plant in the ground... ROOTS DOWN ... in gobs if you wish .. they dont need separate holes.. but they need decent soil contact... water like heck .... thats what the veggie patch is for.. in fall ...

re-dig at your pleasure..

anything else is just complicating your life..

ken

Gee, that's the easy way? I was hoping for peat, pearlite, newspaper, paper towels or someway I can just grab them, since I don't know when they'll be picked up. Do have them in the basement, thought it may slow their growth with the dark & cool.

I do appreciate your answer, but my beds are still full down here. Didn't finish my new hosta bed in time either.

I wouldn't try to "hold" them for a month at this point, but I'm very surprised that you would get bare root hostas in wood shavings this time of year. Had they been recently dug or are the completely dormant, as if they were dug a year ago?

The problem is that if they were dug a year ago they will want to start growing as soon as you plant them, thinking it is spring. They will try to put down some roots while it is warm, then when you do get cold there they will start that cycle to go dormant. If you wait a month and plant them you are risking a greater shock if the weather is colder then. They will use a lot of energy to try and grow which will make them weaker when winter comes.

As I see it the best thing is to put them in the ground, 2nd best would be to pot them up in some well-draining potting soil, and 3rd option would be to just do the hail Mary and leave them in the basement for another month in their wood shavings, and hope for the best. Hopefully they were cheap enough that if they don't grow it won't be a big deal.

The thing is, flower53, is that they need to be in the ground soon. Before winter hits. You can't plant them outdoors in the winter and neither can your friends. But at the same time, they do need to go dormant in the winter so they can't stay inside the house all winter no matter what medium you pot them up in. They could potentially be potted and put in an unheated garage for the winter. How much urgency there is about getting them in the ground depends on your zone though. Where are you?

It looks like all us zone 4'rs are rushing you. Your page says you are zone 8? I'd put them in groups in some large tubs or planter boxes. You just need to keep them moist until they are picked up.
Pam

Mid Georgia, zone 8. First frost mid November usually. Yep got them really cheap, 1-2 eyes on Royal Standard (my favorite) $1.33@. Freshly dug, roots washed and still moist, tops cut, few sprouts. Guess I got deal cuz it was so late, huh?

Sure don't want to pot 75 of these! Could I do a trench or flowerbox and fill with peat or perlite?

Pot them up in good potting soil and as soon as frost hits place the on the ground in a protected corner and cover them with 6-12 inches of shredded leaves of spagnum peat. The will be fine like this in Georgia. By mid March start removing the leaves a little bit at a time.
Manfred

First frost in mid November? hey you have almost 2 months...and it usually takes 6 weeks for new inground hostas to cling to the surrounding earth.
Since they are in wood shavings, I would first put them for 24 hours in water to let them soak, then I would dig 2 trenches about 25 feet each, and would plant the 75 bareroots 8" apart...no need to make a cone...simply lay them on the side...and water a lot.
I would not touch them until they have gone into their first dormant cycle.

Papou

Here is a link that might be useful: Papou's Hosta website

The will be fine like this in Georgia.
manfred

May have missed it but it is nice to see your good practical advice again.

Thank you Papou! You just made my life so much easier, lol

Papaou, I just visited your website, so well done! Thank you for putting so much info there to share--smetimes it's hard to believe the stores--you, I believe!

I was looking for more fragrant hostas and was pleased to see you list--do you have any must-have favorites?

Thanks Janice,
Some "must have":
Liberty - tops my list
Dream Weaver
Paradigm
June
St.Paul
Leading Lady

All the above are slug-free. Paradigm and St.Paul changes color as the season progresses, so this is very interesting.
You are located in a "hot zone", so you need to mulch and water a lot...and it's better to use shade...In your zone you probably would enjoy Tattoo which is a mini plant.

Papou