Hmmmm. When I think of hypertufa pots, I think of miniature hosta. Those can be massed together in the really low pots which are much wider than tall. They need to have room for the roots to stabilize the plant in the soil. They could thrive in what is called usually a "trough."

When you get larger than that, the proportions sort of change to accommodate the root ball. The pots I'm currently using are from Lowes and they are black plastic nursery style pots....smooth and not the lighter weight rippled or corrugated nursery pots. Holes are on the sides of the pot at the bottom edge. There may be a hole in the bottom too for quicker drainage if you get the lighter weight plastic pots.

I provide at the bottom the pots I generally use. ONE of the tall pots sits on the tree stump. Most of the pots on the bleachers are of short fat pots (black) or pots slightly taller than round. Then there are some bowls of miniature/small hosta which fill the role of hypertufa at my garden. The "trade gallon" is the smallest pot I use but I don't have many in this picture, unless they have been moved to the wrought iron etagere. Those dry out quicker and are harder to water....I miss those pots more frequently than any other size. Adequate water to every pot is more critical in my kind of weather.

I know I have a picture of my potting table somewhere....why did I not add that term to my picture tags.....

How deep does a pot have to be? Depends on the actual accommodation of existing root system. Heat gain on the pot will be transferred to the roots. For larger plants, a whiskey barrel is about the right proportion. Diameter about twice the depth or more of the pot.

Okay I found this on my Flickr site.
First the Lowes pots ready to be used. The smaller ones are in the background.

Newly potted in the ICU area. I don't use the tall pot very often. Just something like Victory or a tall rangy hosta ...my new Regal Supreme went into a TALL one on arrival!

The bowls which might be equivalent to hypertufa troughs.

I have found over the years, that hostas will be happy in whatever pot you put them in as long as the roots have room. Keep in mind that they mostly send roots out sideways, which hit the sides of the pot, then go down and out or circle the bottom. Often times I find that even tho the roots are down the sides and out the bottom, that the whole middle of the pot is just soil, no roots. I don't repot those right away, I wait another year.

I have some in 2" shallow dishes. Those roots will go where ever they can within the confines. What you need to do is make sure that they get adequate moisture, whether that means every day or once a week depending on the container and the amount of roots.

I find that some just look better in a bowl than a pot. You get to pick. And the wonderful thing about growing them in pots , you can change your mind and transplant them with little or no shock to their roots because nothing gets cut/disturbed.

When I arrange mine next to my door, the black pots get camouflaged by putting bowls in front of them. I like to keep the smaller ones in bowls. When you think of it, Pandora's Box or Gaijin looks silly in a tall pot.

-Babka

Babka, that's' a good way of putting it. I recently received Pandoras Box and it was in a pot twice it's size and still looks rather silly! A marketing ploy to make money I guess, up pot it and charge more. I'm repotting with other minis currently.

Thanks for re-iterating your comments about the up-potting! I have a few whose roots are showing at the bottom (these hostas were new last year) and you saved me looking up my notes (in the form of a saved thread from earlier this year when I sought help with questions about potted hostas).

All the potted hostas are doing so well that I really hate to plant them in the ground, but if it means losing less, or any, over this coming winter, then they will be planted. But I am really amazed at the size of some of them! My hostas are having "leap year" syndrome over here and it is just so awesome and gratifying! :-)

Steetown,. . . . Colleen, one of our forum members makes her own hyper tufa containers, as well as a gorgeous water fountain! I hope she sees this thread and posts some pics of her pots, etc. Very talented gal! :-). I think she might plant a few directly and a few she inserts nursery-potted hostas into.

You are contemplating perhaps making some yourself. Have you made any before? It sounds like a fun project.

Jo I can see your Pandora's Box in a square treasure chest with the rounded lid opened back....like an old trunk and I bet the aquarium stores sell them in the right size for fish which MIGHT work for hosta.....anyway, a thought.

I have several shallow bowls with multiple small hosta in them. I've never placed a large hosta in anything shallow......unless it is Half And Half with Pathfinder. I'll have to remove the plants from the bowl to see how the root systems are faring. Hope they are not so entangled I cannot separate them without harm.

But if Babka does it so successfully, then it really must work. I'll have to experiment more.

Aha....I have an old copper firepit that I now have violets and such in.....the mostly sand and cactus potting mix is mounded up for the smaller plants. Now why did I not think of using it for my smaller hosta? What a waste if I do not.

An observation. At least with the wide mouth bowls you don't have trouble tipping the plants out of a pot.

Whoops, wrong potheads!

Don B.

thanks for the info..so what I gather just plant it in whatever...and I will know by the roots when it needs a bigger container...