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Best feed for hostas

KT53KT53 Posts: 9,016
in Problem solving
I had intended to repot a lot of my hostas but hip surgery got in the way.  I'm not going to be able to do it this year and some have been in the same pot for a few years.  What's the best feed to use to make up for the lack of nutrient in the pots please.
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Posts

  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    I've never fed mine 
    Devon.
  • Dirty HarryDirty Harry Posts: 1,048
    edited April 2023
    I occasionally give mine a dilute tomato feed once they're up to speed. Don't know if it makes a difference in all honesty but I figured some extra nutrients now and again can't hurt, certainly doesn't seem to anyway!

    If it makes you feel any better, a local gardener who sells plants showed me his relatively recently re-potted hosta, he hadn't had it out in 14 years so I suspect they're not overly fussy.
  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    If you think your compost is now lacking in nutrients @KT53, use an organic general purpose feed like blood fish and bone scattered on the surface of the pot and gradually watered in.  The nitrogen in the feed will help to encourage healthy leaf growth. There are other soluble general purpose fertilisers you can use like Vitax Organic All Purpose Food.  
    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    Tomato feed is better used later on if you want to encourage flower production but a general purpose feed with high nitrogen levels is best now, at the start of the growing season.
    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited April 2023
    Saying I don't feed my hostas is no help to you.  But I pot them in JINo3 and leave until they fill the pot.

    Few know how well our own pet ideas of fertilising work.  Come on, where are your results.  We do it for insurance , or because we fall for the advertisements.  Also it's the way we treat our own fat selves.

    With the available evidence for effectiveness being weak, I would go for cheapest:  Growmore, scattered on the surface.  Or if you buy into the organic idea then: blood fish and bone.  If you have been using a soil-based compost it should still have enough trace elements.  If not, it will show.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • KT53KT53 Posts: 9,016
    Thanks for the suggestions. 
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    surely the cheapest is to NOT feed?
    Devon.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I don't feed mine - well maybe a rare dusting of fertiliser if I'm feeding something nearby. I wonder how they manage on practically nothing when they're potbound.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • KT53KT53 Posts: 9,016
    I like the 'no feed' solution and will go with the expert advice. :)
  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    If your plants seem happy there is no need to feed but if you think nutrients are lacking and there are signs of this, a handful of blood fish and bone will help. 
    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


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