Hosta in Pots ???

mommatina · Post by **mommatina** » Oct 23, 2007 10:39 am

I have never grown hosta in pots till this year and now I need to know just what to do with them.. I know I have read this topic on here before... just can't remember what to do... So any help will be appreciated...

Wild Dog · Post by **Wild Dog** » Oct 23, 2007 2:07 pm

Put them in an unheated garage when they are completely dormant (maybe Dec) and do not water until spring. If you don't have an unheated shelter of some sort start again and there are other ways.

John · Post by **John** » Oct 23, 2007 8:43 pm

What zone are you in Tina?

KatailS · Post by **KatailS** » Oct 24, 2007 7:36 am

Hi Mommatina~
I disagree with Wild Dog about not watering at all. If you let the pots dry out too much the hosta will die. When I store pots inside (unheated garage or unheated greenhouse) I occasionally shovel snow on top of the pots so they get some moisture thru the winter. Where you run into problems is when the freeze/thaw cycle hits in the late winter/early spring and the frozen water just sits on top of the pot and has no place to go. A hosta can rot. A simple solution is to tip the pots (or poke holes in the pot to allow drainage of standing water).
Side note, I just leave all my pots out side by side in the vegetable bed and most do just fine. The snow keeps them dormant, insulated and just watered enough.
Just my two cents.
Cheers~
Kathie

mommatina · Post by **mommatina** » Oct 24, 2007 12:38 pm

John, I'm in zone 5...

And the pots have good drainage.. I was thinking about storing them under the steps to the back porch, but I do have a building to store them in...

I would really hate to lose them.. one is the Fire and Ice Brenda gave me,.. actually one of the first hosta I got.. and the other is a division of Brenda's Beauty Lucy gave me..

Ginger · Post by **Ginger** » Oct 24, 2007 12:47 pm

Tina,
I am not sure about the climates differences between WVA and OK, but I think you can leave them out under the porch, or in the building whichever you prefer. I left mine out last year, but had the pots all close together in a ring with the biggest on the outside, and the smallest on the inside. I let snow pile up on them, and did not worry about the moisture rotting, but I have drainage holes in my pots.
They all came up beautifully this spring, I had no damage, and did not lose any. If you left them under the porch, they should also get a bit of moisture from the air, if nothing else and I bet they would be okay.

Ginger

kHT · Post by **kHT** » Oct 24, 2007 1:35 pm

Thank you Tina for asking my questions as we too have lots of potted ones we were going to sink into the beds.

Wild Dog · Post by **Wild Dog** » Oct 24, 2007 2:45 pm

Don't worry about the temp that is not the question; it is the freeze/thaw problem over the colder months. Under the steps is fine unless rain or snow can blow in, it's not the rain or snow but the freeze and thaw. Pots can freeze inside causing a little pond with no drainage then the top or soil level thaws and freezes which can happen over and over.

If you leave them outside where they can get water that you don't control then mulch the pot up to top or even above the lip of the pot this takes care of the freeze/thaw question.

Now comes spring and we want to remove the mulch to see what is going on, well warmer soil or pot temperatures are going on with the mulch removed, which causes the plants to emerge. Now, we are back to the freeze/thaw cycle, the only thing to really worry about. I repeat don’t worry about the temp, there are only a few places in the US at high elevations where temp could be a problem and the mountains of WVA are not cold enough.

VThosta/daylilylover · Post by **VThosta/daylilylover** » Oct 24, 2007 3:33 pm

I've had no experience with hostas in pots over the winter but I have had a few very nicely decorated pots crack when left out in the winter with no covering.

The water can crack the pot. Just mentioning this in case anyone is using a nice pot...

John · Post by **John** » Oct 24, 2007 4:59 pm

Tina, you mention that you have good drainage, that is the important thing. I'd move them under the steps myself.

I asked your zone, as I had no idea if it ever even froze in your area of WV; surprised it is zone 5. Snow or ice would not be a consideration if that did not happen!

It is the cold and wet springs that often kill (rot) hostas in containers, but with some protection from the elements, and good drainage you should be fine.

I'm in zone 6 bordering zone 7, and move all my containers under the canopied part of the patio and up against the house; this has worked very well. There are people who say that a dormant hosta has no need of water, but if the containers look bone-dry, I have been know to give them some.

thy · Post by **thy** » Oct 24, 2007 8:55 pm

Seems to be a topic we can always diagree on.

Living in a thaw/ freze on a more or less daily base... my hostas can swim in water, get ice on top, stand in frosen ice.. one thing I know for sure... I can kill them if they are too dry, but do not think I can if they swim.

Think our zones have a lot to do with our disagreement. During the years it have looked like the warmer your zone is, the better they survive in pots.

Tina, you get lots of snow and cold weather. I belive those hostas are precious to you... I would plant them with or without the pot in the soil. It is the most safe way to keep them.

Not saying I loose one hosta in the soil every year, but never in a pot... but my zone is 7 to 8

Justaysam · Post by **Justaysam** » Oct 25, 2007 8:57 am

Tina, I have lost every potted hosta I ever leave out in my zone 5. I did move a hundred or so in Jan. one year and lost none that I know of. Last year I lost a very nice seedling "just leaving it out in the garden" I think, because I don't know why, that it died because it started to emerge in the spring, then the moisture on the top of the pot froze and the little growing tip rotted.
When I moved those hundred hosta, I dug them up after frost had killed all the top growth, and layered them in soil, in sweater boxes I had put drainage holes into the bottoms. I left them outside until Jan. 10th or so, them moved them into the garage. Once they were put into the boxes, I did water the boxes, I used bagged soil and it was a little dry. Once I moved, they went into the new house's garage where they started to emerge in early March or so.
I have some hosta in community half barrels, and some still potted seedlings, nothing that great, but I am going to try the sweater boxes again and try to get them thru the winter to be added to my garden next spring. Good luck with your's what ever you decide.

Wild Dog · Post by **Wild Dog** » Oct 25, 2007 11:07 am

and layered them in soil, in sweater boxes I had put drainage holes into the bottoms.

I know when you wrote this there was a nice clear picture in your mind that I can't see. Can you describe in more detail.

digs57 · Post by **digs57** » Oct 25, 2007 9:04 pm

I sink the pots into the ground, pot edge flush with ground surface, plus a handful of dirt into the pot to fill it. This works just fine with all varieties and all sizes, and I don't have to wait till the plant's gone dormant before I "ground it".

LynneM · Post by **LynneM** » Oct 28, 2007 7:05 pm

I'll go with Wilddog on this one.. My potted hosta are kept outside and watered until the first killing frost or freeze. Then in the garage they go, and I don't water them again until I start putting them out when the weather breaks. Never had a problem, and I do this every year.

Wild Dog · Post by **Wild Dog** » Oct 28, 2007 7:22 pm

Then in the garage they go, and I don't water them again until I start putting them out when the weather breaks. Never had a problem, and I do this every year.

I did in fact the first year I put hosta in the garage I "ASSUMED" they needed to be well watered and did just that and lost several, since then I do as you do Lynne and have never lost one.

Roxanne · Post by **Roxanne** » Oct 28, 2007 9:37 pm

Lynne, Wild Dog, I can't agree more. In midwest climate, you are best putting potted Hostas in a bone-dry area for dormancy, assuming they have been well watered prior.
Hosta roots don't take up any water after they are dormant.
Their roots do nothing. They rest, waiting for the following year, then what comes up for you is what energy was stored in the crown the previous year. End of story. The roots don't start growing again until the plant puts it's second flush of leaves out, and that is when you should be sure to water! Watering or leaving a potted Hosta that is dormant outside is only asking for rot, unless it is tipped over or protected in some way.

Wild Dog · Post by **Wild Dog** » Oct 28, 2007 10:28 pm

Then in the garage they go, and I don't water them again until I start putting them out when the weather breaks. Never had a problem, and I do this every year.

Rox I think next years energy is stored in the roots and you are right about watering prior to dormancy. If you wait it is to late and I didn't lose a couple I lost a bunch when I watered late.

Dovid · Post by **Dovid** » Nov 02, 2007 8:21 am

If you have too many to place in a garage, then you can dig a trench (I assume that you don't have the big guys like Sum and Substance in pots like I saw in California) twice as deep as the pot is wide, and lay the pots on their sides along the bottom of the trench.
A good place for the trench would be a vegetable garden.
Backfill with a layer of leaves and then top with the dirt you excavated. Laying the pots on their side is to help them from becoming waterlogged. The leaves make it easier to dig the pots out in the Spring. You don't have to worry about the plants emerging earlier in the Spring than the ones you have in the beds. If anything, the varieties that emerge a little too early for their own good in open ground will be better off in the trench.

As for decorative pots being damaged by frost, I have had some crack when they were left outside empty with no soil in them. It's worth putting these in the basement or garage.

Wild Dog · Post by **Wild Dog** » Nov 02, 2007 3:51 pm

If you have too many to place in a garage, then you can dig a trench

A bit more work but safer and plants in the garage often come up earlier even than outside in the ground.