Karen,
I would put these plants in large plastic or clay pots until you know whether or not they are healthy. Buying Hostas from big box stores increases the likelihood of getting a plant with HVX. If you put them in the ground without knowing they are healthy, you may infect other plants. Wash your tools with a bleach and water solution after you work with these plants. There is a reason why most people on this forum use mail order companies. They test and guarantee their plants to be disease free.

Steve

Thanks, Steve. I'll research signs of HVX. Meantime, did you say 'large' clay or plastic pots because using a smaller 5-6" peat pots would cramp the roots and hence not be a good idea?

Welcome to the Hosta Forum.

Plant in at least quart size or larger pots, either clay or plastic, what ever you have. Use regular planting soil and keep watered.

Hostas here in Illinois aren't thinking about coming up yet.

The hosta forum has a 'facts site' at the top of the page that may answer some of your planting and other questions you might have.

Connie

Good luck.

Karen,

That's correct. You don't want to cramp the roots so use a large enough pot. Here's a link to the HVX section at the Hosta Library.

Here is a link that might be useful: HVX info

I purchased some hostas from a grower (vice president of the hosta society I belong to, actually) at a garden expo in early February. They've been growing well indoors since. It's going to ber several weeks before I can even begin to think about putting them outside, and I'll probably leave them in containers until early May. I purchased my hostas in 4" pots and they were getting very root bound. I just potted them up into 1 gallon pots.

It sounds as though your hostas are the bagged, bare root kind? (They actually had 'Blue Ivory' bare root at a big box store? I find that...disappointing.) Are they dormant right now? If that's the case, I think I'd try to take into account how thick and long the roots are. If the roots are pretty substantial, pot them up into something fairly large.

Avoid peat pots. They're nothing but a hassle, in my opinion. They either stay too wet or too dry and they don't provide a very good environment for growth.

I'm appreciating your input. And, reminding myself to not submit to this temptation again!

Kayly, yes, my hostas were bagged, dormant, bareroot. Why were you disappointed that Blue Ivory was sold at Costco? Does that mean it's worth my bother to give them a try? Thanks for the peat pot input, tho I'm wondering if that's true for all plants, or only hostas.

Now is the time to put dirt around their roots here in Zone 9 California. Chance of frost is passed. 1/2 of mine in pots are poking up now. Yup Spring is here. And do keep them seperate. I like Kayly Red's "isolation ward" analogy.

-Babka

Oh, I thought I'd add a link to my blog. This is the method I use for potting up my indoor-grown seedlings, and it might work well for your hostas. Make sure to use some potting soil with organic materials and stuff like vermiculite for drainage, since hostas don't like to be kept waterlogged. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Petiole Junction: Potting Up Seedlings

hi .. welcome newbie ....

peat pots are NEARLY impossible to deal with.. IMHO ...

they tend to stay too wet.. or dry too fast ...when used in a house ...

now.. if you have 100 of them.. tightly packed into a tray in a humid greenhouse .. well then it can be done .. in other words.. it is my opinion that they are made for the greenhouse trade.. not the homeowner ...

but for most novice homeowner applications.. avoid them ..

below is a pic of a few hundred 3 oz plastic dixie cups on a tray ... use a fresh razor blade to slice drainage holes where the sidewall meets the bottom.. trust me.. you will never drill a hole into the bottom ...

when necessary.. work up thru 6, 8 and 16 oz cups if necessary ... and they can be cleaned with soap and soaked in 10% bleach and reused forever ...

your blog seems to show you wildly successful .. you go for it ... and anything that works.. works ... life just got a lot simpler for me when i gave up on peat pots ... besides.. the dixie cups are 100 for a few bucks.. way cheaper ... until you get to the 16 oz'ers ... but that can be solved by not starting your seeds so early that they are starting to take over the house before you can get them into mother earth ....

good luck

ken

ps: read 'BEEN THERE DONE THAT' .. after every suggestion above .... lol

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Interesting idea, Kaylee--an 'isolation ward'. I don't think I'm patient enough to go that route, tho I'll likely pot them up and see what happens. I can keep them in my garden shed. Looking at your blog, you don't seem like a newbie to me ;~) But again, I lack the patience of you and Ken, doing seedlings.

Oh, I'm a newbie to the forums...but I've been gardening for a while. Still, I have plenty to learn. Don't we all? My motto is to never stop learning and never stop asking questions.

Ken, I'm not sure if you were talking to me or to Karen about the peat pots. I don't use them, though. I learned my lesson the first time I tried. They dried out on me. Or else they were drenched. Never again. I've also had terrible luck with coir pots. They seemed like a nice idea in theory, but they dried, or they were too wet, or they molded, and they seemed to suck the life out of healthy seedlings. (Too much salt in them, I hear.) So, I stick with plastic. :)

BTW .. i think i forgot to mention ...

they are hosta.. you can throw them on the driveway for a few weeks before you plant them.. and most will thrive ... though what will kill them.. is a prolonged time in a plastic bag ....

so dont worry about whatever.. just insert.. roots down preferably [that wont even mater sometimes.. lol] .. in some media or soil .. and they will grow ...

size and vigor are a function of maturity ... and that means a mature root mass ...

some can take 5 to 10 years to mature.. not really growing vigorously for 5 years ...

and others grow like weeds ...

blue ivory is pretty new.. i am surprised they are already being dumped at the bigboxstore ...

ken

Karen, We have probably all done the same thing at one time or another so don't feel bad....
Just hope yours are all what they are supposed to be.
Several years ago I bought a pack of 5 Francees at WalMart....1 died, 3 came up completely green....but 1 is my beautiful huge Francee that lives in a large pot on my deck...so all in all...a good deal for the small amount I paid for the whole bag.
Agree totally about potting them now...in plastic...1 or 2 gal pots.....I have lots of hostas sticking their noses up and several beginning to unfurl their leaves.
Keep us posted....
oh and ...not to disput Ken...but he's in zone 5....DON'T throw them on the driveway where you are.....they won't make it......ha

I got 'Blue Ivory' @ Costco LAST year already....

With bagged/packed bare root plants from Costco it's always a crapshoot as to whether or not the contents match the label, AND, in the case of Hostas HVX is a big concern. I admit I cannot resist buying bagged perennials @ Costco, but have learned to hang onto the packing and I won't hesitate to return them for a refund when the contents do not match the label or when there are ready signs of HVX once the leaves have unfurled.

Pieter

Thanks for the support. I'm not particularly frugal, despite not being able to afford being unfrugal. But somehow I get bit by the bug with those bags. I even bought 12 or so peonies because the picture on the bag was pretty--only later realizing I don't have enough sun real estate to devote to them. Sheeesh, I *hate* to succumb to marketing :( But yeah, we all do this sort of thing in one way or another.

Karen

Ken,
When I use plastic cups as small pots I use an old soldering iron to melt drainage holes in the bottoms. I usually stack 3-4 together and put the holes in the bottoms at the same time.

Frank

I went to Costco today and saw the very reasonably price bare root bags of hosta. As we just bought a home on the lake I will be gardening to my heart's content (been in condo lots of years). The Costco plants have tempted me though I haven't bought yet. Is the general consensus that I should resist the temptation of Costco plants and/or avoid the bare root hosta purchase? If a reliable mail order supplier is out there, is bare root hosta a good way to go?

HI Karen,

What I would do if I were you is pot all of one variety up in about a 12" pot. You'll have a nice pot of hosta sooner this way. They are really small plants and will take a long time to make a really nice plant if you keep them separate. (If they are like the plants at Sam's, they have two varieties of hosta with about 5 plants of each in each box.)

Soak the roots in a pot of tepid water for an hour or two. Then, pot them up and be sure not to plant them too deep. The crown needs to be above the soil line, so it won't rot.

I have been using Miracle Grow potting soil, but it's too heavy. It's holding too much moisture. I would suggest something lighter or mix in some fine pine bark mulch with it.

In your zone, you'll have better luck with these in pots. They make beautiful pots. They come back every year and look nice for a long time. When they don't look so good, put them behind the garage and bring out some prettier ones. You'll be hooked in no time.

Good luck,

bkay

Thanks, bkay. I'd sort of given up on them, but that's a way to do it without huge hassle and worry. If they work, fine, if not, then not much work lost.

louietouie: The general consensus, I am sure, is to avoid BAGGED hostas and hosta from any big-box store. Even though the price is extremely tempting, the risk of possible infection with virus or pests is just not worth the bargain.

Most of us here on this forum have purchased bare-root from mail order sources on the internet. There is another thread that discusses many of the good ones. But most forum members agree that Hallson's is the best.

ok other then , it not being a good idea to buy big box store plants. My COstco doesn't have any hostas for me to shouldn't buy, but do anyway, because i can't resist.

Grumpy is as grumpy does ;~)

What do we gain from buying a hosta in a bag(pig-in-a-poke)?
- Maybe they will be true to name
- Maybe they won't be diseased
- Maybe we'll save money
- Maybe they will be decent size in time
- Maybe they won't

Same is true for a potted hosta from a seasonal mass retailer - ask ourselves why are we supporting/selecting these sellers -
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Add your own questions or retailers - how do they weigh out?

If you want cheap and you don't care - that's OK. As for me, I want these specialty hosta nurseries to survive and prosper. They deserve to be paid for their expertise and the costs to grow and provide the selection I want.

Paul

You guys give the newbies a chance. They don't know what you know. They don't have your experience. Most of the time, they've already bought the plant. There's a chance that the plant is diseased - there's a chance that it's not. In many cases, it's their first hosta. Don't pounce quite so hard on them.

Out of 20 responses to this thread, 10 either told the poster some warning about the unsuitablity of the plants without giving the requested information or gave some information along with the unsuitable message. Geez, one or two warnings should get the point across. We don't all need to pounce on someone who bought anything at a big store. In football, they call that "piling on" and it's a foul.

JMHO.

bkay

Sorry,if it came off harsh - I have deleted and not posted many a response, because printed words can so easily be received differently than how they are spoken 1:1. Discussion was started over 2 wks ago and evolved a little, so wanted to give a different perspective on why to support hosta vendors.

Paul

bkay - thanks for speaking up and giving some perspective.

Paul

Once HVX is in your garden is is a b**** to get rid of. The newbies really do need to know to isolate those big box hostas and keep them in pots and out of their general gardens. These folks will get hooked very quickly, as we were...purchasing many more hostas that are expensive, and they will lose those too if the word is not spread...strongly spread... that you MUST know your grower when you are buying a hosta.

Bkay- you and I live in areas where we grow most of our hostas in pots and there is little chance for contamination. I don't think you have been around this forum long enough to remember some of the people who lost their 10 year old beauties...ones that they loved for many years...to HVX, because of a cute little new introduction that they planted nearby.
Football is a team event. We are not a team, but rather a bunch of individuals with points of view. It is NOT piling on, but individuals trying to HELP the poster.

To me, this is a very serious discussion, and the newbies NEED to know how to take the necessary precautions to protect their gardens.

This is MY opinion, which I am always eager to give, and if you don't agree, that is OK with me. I don't trade or exchange hostas. I've never had a diseased hosta...because I've made it a point to only purchase them from reputable growers.

-Babka

No, I wasn't around - I've only been hanging around about a year. Yes, we need to tell them. It's something every hosta grower needs to know.

However, we don't ALL have to tell them that it wasn't a good idea.

Bkay

why wouldn't you trade hostas. surely anyone here has well established plants with no possible way of being infected, unless this HVX lays dormant for years. I don;t think I have ever seen a post after the yearly hosta trades, here on garden web, of a case of HVX. As For myself, i plant soon after i buy, but i know many here that pot, then plant much later some as late as next season. Just to be sure of their new garden guests health.

I have always had a quirk of buying near dead plants at huge discounts and nursing them back to health. Hostas are not a part of my quirkiness. Just to be sure i don't become a statistic,well so my hostas don't. anywhoha i'm a proponent of hosta trades i think it's a great thing and done with utmost care here. I'm not sure i;d go to a swap meet somewhere and get hostas from total strangers. However trades with well established hostonians is a hoot and a practice i shall not stop for any snooty Initials no matter how capitalized thay are. HVX be damned.

Thanks, bkay. After 12 years in and out of activity on Garden Web, I've developed a tough skin. As in life, there are all types of personalities here with all manner of gifts--offered in myriad styles. I guess when I started my initial post with, 'Against my better judgement...' I anticipated at least *some* whacking about the ears with helpful information. ;~)

Karen,

If you find your Costco Hostas bag contents do not match the label/description/picture on the bag, contact the company you see listed on the back of the packaging via their website and odds are they'll do right by you!

Pieter