Not being in zone 8, I cannot speak to the issue of whether repotting will spur new growth. As for root growth, hosta grow roots after the leaves emerge and simply store the nutrients for next year as the leaves shut down, so not much (if any) root growth without leaves.

tj

They don't grow any roots when they are dormant. I would let sleeping roots lie...and when you first see eyes poke up in spring, get busy. If they are dormant and not making leaves, they won't suck up the fertilizer. However I'm thinking of Hallsons notes that come with each hosta...if you receive them in a dormant state you can pot them up but keep them (relatively) dry until you see shoots (pips).

Probably over thinking this, as I had more success with them when I just stuck them in a corner. Guess now I have too much $$$$ invested and am over-obsessed.

You've been growing them for a number of years and I'm sure you will figure out what works for you under your conditions. If some die. get new ones. That is getting to be my attitude.

I suppose you could re-pot a few now (not the expensive ones) and see how that works for you. I'd just wait until Spring.

-Babka

Great question, bk. What do you mean by a pot with a built-in bottom? You use a pine bark mulch and not nuggets, right? What % of that do you use?

My thought on the fall potting, and this is just me thinking, not based on any fact and you know more about this than I do, is the fact that new potting soil is SO dry. It seems like to me that it takes a while before the potting soil holds water evenly after first watering it. With our warmer weather I try to find the balance between not too wet and not too dry, and I would worry about finding that balance in new potting soil with our 30 degree weather one day and 80 the next and 30 for the next and back to 80 for two weeks, not wanting to overwater but not wanting the media to be bone dry during an extended warm period. Any thoughts on that?

I agree with Babka....so easy to overthink this stuff. I think I just proved how easy it is to do that!

Y'all are probably right. Just wait until they start to pip. Almost everything either needs a bigger pot, a new pot or total new soil. I only have about 80 hosta, but that's still a big job.

I use a big bag of Miracle Grow regular potting soil and a big bag of pine bark mulch and I just mix it up.

I have lots of those pots that the bottom will come off, if you pull it. That's about all that's been available around here. They look really ugly without the bottom, but I found if you leave the bottom on, it provides a breeding place for slugs - even if you drill holes in the "saucer". They also make the pots stay too wet.

bk

BKay, as Babka says, my first order of 2014 from Hallsons was in a Ziploc bag dormant, with a goodly supply of dry sphagnum peat moss. Then I potted them with the pointy end up.

For southern zones, we can go right ahead and pot them but I'm sure in colder zones where they get them that early, they leave them dormant until signs of growth. All I read of the instructions was what applied to me.

Hmmm, I think what BKay is meaning by the built-in saucers is the same ones that gave me trouble rotting my hosta last two seasons. I repotted over 200 of them early last year, and found I had to replace the potting medium as well for many that were here in 2011 and 2012. I had drilled holes in the bottoms of those pots and saucers to increase the drainage....but, if they sit directly on the soil, they don't drain so well, and the holes plug up and then the saucer holds water up about 2.5" deep in the pot. I gave all those pots to my two gardening neighbors, and I replaced them with the black nursery style pots from Lowes, which had the holes on the sides and not on the bottom.

I also discovered that one of my two Lakeside Black Satin, which I sat in its pot on top of the Agnus Castus Vitex (a small ornamental tree/shrub) pot, was not doing so well. I thought I need to see what is going on. Well, it turns out that the poor thing had root competition from a lot of roots growing UP from the vitex! It was getting the water, so the vitex roots came after it! Isn't that interesting.

Let's see if I have a picture of my built in saucer pots before I got rid of them. In a high rainfall area, these are not good for hosta. I think you can see the pot on this one in 2012. If not, I'll look for another

Here is a mass of hosta, some in the attached saucer pots. This taken in May, the last ones I had to repot into the black nursery style pots. It made a really big difference to get rid of them. For me it did. Your mileage may vary.
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This shows a bunch of the ones I repotted. I got this bunch in 2012, so in May 2014 it was only a short time before they were ready to pot up anyway. Only, they were really not as large as they would have been IMHO. I show them next to the deck where they stayed for a couple of days after repotting, to make sure I watered them in properly and such.
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I discovered that the mix I'd put my beloved hosta into before I knew what was best practice, was really deplorable. Remember, I was totally green in 2012, even though I had placed 2 orders total--one in 2010 and maybe 2 in 2011.It was in 2012 that I went zip crazy over hosta, and knew not what I was doing.

And here you see mostly black pots, I was busy redoing the fragrant ones first into new pots, and you see in the background one yellow pot with attached saucer. But I was on my way to repotting every last one of them.
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I slept very well in the month of May!

I didn't want black pots, so found a greenhouse supply online that had terra cotta colored pots with good drainage holes. I have to figure out how many I need, but that should be easy.

Mocc, your gardens always have that "coastline" look to them. I love the Louisiana plantations. Your gardens, with the moss, are reminiscent of those lovely places. Thanks for sharing.

bk

I have started repotting somewhere in February. I have found that if I repot in the fall I get setback. If I do it in late winter they don't have a clue. I do not disturb the root ball and in the spring off they grow. It rains here all winter so I do not have to water although I have. I have never thought my hostas go truly dormant. More like a nap while they are planning their next move. I have some now that will not go down politely. It always amazes me they come back.

moccasinlanding---Your hostas look so happy! What great pics, as always.

Enjoyed reading your post, Paula! Good to hear from you...

Bk, I envy you the fact that you can still get at your hostas...and be able to muck about in the potting mix...I can almost smell it when it's damp...not like Mother Earth but it has a nice, clean smell anyway. ðÂÂÂ

I've left a few hostas in pots again...just to finish up my potting experiment. I will have a couple to repot in the spring as there were roots coming out the bottom but for a quick fix I just shook a bit of mix into the bottom of an empty pot and plunked the "rooty" pot inside it.

Why would anyone in zone 5 pot some of their hosta? Beats me, but I like finding new things out I guess. I really loved the fact that slugs left them alone!

Really enjoyed prettier hostas this year. I have you and the other potheads to thank for inspiring me to try something new.

I wish you winter success this year, BK ... that in spring ALL your beautiful hostas emerge happy and healthy!

Jo

Thanks, Jo. Last year was difficult with the construction and the fiasco that turned out to be. They got almost no attention, other than water. After my neighbor took down her tree, almost everything was in too much sun.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how they fared with so little attention. I bought several really nice hosta last year, but am especially looking forward to Manhattan and Lakeside Cindy Cee. I got them from LOTG, so they were tall and leggy and stayed taped all year.

For once, I don't have a list of hosta I want. The only one I REALLY want is not available, which is Olga's Viva Las Vegas. So far, though, Olga's beautiful hosta haven't done so well for me in Texas. I love Brother Stephan, but it hasn't grown much. Niagara Falls has not done all that well, either. Key West has grown, but it's really ugly. It burns easily,

I'm really looking forward to getting my hosta in good shape. I have some really nice hosta that deserve to shine. That's my goal for 2015.

I am hoping for no late freezes.

bk