Container growing question

[sweetee]

Hi, I'm hoping someone can help with this, but I container grow almost all of my hosta in Ohio. Yes, some pretty rough winters. I lost more hosta this winter (25), than ever before. I'm about to start my repotting job, which lasts all summer. Is it best to pot with the crown slightly below the surface, above the surface, or equal? What's your technique in a cold climate, and how is your success rate?
Thanks, I love learning!

[Schattenfreude]

Hi Sweetee,

I also enjoy growing some of my hostas in containers, but I don't leave them there over the winter. I plant them into the ground back in the corner of my yard. Sometimes, I'll leave them in the pot but sink the pot into a hole, although that can be dangerous, especially if the winter is exceptionally wet. I'll only do this if I run out of time....

Do you tip your pots over on their sides? Do you cover your pots with mulch or leaves? The potting medium itself will play a big role, too. It must be well draining.

Sorry to hear about your losses this past winter. Good luck with the newbies!

Kevin in KC

[sweetee]

Thanks Kevin,
Well, Sometimes I think I have the mind of a scientist with the brain of a monkey! I'm always experimenting. The ones I used leaf mulch; developed such bad potato bugs, I'm ready to give up on that experiment (I can't use chemicals). Any suggestions?
The ones I put under the deck with no water, all seemed to live except one. The ones under trees, all lived. Here's the odd part; the ones on their sides under plastic had the greatest losses.
There may be a bit of a coincidence here. I ran out of the growing medium I normally used, and ended up repotting late with Sta-Green and extra perlite. Doesn't seem like any made it.
My greatest success seems to be using very large #4 perlite (looks like marbles), but I also couldn't find that last year.
I don't have the option of planting in the ground. I live in the city on a 1/4 acre lot, and also have two 90 lb. dogs.
I'm just wondering if I'm doing something wrong with the depth. Thanks for all the help!

[Noreaster]

I also lost several of my potted ones this year....seems to be a common theme this winter, from what I've read in various places. Granted, I was lazy about getting them put neatly away before winter ( I keep them all in nursery pots that I bury in vacant spots in the garden or along the house north side. ). Some I could not bury because the ground was too frozen. I said I was lazy!! So I tipped what I could not fully bury. All were planted in good draining, coarse mix.

I am not sure why some lived and some didn't. Most of the ones that were well buried did ok. The three I got from Hallson's last year all came through fine, but the four I bought at a local nursery either died (rotted) or took severe damage, funnily enough.

So I also don't know how to completely ensure success over the winter....especially winters like this last one which were extra cold and snowy for us. For me, I will be trying to make sure the pots are sunken fully into the ground in the fall. Maybe the freeze/ thaw cycle did some of them in, I don't know.

[sweetee]

thanks! And yes, I've noticed how many people lost so many. Before I read that I was wondering where I messed up, but it does seem like a theme. It's just always hard when you lose more than one you were planning on breeding with.

[Mark Raw]

All my plants are container grown (not much choice really), I only put them in bigger pots when needed and try and get them to the same level they were originally. I have lost none but I have no idea what the climate is like over there. England UK here.

[kaylyred]

I'm sad to hear of everyone's losses, but comforted a bit to know that it's not just me. I tipped my pots over on their sides this winter and blanketed them with leaves. Turned them upright in late April (Chris commented in another thread that I probably turned them up too early). Everything I lost was lost to crown rot.

After talking about it with several hosta professionals (Chris included), I've determined that a few factors played a role:

• I did turn my pots upright too early, and the mid-spring dampness contributed to rot.
• I used Miracle Gro Moisture Control potting mix. Never again. It seems to hold too much moisture for hostas.
• This was a weird spring in SE Wisconsin. It was late in coming, then unseasonably warm for a stretch, then unseasonably cold, and unseasonably wet. The hostas planted in the ground thrived. The potted ones? Not so much.

If I decide to try more hostas in pots this year, I'll definitely use a different potting medium. I'm also thinking that I'll do one of two things: I'll either move my potted hostas into the unheated garage after the first hard frost, or I'll clump them together on the deck in my courtyard area. My thought was to pick up a few straw bales, surround the pots with those (making a bunker) and then put some plywood and a tarp over that. Sounds like a pain, but it's better than losing hostas. I'm not sure if this is the best way to go, and I'm open to suggestions.

[sweetee]

Thanks for all the info. I'm sorry everyone else has lost their hostas also. I really think the growing medium I used was part of this. I'll never buy that brand again for hosta. Since spring, I watered some and they look like they are in mud. Remember, I also added perlite to the mix.
The ones I did not repot with this mix seem to be doing better.
Someone once told me to leave the crown above ground, so it can freeze (never tried it). Another person told me to plant it below, so it's protected in our winters. That's where I got confused about this, as I always planted it at the original ground level.
Okay, so sometimes we lose them for whatever reason.