Oops. Divided Hostas poorly. Advice to min. damage?

14 years ago

Last night (Sat, Feb 24th) it was raining here in Athens, GA and I divided 3 pretty large hostas and planted them in order to increase our numbers. They look pretty droopy and I'm afraid that here's what I think I did wrong:

-split each into too many plants. One became 7, 1 became 5 and the other became 5

-should have waited until fall to split (bad advice, impatient)

- didn't add compost (but the areas have had ammendments alot already)

What can I do now to minimize the damage and how bad they look for the rest of the season? Should I go back and add compost? Fertilize them with a liquid fert?

What about cutting back the leaves on the ones that look really bad? I'm kinda lost right now on Hostas. Thought I knew,...but I did not know.

Lastly, if they are split right or respond well, ....can one expect divisions from mid spring to produce new folliage in the same year?

Thanks.

Featured Answer

thisismelissa

14 years ago

If the leaves are droopy, you have a good chance they'll look better toward the end of the season.
If the petiole (stem) is droopy, it's probably not going to pop back this season.
Ken once explained to me that when the strength of the petiole is compromised, you've weakened the strength of fibers and it's not something that can recover within a year.
You may hold out hope that a new flush of leaves later in the season may be a saving grace, but you're probably just going to be lookin' at ugly hosta for the rest of the year. Next year.... different story.

As for splitting into too many pieces.... My belief is that if each individual eye was given enough root mass to sustain that eye, then it should do fine. Otherwise, again, you may have to wait till next year to see improvement.

Most importantly, do not trim off the green droopy foliage. So long as it's green, it's feeding the roots... for later this year and into next. Don't trim till its brown.

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Comments (8)

sue_in_nova_scotia
14 years ago
Most plants look droopy when first divided in the spring...then they will only look droopy when the sun is out and not in the morning and evening. And pretty soon they won't droop anymore. Do not fret they will recover.
caliloo
14 years ago
They'll be fine, just give them a little time. In the meantime go find something else in the garden to tend, it will keep your mind off the hostas until they perk up again.

Alexa
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hostasformez4
14 years ago
Make sure to tape the clumps so they stand upright. That will give them a boost that drooping leaves don't get. I learned that from former posts on this forum.

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Babka NorCal 9b
14 years ago
Relax. You didn't do anything wrong. If the leaves don't perk up, dormant buds will probably awaken and you should have something to look at this Summer. This is Spring, and there is plenty of time. I do most of my dividing in Spring just as the eyes emerge, but not always. People divide them just about any time. And as others advise... go think about something else.

-Babka
theconstantgardeners
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you all very much! Such helpful friendly folks over here :)
As you can tell, I'm a bit of a worrier, but I've been sufficiently soothed that I'll turn my attention elsewhere.

But for next time, I'm still trying to learn a bit more about Hosta roots system. What's the difference between "the roots" and "the eyes"? Are you looking to cut through the "eye" which is the white fleshy bulb?
theconstantgardeners
Original Author
14 years ago
Good news. Answered my one question. Here's a good link providing a visual guide to dividing hostas.

http://www.hostas.com/hostas/guide/hosta-division3.html
alexis717_df
14 years ago
Constant Gardener, the roots are what come out of the crown and the eyes are the new growth coming out of the crown (white fleshy bulb). Eyes look like upside down commas that are usually white-ish with maybe a little green or purple on it usually coming out on the sides of the crown. You never want to cut directly through an eye because that is your new growth, your leaf(s).

I'm sure someone will come along here in a minute and explain this better.

Welcome to the forum.

Oops. Divided Hostas poorly. Advice to min. damage?

thisismelissa

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thisismelissa

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