stops elongated root growth and stimulates the develoment of secondary and lateral roots promoting a fibrous and healthy root system."

==>> a properly grown hosta root is straight.. it does not develop secondary branching ... nor lateral roots ... mind you sometimes they do.. but that is the exception.. rather than the rule ...

so i would wonder.. not fact here.. wonder.. of what good it would be to hosta roots ??

i am going to bet.. that you are going to have to be the first to try it.. good luck ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Ken, just the kind of feed back I'm looking for. Thanks.

The manufacturer of spin out also stated that it prevents plants from getting root bound in containers. So there would be an advantage to having spin out on the inside of the spin out bag inside the ground, especially if one is planting large hostas in them. Another question that the experiment could answer: Can conditions be created such that the exception (branching) becomes the rule?? If I get the fabric I will experiment.

Any other thoughts? I'd appreciate hearing them.

Ira,

That advertising language is meant to compare the use of bags to pots. The tree is in mother earth. There's nothing better for it than that.

Steve

Ira, that makes no sense at all - "it prevents plants from getting root bound in containers". The only way to keep a plant from getting rootbound is that it quits growing. So, they are saying it stunts the growth. I'm sure that would be advantageous to some. I read about someone in Ft. Worth who has had the same plant in a pot for thirty years or so. She root prunes it every year. It serves a certain purpose in her landscape and uses two of them every year. Spinout material might work for her.

Most of us want our hosta to mature.

JMO

Bkay

Steve, thanks for the input. Yes, if the spin out bag is in the ground, doesn't it act like a pot in the ground? When the hosta outgrows the spin out bag, wouldn't it get root bound? The manufacturer claims that spin out on the inside of the spin out bag prevents a plant from getting root bound, if that makes sense.

Bkay, that's what they are saying that when the root tip/growing tip hits the spin out/copper hydroxide the root tipstops growing forcing branching and more fibrous root growth. Although the root is smaller in diameter, it is healthier because of branching and growth of extra fibers. That's what they claim. I don't know enough about hosta roots and don't know whether what they claim applies to hostas.

I'm having trouble finding a Canadian retailer who is able or willing to sell me small quantities of spin out bags. Textel did say they would send me one 5 gal and one 10 gal bag as samples for free. I called Wildrose Distributing in the States to see if they deliver to Canada but got their answering machine.

Anyhow, I'm just passing on what I learned from the spin out websites because I thought it might be helpful/useful to those of us growing hostas under trees.

i have a friend who has a home biz greenhouse..

he buys an equivalent paint.. and paints the inside of all his tree pots.. to encourage roots to grow down and out..

swears by it ...

ken

For your information:

This appeared in the September 2000 growers" newsletter Something To Grow On in Alabama:

EFFECTS OF CYCLIC MICRO-IRRIGATION AND COPPER CONTAINER TREATMENTS ON THE GROWTH OF WHITE CEDAR AND 'BLUE ICE' ARIZONA CYPRESS
Research presented at the SNA meeting in Atlanta in August by
Robert C. Trawick, Ken M. Tilt, Harry G. Ponder,
Gary J. Keever and James E. Altland
Auburn University, Department of Horticulture, 36849
(�)

Copper container treatments:â¨Circling roots of plants grown in an incorrect sized container or from improper placement of a vigorously rooting plant in a container that is too small can cause permanent injury to a plant. Copper container treatments offer relief from these problems. Root-bound plants are slower to establish following transplanting into a larger container or the landscape. Copper applied to the inner surface of containers is effective in reducing surface root development by chemically pruning roots as they encounter the container wall. However, some growers have noted that roots of plants treated with Spin Out� continued to be suppressed once removed from a copper free environment. Currently there are two copper treated containers available in the nursery industry, Spin Out� (Spin Out�, Lerio Corporation, Mobile, AL) containers coated with copper hydroxide and Root RightTM (Nursery Supplies Inc., Chambersburg, PA) containers impregnated with copper chloride.
(�)
A 2.5 gallon container of SpinOut Root Growth Regulator is selling on Ebay.com (only in the States) for $250.00 US.

I haven't found any studies using hostas.

Hmmm, puzzling that this one was bumped up to Oct/Nov posts and it shows only August as the most recent post. Good info, just puzzled about it reappearing so high up in the recent topics.......