Peggy - Great Expectations from 7 leaves to 32 leaves in third year - I'm impressed - any pics?

Paul

I am curious what kind of potting medium you used. I might try this on a few of my hostas planted along a wooded area. I would love pics too!

Paul, I'll try to post pics tomorrow. I'm not very good at it since photobucket changed the format. I need to mow tonight as family is coming for a reunion tomorrow eve.
Jenna, I use the same soil/dirt that I just dug out of that hole.
Peggy

Wow,worth giving a try
Judy

WOW those are VERY IMPRESSIVE numbers! I'd say it works great.

Peggy.... Thanks for sharing the results. I have an area I am considering planting, but the presence of a large silver maple is what's stopping me. I'm going to give some serious thought to your technique!

This may sound silly, but why did you bag some of the hostas and not others?

Hey Peggy,

Thanks for the data/trial. It sounds like a winner!

Jean

Hi, Peggy...you just answered my questions also. Thanks for
the info.
Margaret

I'm impressed with your results. My question though is can you leave the plants in their containers indefinitely, or will they outgrow their pails???? Mary

I don't get it - if there are too many roots, how do you get them out of the way of the pot? I fight every size root there is on this planet - from as big as an elephant leg to threads - millions in one square foot that make it impossible to dig. How do you get them in the ground? Only thing I could do is saw the roots but I'm afraid it would kill the trees.

Westy

The reason that I put some in plastic bags in the pots was because those pots were former plant containers from a nursery that have 4-5 holes in the bottom of the pot. The plastic will keep the roots from getting into my hosta roots.
I did encounter some medium size roots when digging the holes so I just dug a little farther off to one side. Most of the roots are small and easy to chop out.
I'm not sure what I will do once some of these plants get to their mature size.
Peggy

Another year has past and the buried pail hostas have all increased. Here's a list of about half of the previous year. The mosquitos were hungry!
The first number on each line is 2008
Second number 2009
Third number 2010
Fourth 2011
Ultramarine 25-53-79-83
Bubba 20-34-117-90
Jewel of the Nile 12-19-33-38
Shade Fanfare 12-36-55-60
August Moon 10-12-52-66
Royal Standard 9-33-89-100+
Abiqua Moonbeam 10-14-61-69
Krossa Regal 8-19-39-53
Spritzer 14-20-36-61
Lemon Delight 25-45-83-100+
The leaves all look good and appropriate size for the cultivar. And of course, I baby them with a lot of warm lake water.
Peggy

Re: Digging in "rooty" dirt, I have broken shovel handles, used full size axes, matics and finally found a good old post hole digger does the best. I keep my edges sharp. But an elephant leg size root - move the hole.

Les

So, you're counting leaves, not eyes? I use the spin-out bags. Don't the roots get into the holes in the containers? I've had maple roots jump the bags and that's even when I left an inch or so above ground. They can get squished down. I check every spring now and cut any that jumped in there. And, if you put plastic, how does it drain?

Keana, I drilled holes in most of the pots about 6" from the top. I'm sure some ash roots are creeping in there, but much less competition than without.
I counted the leaves because it was easy to do without disturbing the plants and the mosquitos.
Peggy