When mine outgrow the largest container I can lift (3 gal, yeah, I know I'm a weakling), I divide them. By then I have been able to enjoy mature leaves on the hosta for a few years. I have plants (not hostas) that are in larger containers and there is no hope of getting them out of their containers after 10 or more years. I would need a crane. For those I have to drill vertical holes with a 1" wide long shank drill so water and food can get into those roots. I have one white pine that has been in the same container for 18 years. I find that as hostas get really rootbound, the leaves get smaller....but they DO keep on coming back!!!

You probably could sell your plant and start over. There are a whole lot of hostas with more interesting leaves that are the size of dinner plates and will get over 4' across in containers. Some of mine do in just 3 gal cans! Since you are in a townhouse, why not have SEVERAL pots of hostas instead of only one. ;)

-Babka

Time for a new pot!

I think that palm tree pot is larger than my whole patio... Lol

And I do have other hostas in pots. The same year I got the Empress Wu I got Striptease, Orange Marmalade and Blue Mouse Ears. The first two are in smallish containers, probably a 4 gallon. And the mouse ears I'm trying to fill up a long planter with.

This year I added Blue Ivory, Andrew, and Preying Hands to the collection, starting them in 1 gallon pots for now, I know the first two of them are slow growers.

I'm still going to try finding a larger pot for the empress. If I can't though I'll divide her since there's almost no room left to put plant food in around the base of the plant anymore.

For fun, here's some pictures of my whole collection. (Sorry I don't know how to get multiple pictures to display properly)

So, I have maples and not everything grows under a maple. We bought a new washing machine and I had my husbad turn the tub into a planter. Here it is with three hosta. If you have a junk yard that sells appliance parts you might be able to buy one cheep. They are about 25 - 30 gallons each.

find a high end nursery ... and show them the pic.. and offer to sell it to them ... if they come get it ....

and start over ...

what is it worth.. how do i know.. are there peeps in NJ with more money than common sense ... call it instant gratification ...

PLUS ... they send two large burly men.. to hoik it out of there

couple hundred bucks???? ... what do you think it could be sold for in NJ????

ken

I don't wanna sell it as I'm rather attached, though I did check with a couple garden centers for the heck of it. They were all of the opinion that it was too large to easily sell. Someone with more money than sense might buy it but it wasn't a smart investment on their part.

Good news though is that one place gave me a larger pot free of charge. At 30 inches wide and 20 tall its close to 60 gallons.

Now I just need to figure out how to transplant it. You guys think its worth trying now or would it be better to wait until its dormant? I'm sure it'll be easier without the leaves in the way.

Beautiful plant! I have an Empress Wu in the soil that is 3 years old this year, and I have no doubt it will become my largest hosta. The leaves are so tall and huge that it really is in a league of it's own!

If you wish to get a bigger container and can tackle the repotting issues and then have a place to display it, I'd visit a tree nursery because those are huge pots.

Perhaps your homeowners association or management would consider taking it under their wings as is and you could do as suggested--get several different hosta to keep in containers.

I have about 95% of mine in containers here. Some are getting close to maturity now and I repotted many of them this spring. Do you know you want a GIANT hosta? Then take a look at the discussion GO BIG OR GO HOME. I'll bump it up to page one. Most giants are grown in the ground but you'll get the idea.
One that I love is Victory. It gets huge and the flower scapes are the tallest I've seen. Plus it is fertile. The scapes in this picture taken May 29 are getting tall but not fully grown yet.

You read my mind about the tree nursery. That's where I got the big 60 gallon pot. According to the sticker on the side it had an oak leaf holly in it at one point, but it'd been laying out at the back of the nursery for a couple years so they had no problem letting me have it.

Also I used to work there so they knew me.

There's no homeowners association where we are. I think there used to be but its an old development so nobody really cares anymore.

And I saw the go big or go home thread. Awesome plants in there, some are just about the same size as mine. I really want to give the Empress a chance to reach her full potential, since its only a 3 year old plant.

Also, Blacksheep, one of our regular's sister grows her hosta mostly in pots and used the giant totes for them. I think the sister lives in Seattle.

I'm also a "pot head". I would wait until it's dormant. That said, I usually have a hard time getting out there in the cold with water and dirt. Chances are it will get damaged if you do it when it's in full leaf. If you decide to do it while it's in full leaf, read ken's thread on "moving a fully leafed out hosta" . A lot of it will apply to this situation.

Good luck.

bk

Darn, Ken took all of the photos down. Still, the words are there.

*Don't you just love the edit feature? I can now correct my bad grammar (well, the part I know about, anyway)!

Here is a link that might be useful: moving a fully leafed out hosta

This post was edited by bkay2000 on Sun, Jun 8, 14 at 19:44

Bk, I think Ken was having problems with his photobucket, hopefully he can get it sorted sometime as this thread is really helpful to newbies like me and is linked to all over the interwebs.

Denis

P.S. loving all the huge guys in pots.

35 gallon flowerpot, meet 60 gallon! This is going to be an epic transplant, I'll be sure to post some pics of the process. Though it's defiantly going to be over the winter.

I took this pic yesterday on a tour.

It is a lovely old bath tub, the Hosta perhaps Blue Angel, just a guess.

It can probably stay there for a while. But if it should ever be transplanted, then probably in pieces.

Just thought it a great combination,

so good luck for transplanting your Empress,

bye, Lin

Just a thought: I would wait until your hosta is dormant and then lay the pots on their sides. Slip the smaller one into the larger one and then upright them. Cut the smaller pot away and remove it, loosen the roots and add new soil. Check that there is proper drainage.

I've done this with a few monsters that I have had and it works great.

Good luck!

Linda

Ya dropping the old pot into the new and cutting it was my plan already. Only difference is I was gonna get a couple friends to help lift it in vertically since I want a fresh layer of soil at the bottom and tipping it would dump it out,

Nice bathtub. It is built similar to the barrels they age whiskey in and sell as half barrels....just not that diameter. I'd love to find something like that wooden tub and use it as a fish pond/fountain.

Is your existing pot with the Empress 24inches in diameter or less? I put a link below to what is called a POT LIFTER which can deal with 200 lbs up to 24 inches diameter. I was thinking about getting one when I can no longer lift or wiggle the bigger pots around the garden alone. You might could rig up something similar to fit your current pot if it happens to be really too large for such a lifter.

I hope you throw an Empress Wu COMING OUT PARTY for the friends ensconcing her on the new throne? Why not think at least about a suitable consort? Something like Yellow Emperor? :)

Hosta can be so much fun.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pot lifter 200 lbs 24 inch pot limit

The current pot is 24 inches wide and about 200 pounds. Its got handles and a sturdy rim though so lifting it with some help shouldn't be an issue.

And OMG yellow emperor is perfect! I've been wanting a yellow and was thinking of adding a key west next year, but the emperor is even better!

Ah yes, BlackSheep! I am glowing here for ENABLING you one more time. Sigh.....aren't hosta wonderful.

Here is mine on May 20 when I potted it up. This one came from Savorys up in MN. Leaves arrived big.

Excellent link Mocc!
Gives me ideas for moving pots to winter storage.

Thanks!

It is interesting reading about all of you that grow hosta in large pots however I noticed most of you hosta lovers are from zone 6 or greater. I would like to hear from those in zone 4 or 3 as to their experience with growing in large pots and if so what do they do in the winter.

I cant speak for those in colder climates, but here in zone 6/7 hostas are basically winter-proof.

Back when I worked at the garden center there was a fall when we were dividing and repotting some hostas, and somehow a small piece got dropped on the ground.

That little hosta piece lay there, bare rooted, all winter long and wasn't noticed until the spring when it started to sprout leaves.