This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.
Repotting hostas
jdp1810
Posts: 23
I live in Cornwall and want to repot some hostas, when is the best time to do this?
0
Posts
I do it just as they begin to start into growth in the spring.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I have a few hostas which now totally fill their pots - tips showing rights across the pot when they come to life in the spring. How much of the existing plant would you suggest retaining for the current pot?
Thanks dove from above, do you wait till the new tips are showing through the soil or repot before that stage?
@ jdp ... To be honest it depends on when I have time to do it and what the weather's like, and also when I have OH available to help as some of the pots are very heavy.
@ KT53 ... It depends on what I want the result to be ... if I want a few full and burgeoning containers then I'd perhaps only split it in half or thirds ... if I want to produce lots more plants and am happy to wait a few years for 'full and burgeoning' then I split them into smaller clumps.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Thanks Dove. I have about 15 pots in a group on the patio, so do want them to look full. I'll start by chopping the very full ones down to about half their size and see how it goes. I can always repeat the exercise next year if necessary.
I'll plant the excess into the borders and try to protect them from slugs and snails!
Good luck! I've found nematodes to be successful with slugs ........... the snails are the biggest problem with the hostas in my beds ... I find the ones in large terracotta pots with copper tape around them survive relatively unscathed.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I moved excess hostas into beds and did very well using the Valentine's Day massacre principle - small amounts of wildlife friendly slug pellets scattered around susceptible plants once a week starting on Valentine's day cos it's easy to remember. Keep this up - sparingly - and you'll get the slimesters as they hatch or emerge form hibernation and before they can feed and breed.
I also tended to keep my hostas clustered in two main areas, plus the pots, to make pelleting easier and more effective.
I put copper tape around all my pots this year and only one or two got munched late in the year. I suspect the leaves reached the wall or fence and the slugs/snails absailed down onto them. I plan to spread horticultural grit around the ones I plant out and will also try to work out a method of getting the tape around them too.
Have never found copper tape in Belgium and haven't yet looked here. I don't easily find grit either but I do use chipped bark or pebbles to help retain moisture in the pots. Pellets are not ideal but they do work if used carefully and regularly and not excessively.
I found the copper tape on Amazon.