What's wrong with this Hosta?

[mommatina]

I have a problem with a couple of my hosta... they seem to be coming up out of the ground.. What is going on with them? and what can I do to help? The Krossa Regal is growing near the No Idea one... I know that is bad not knowing what it is. I do have a list (somewhere).

Please help...

[mommatina]

Thanks for all the help....

Come on now someone has to know what is going on...are they just dieing? Last year Lakeside Coalminer was beautiful...lot's of eyes.. and as you can see this year only 3 eyes... advice please...

[jgh]

I wonder if the crowns got covered up by some extra dirt / compost / whatever settling in over them...

If the crown is too deep in the soil, and especially if they sit in cold wet spring soil, the crown can rot... being persistent little devils, even if the main crown and eyes that were set to come up are damaged, the remaining roots/crown will shoot up some eyes - usually smallish ones.

I just happened to be digging a row of Lakeside Coal Miner this mornging... once established, it is usually pretty vigorous (like ventricosa)... but the crown is usually right at the surface. I think if this one had lots of eyes last year and looks like this this year, the crown is buried and/or damaged.

Best answer... dig up Coal Miner and look at what's happening. Give us a pic of that and we'll give you more ideas...

[R. Rock]

I had that happen to some after I cut the leaves back after a terrible storm. It was late in the summer. I have heard some varieties will do as your picture shows from not being divided and just the nature of some hosta. I would dig it up, divide it and replant w/ fresh soil.

[Mary Ann]

I would guess that the soil got washed away with heavy rain or if your soil contains lots of organic matter, it decomposed, leaving the crowns high and dry. Add more soil.

[Linda P]

Tina, I missed this post entirely! If it looks like it's coming out of the ground, then Mary Ann's probably right. Another possiblity would be voles. They may have tunneled in and eaten part of your hosta. I have about half of a formerly very nice Lakeside Lollipop that is missing this spring, and the rest of it is out of the ground too far. The vole tunnels apparantly collapsed in the spring rains and the soil sunk down around the hosta. Either way, I would dig it up, check out the roots, and then replant it. I've had giant clumps of hostas disappear in one season, sometimes I can figure out what happened, and for other ones I never know. The unknown one looks like it's developing fairy ring, where the older center of the hosta dies out and the new growth is around the edges. I have many very old Royal Standards that are doing this. It looks bad when they first break ground, but by the time the leaves come out, you can't see the empty center anymore. I've never felt the need to dig them and cut out the bad center. It may become necessary someday, but for now they're just staying the way they are.
I know you don't want to lose that Coal Miner, so I would really concentrate on getting that one out of the ground to see what's going on with it. Make sure you dig far around it so you don't disturb the roots that are left. Good luck!
Linda P

[jgh]

sorry... I didn't catch the comment about "out of the ground" - I couldn't see crown in the pics...

so I'll line up with the other folks... in one way or another, you've got crown damage. Voles... fungus... exposure... who knows?! It looks like the main part of the crown is dead and the plant is shooting up eyes around the edge. Actually, the Krossa looks like it might just be developing the classic "fairy ring" that happens to lots of hostas, with the center dying out and the main growth around the circumfrence of the crown.

For me, the best bet with plants like this has been to dig them up and treat them like new, young plants. The clump may actually fall apart. Divide them or remove the damage and replant at the correct depth... take the opportunity to amend the soil and make sure the drainage is good... and then plan to wait the couple of years for them to come back to maturity... also a good time to take divisions.