Hmmmm. Could it be that the potting mix you are using is too dense and they are actually too wet? Did you refresh it by adding some new potting mix this year? IF it is the same as last year it may be a little sour.

I am just guessing at all of these... any chance you could post a photo?

Alexa

You could have them planted too deeply, especially if you added mulch. They need to be planted exactly the same depth they were in the pot in which you originally got them. The stems should not have dirt of mulch around them.

Did you look under the leaves for bugs?

Do your pots have drainage holes? If not, get some quick.

Those are my 2 cents worth.

Lainey

Container plants can have a lot of problems. Drainage can be a problem (standing water in the bottom), as can underwatering.

The soil can be a problem. Some potting soils have no nutrients in them and can starve the plant after a year. Even potting soils with fertilizers can be exhausted after a year.

If it were me, I would tip the containers out onto a tarp (or a trash bag or even the sidewalk) and take a look at the plant roots.

I suspect that the one with no leaves (Twilight) will also have no healthy rootball. If that's the case, it is dead. If it has a rootball, I would reset it in a 1/2 mix of fresh potting and 1/2 regular soil, and see if the roots still have a crown to send up new leaves.

The Guacomole sounds like it has a better chance. It should get a better soil mix too, but I am guessing you will find a healthy rootball in the container if you dump it out. I would rinse the existing soil from the roots though and replant it the soil mix from above.

Best of luck on the 2 sick hostas! I always hate to see a sick plant...

Thanks for all the help. Below are the photos. These Hostas are in BIG pots - like 2.5/3' high planter pots. They don't have drainage holes but I don't water them so much I would think they are too wet. But - would that cause the 'rolling edge syndrome' on Guac? That wasn't happening with Twilight.

The soil is only a year old and I use a *mix it myself* pretty good soil mix. I'll dump it if you really believe it's my only chance but . . . yikes. :-)) I think I'd rather move Guac!

As to if I've planted them to deeply, I wouldn't think so but a year later who knows? If they were planted thusly, then would that have not shown up in ill-health last year?

I used my soil tester thingy and it does register as all the way to the end of wet in both though funnily enough the soil doesn't seem particularly wet when I dig in it a little. ??

There are begonias planted in each pot with the hostas and they appear to be doing fine??

No bugs that I can see and I did look thoroughly including under the leaves and mulch.

I did have mulch around them so I've pushed that back.

Twilight is toast. I touched the remaining stem piece today and it just fell off. It was mushy at soil level so I dug in the soil where the root should have been but could not find anything at all! ?? Then I went and *tested* the stems on Guac Guy but he's fine and firm.

Guac Photos

Twilight Photo

Maybe these photos will give a clue.
Thanks again for all your help.
Holly

mush = crown rot ..... big problem south of the mason dixon line .... particularly where there is ample humidity and hot nights...

it is a soil borne pathogen .. i would recommend you get rid of all your soil ... scrub the pot with 10% bleach .. and start with fresh new soilless mix ..

please tell me your home made stuff did NOT include dirt ... IMHO invest in some good professionally designed soilless medium ... contact your nearest greenhouse and ask what they use ... they usually have giant bags which are much cheaper than smaller bags at other places .. for a given amount ..... IF you have a need for a bunch of mix ...

and make sure there is a drainage hole in the bottom ....

last .. hosta are ONLY shade tolerant... and actually do VERY WELL in SOME sun .. your little concrete corner looks awful dark .... they do need ample light ... to grow properly

ken

Never EVER under any circumstances plant anything in a pot with out a lot of drainige holes in the bottom!
You may not THINK you are over watering....but..
Also it's good to flush a plant out to get rid of excess salts.
I repeat...never ever plant in a pot without drainage.
Linda C

I've grown more hosta than you can count with wet feet but the media needs air and no drainage holes means no air. Also garden soil will simply rot in a pot particularly without drainage holes.

Well Ken I'm not even anywhere close to the MD line. No worries about humidity where I live. I wish there were so I could grow the 'jungle effect' I love. LOL!

My 'homemade stuff' is a mix of bot plant soil & soilless mix so it's nice and fluffy with bone meal & charcoal mixed in in small amounts. It is not just 'any ol garden dirt out of whereever in the garden'. It's in all my planters including two others with Hostas - one with Tatoo & one with Striptease - and they are doing just fine. I also have a Bressingham Blue which is planted in 'just plain old dirt' and it is doing fine. While I'm not saying it's impossible, I don't think the soil is the problem.

I really can't recall whether there is a drainage hole in either pot and they are way too big to pick up and examine now. That said, I'm pretty sure they all have drainage.

As I said, the begonias are doing fine though perhaps I do need to be attentive to less water (though that is not usually a problem *I* have -- sometimes DH gets loose on the premises).

I take the comments about the light situation quite seriously though. Maybe I'll replace the Twilight with Aspidastra! I believe the Guac gets enough sun as its at the front of the porch area and the porch is south facing. I also have a Fatsia in there in the opposite corner from the Twilight & it does fine (in that same old soil).

I'll move the surviving Guac to the garden itself where my other hostas are all doing just fine (in their garden dirt with a little added bone meal).

One question that doesn't seem to have been addressed, or at least in a direct sense, is why are the edges of the leaves on Guac rolling under? Is this a common indicator of something??

Many thanks for all your help folks.
Holly

This is last years pic - Strip gal is waaay bigger now - but this is the pot (I have two) that Twilight is (was) in on the front porch. Guac's is as tall but somewhat narrower.

Maybe that helps. . . . or not ??

Holly, after looking at your Guacamole pics, I am wondering if it is Guacamole, perhaps it was mismarked? I have never seen a Guacamole with such bright yellow margins (see the Hosta Library pics for examples.) That being said, if it is not Guacamole, the rolling of the edges could be characteristic of whatever hosta it actually is. For example, my hosta Carnival has leaves that typically cup downward...

Anyone else have any input on if you think this hosta is actually Guacamole??

Thanks,
Buff

That's precisely what I was scrolling down to say, Buff. That doesn't look at all like Guacamole!

That's the first thing I noticed too....that hosta is NOT
Guacamole (I have 4 of them).
I don't know what it is.....but I know what it isn't. LOL
Michele
PS Good luck with your problem.

She just labled her pictures backwards, I think.

Yes I agree they are mislabeled but it was more than that. I actually had it in my mind that what I called them was what they were. Looking carefully at HL again, I can see it's likely the reverse. Sooo I've lost Guac and still have Twilight with the rolled leaves.

Appreciate all the thots & help. I think I'll remove Twilight from the planter and put it in the garden. Guess I'll just plunk in somemore begonias where the hostas were for this year and form a new attack plan for the front porch over the winter. :-))