How many days can a hostae live

thy · Post by **thy** » Oct 10, 2007 8:58 pm

No, no Dylan here

But ... my hostas are falling a sleep.. without any frosts

It is early to early, but they were up a month before normal this year

So do they stay for a specific amount of days or are it just the crazy weather we have had this year, putting them to sleep

---Hot with no rain..swimming and now dry again

Pia

John · Post by **John** » Oct 10, 2007 9:12 pm

Day length sensitive, perhaps?

thy · Post by **thy** » Oct 10, 2007 9:50 pm

May be, but they are generally more tired this year as in other years with out an early frost

VThosta/daylilylover · Post by **VThosta/daylilylover** » Oct 10, 2007 11:18 pm

How many years can a hosta exist,
before it is washed to the sea?
How many years can some hosta exist,
before they're allowed to be free?
And how many times can a hosta turn its head,
and pretend that it just doesn't see?

The answer my friend is blowing in the wind,
the answer is blowing in the wind.

Well, I don't know; but thanks now, the song is stuck in my head

eastwood2007 · Post by **eastwood2007** » Oct 10, 2007 11:44 pm

Ceil...

Arlene · Post by **Arlene** » Oct 11, 2007 8:41 am

Pia, I can't exactly answer your question, but will tell you what has happened here . . . the last couple of years we've never really had a killing frost. Everything just hung on till it snowed, and then the morning glories, zinnias, tomato plants AND hostas all got it at once. The flowers look really silly with snow on them!

The hostas were just gradually declining, but some were still looking green and decent until the snow.

Because we're so close to a large body of water, we really have a mini-climate situation here. Frost had occurred out in the open fields and away from the lake, but not at my house!

Wild Dog · Post by **Wild Dog** » Oct 11, 2007 12:06 pm

Hosta cannot go on forever even if they have light and temperature, they must have a dormant period.

They come up in spring and start a cycle that leads to bloom etc then start to go dormant after the summer solstice. This turn to dormancy is slow and is influenced by 2 factors, daylength and temperature. Once the signals to go dormant are sent then the plant will go dormant regardless of what we do. The plants are so close to dormancy in No Indiana in late fall and they are so close to dormancy when the snow comes may not help but it clearly doesn’t kill them.

They may enter dormancy because of cultural practices such as heat or drought but that is just to survive and they don’t always survive great stress.

If one wanted to force a longer growing season then altering daylength beginning prior to daylength change in summer would be required. In the greenhouse we grew ferns, they would more or less stay alive regardless of heat or food until the winter solstice then start to grow responding to some change in the earth’s cycle.

Apparently juvenile plants can be kept growing fairly easily if daylength is maintained the 1st season but not so easy after the first growing season.

I’ve not read anything about the process with scented geraniums that bloom during our winter because they are southern hemisphere plants but I suspect that hosta are effected by the tilting of the planet causing the different seasons.

thy · Post by **thy** » Oct 11, 2007 8:16 pm

Years back we had a member living on an island ... or a visitor to the island... sorry, do not remember... who claimed there were hostas living there all green year round- for years.

It was on a subtropic island.. Trinidad or...anyone recall ???

But you can be into something.. here up north, our summer nights are bright.. we can actually see structures during the night hours.... a bit more northern, they have real light during the nights, and north again.. they have sun

So the light factor can be the problem... but NO, they started to go dormant earlier than other frost free years..
Stll wondering ....

Pia

Mary Ann · Post by **Mary Ann** » Oct 11, 2007 9:37 pm

I vaguely remember that, Pia. He posted pictures too, Bahamas or Costa Rica maybe?

planwerk · Post by **planwerk** » Oct 12, 2007 11:43 am

Just the same story with mine. Started early this year (about 4 weeks!), had this never ending rainless spring (march 15 th till april 28 th) and a cold summer with lots of rain.
I guess they couldn`t get enough fertilizer, because the heavy rain in summer just took all "food" away, and just decided to go dormant earlier.
They`ll be back next year with even more vigor after the long winter.

Greetings planwerk

eastwood2007 · Post by **eastwood2007** » Oct 12, 2007 11:49 am

A number of mine started going dormant early also. We had wetter than usual June, hard freeze in spring, then dry high temps. But I water often, so they did not get too dry, or too wet, or too hot, did get too cold at first. It seems the conditions maybe aren't that important? They are going to sleep early everywhere...do you remember when everyone's first started to bloom they were putting up the large leaves on the scapes (forget what they are called)? Everyone all over the world was experiencing the same things. I wonder if there is a bigger picture at work here....

Diana · Post by **Diana** » Oct 12, 2007 1:59 pm

We rarely have a killing freeze (once about every 10 years or so), and only sometimes a light frost. My hostas in pots always go dormant, just like the deciduous trees. Back when I kept better records, I noticed that the first ones up in Spring, were usually the first ones to go down in Fall. When they go dormant for most of you, they are doing the same out here on the Left Coast.

Ginger · Post by **Ginger** » Oct 12, 2007 4:04 pm

I wish mine would start going to sleep! They are still putting out flower scapes and new leaves galore

Usually here at my house, they start to die back in early November, but weather forcasters are saying we are in for a warm winter, so who knows? I may still have green on my Hosta at Christmas time

Ginger

thy · Post by **thy** » Oct 12, 2007 7:26 pm

Ginger
When did they start to unfurl in spring ???

sugar · Post by **sugar** » Oct 13, 2007 5:30 pm

Some hosta cultivars are just better then others . MOst of my blue hosta still look very good, June & its sports too. All my fragrant hosta look ratty except for Diana Remembered and Secret Love.

And it not to always the earlier appearing cultivars that go dormant first. Some of the early ones are still looking good, and the two that appeared last are almost gone (Sun Power and Patriot...

But the genetic profile is not the sole determining factor

I have two 'Devon Green', the potted one was later waking up and still looks very good, the one in full ground is fading away.

Ginger · Post by **Ginger** » Oct 16, 2007 1:05 pm

Pia,
My hosta poked up from the earth in late March and were unfurling leaves by first of April. They have about a 8 month growing period at my house. If we don't get any really cold or freezing temps, they will still be up and green in November.
I suspect that is why Hosta don't get as big in the southern regions of the US as they do in the northern regions, they are exhausted

Ginger

thy · Post by **thy** » Oct 16, 2007 2:48 pm

Interesting... way more time than mine

With a small garden my first question have to be.. how to move Denmark south ? ..really interested after this so called summer

But on a second note... why are hostas in the south living 8 months and ... no frost talk here... up to 2 months less up north ?????

Stupid me want to know for sure

Pia

Wild Dog · Post by **Wild Dog** » Oct 16, 2007 4:52 pm

Stupid me want to know for sure

Not for sure but I say daylength AND temperature.

thy · Post by **thy** » Oct 16, 2007 5:50 pm

from a earlier post

So the light factor can be the problem... but NO, they started to go dormant earlier than other frost free years..
Stll wondering ....

things still just do no reason to me

VThosta/daylilylover · Post by **VThosta/daylilylover** » Oct 16, 2007 6:45 pm

In the north, I think, we get more minutes (?) of sunlight in the summer than those in the south do. Is this the effect you mean?