Do you sell them? My goodness, what do you do with all those hostas?

-Babka

I take them to farmers market.
I trade them.
I plant them in people's gardens.
Some get planted by our master gardener group.
..and the rest end up in my garden.

And every time I turn around, my DW is asking if I have an extra to give to a friend for a birthday, anniversary, or 'here let me cheer you up' thing.

I especially like the small ones, great in group or understory plantings.

dave

What does all that planting, replanting and washing get you after 6 weeks that you wouldn't have if you just planted them in 3" pots and left them alone?

bk

too bad you dont have a camera .... to show us this process...

as apparently yours is limited to livestock...

ken

I re-read my post. It sounds kind of "snarky". I didn't mean it that way. I'm forever curious about everything. Does it make them grow quicker? How much difference do you think it makes? Have you compared different methods? I would like to know more about the thinking behind the process - what are your reasons for doing a certain process and the timing of each process. (Also, I would like photos, of course.)

bk

One reason is a limited number of pots, and of course, potting soil. Another is time.

It is also interesting to note which plants take off the quickest.

some are r e a l l y s l o w.

when you get seven dozen plants, that's a lot of pots. Ganging them together saves me time up front.

I dunno, mebbe I am doing it wrong.

But it allows me time doing one of the things I enjoy most, putzing with the plants.

Therapeutic.

dave

thanks... very interesting... I used to line out my tc straight from the packs into the garden... worked great with some, very poorly with others... I sure learned a lot! Now I would do some variation on what you are doing.

And you are sure right - the azalea pot in various sizes is far better suited to the root and plant shape of a hosta than the "industry gallon" that is the standard...

I saw a thing on ebay for 300 azalea pots for $33.00. I didn't notice the shipping, though (I didn't know what an azalea pot was, so did a search.)

I've certainly never done any of this kind of thing (though I was pretty good with propagating African violets in another lifetime). It seems like continually taking them out of the pot washing them and re-potting them would set them back. Does it not?

bk

I wash all my hostas i get from everywhere. I also get rid of the soil.

The giganto rhombus stores are NOTORIOUS for slug eggs.

I pitch the soil, give the roots a drink and put them in the ground, with sphagnum and compost and a handful off floor dry.

I am still trying to figger out a better way for TCs

at season's end, I just plant them in rows, like veggies and have entire rows of stuff in the spring (oh and I bury the plastic tags at ten o'clock and make sure they have a wire ID tag above ground to trip over in the winter.)

remember, you always plant this year for next year, and beyond ... buzz light year, er, grasshopper

^_^ --~
dave