year (or this year). On the off chance it is one that blooms on new wood also, definitely do not prune it now. If it blooms on old wood then pruning it now also won't make it flower this year. I rather doubt it has anything to do with nitrogen, and it sounds like you aren't actually fertilizing anyway, and if it is it would be related to what you did last year rather than this year.

Just how cold did it get when you had the bout with snow for two weeks? I am wondering if that zapped your flower buds. They normally develop in July when I was in Atlanta and mid-July down here. So cold spells in your area and mine can kill flower buds if they follow periods of warm temps in winter. Those periods can break dormancy and trigger internal changes that wake up the shrub; if that is followed by a drop, it could catch the flower buds unprepared for winter and zap them.

Since big temp swings happened / happens often to me, I winter protected and added other hydrangeas to make sure I got some bloomage. When I was in ATL, I added Annabelle and oakleaf hydrangeas. There were no rebloomer mopheads at the time. I have added serratas, rebloomer mophead/serratas, oakleafs and paniculatas in Tx.