Hosta novice needs advice

16 years ago

I do not have many hostas, I like them but I am really low on shade, so I lack experience and can not diagnose a problem. Two years ago I bought 7 hostas, I think they are "White Christmas", to edge an area with part sun, part shade. They looked horrible all summer and I figured that they were simply getting too much sun. So that fall I moved them to a shady area under a fairly dense maple tree, but they seem to be exibiting the same symptoms. They get large yellow areas that dry up and then turn mushy and brown. I have been researching problems on the web, from the articles and pictures I have read, it looks like crown rot or foliar nematodes. I would post a picture but the frost has finished them off for the year, I am wondering which problem it might be,if it is something completely different, and how to nip this early next season so I can have beautiful hostas next year. Any ideas from the hosta experts? Thanks in advance...Helen.

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Comments (7)

hostarox
16 years ago
Hi!
I'm no expert, but White Christmas isn't a Hosta for a novice to start out with anyway. It can be fussy. Can meltout, has a slow growth rate, and looks pretty poor earlier in the season than alot of nicer cultivars, unless it's very happy.
If they were declining for whatever reason before, you probably didn't do them any favors moving them under a maple tree.
Why not choose a Hosta(s) that is easier to grow and re-plant your sun/shade area with those?
hostamanfred
16 years ago
Helen, grab one of the brown leaves, in case any are left. If you have to pull before they come off, it is either Nematodes or too much sun. If they fall of as soon as you touch them, you got crown rot, petiole rot, aka Southern Blight.
Manfred
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donrawson
16 years ago
If you're a novice and trying to grow 'White Christmas,' I suggest to get rid of that one and start with something that's a lot easier to grow. White Christmas is slow and difficult because the leaf is nearly all white. You'd have to plant it in just the right conditions- plenty of morning sun, and some afternoon shade. You're better off growing something that's got a lot more chlorophyll- something more vigorous. White Christmas is also slug food because the leaf is so thin. Don
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
16 years ago
research the beauty of the maple root system ...

NEVER start your diagnosis with disease ... start with the culture you grow them in ... and end at disease ...

i water my hosta twice a week for 6 hours each time ... HOSTA NEED WATER .... and if they don't get enough water ... they can go into early dormancy for lack of such .... HOW MUCH DO YOU WATER? WHAT KIND OF SOIL...WHERE THEY PLANTED AT THE PROPER LEVEL ... with the crown at soil level?

THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN LACK OF WATER.. IS MAPLE TREE .... being the super competitors they are... they will rob all water and nutrients from a hosta.. and especially one that is already stressed from lack of water ... i would rather chew off my left arm [being right handed .. lol] ... than try to grow hosta under maples ... some of the more aggressive older varieties of hosta .. may be able to grow there.. but not the foo foo plants ... which leads me to wonder if you are not confusing white christmas with one of the undulata look alikes.... perhaps someone can give you the undulata link so you can see if you recognize them ....

give us more info.. and perhaps we can help you better .... i really wonder if SOUTHERN blight is a problem up in the great frozen north known as zone 4 ....

here is a picture of what you are trying to grow hosta in ... you will lose ... like even the most experienced hosta grower will .. i moved to get away from maples.. we have talked others into cutting down maples ... NOTHING thrives under maples ...

again.. HOW MUCH WATER DO YOU PUT ON THEM???
good luck ... ken

the neighbor had a septic field dug.. thank god i am not trying to grow my hosta under maple
{{gwi:197426}}
heleninramsey
Original Author
16 years ago
First of all, thank you all.

Now more info...They are under the maple tree, because I have axactly two areas of full shade, one is under a crabapple and the other under a red maple (that, to spite the fact that it has surface roots and is a pain to plant near, I love)

I do not think that moisture is an issue, I am well irrigated and the ligularias and astilbes are quite happy (both are well known floppers when deprived of water in the least)...

The soil is interesting, we live on a river and I have areas of clay, clay loam and damn near 100% sand, the area that the hostas are in is quite loamy, and I have been adding compost as long as I have gardened that spot.

The roots, I know are an issue, I did not have a good time getting the plants in there, but it is super irrigated to compensate...maybe too well irrigated, I will have to check it out.

I am pretty sure they are planted properly, I am a HOSTA newbie (because of lack of shade) but not a garden newbie, I have too many perennials and roses to count right now, as well as a well developed prairie along the river. I am well informed on how to install plants.

I looked up the variety of hosta in my files, and it is "White Christmas" ...Unfortunate as it seems...

I did pull on one of the brown leaves, and it did fall right into my hand. I have been looking up Hosta crown rot on the web, and it has moved into our neck of the woods, it is not common, but it is here. Not surprising with all the travel that plants do now days. The U of M web site has clues as to how to diagnose it, I will dig one up and see what I can find out. Apparently if it is crown rot, I have things to take care of so as not to create more problems for myself.

Bottom line, I obviously choose the WRONG kind of hosta. But the tag did not say that it was difficult to grow, it said shade to part shade, well drained moist soil...blah blah blah, as they all do, even on catalogue web sites, you don't get detailed plant info...and it was pretty...and it was on sale, any gardener with a bad plant habit and a somewhat limited budget can understand the draw in that. So there we are, I think I will take the advice of the majority and dig em up and put in easier hostas...anyone with advice on which ones those are?

Thank you all again...Helen.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
16 years ago
well helen .. seems you are on the right track.. but for one thing you said.. too much water??? .. no such thing with hosta .... unless it is somehow related to the diease process .... hosta can grow in water.. if the crown is above the surface ....

good luck on your quest .... ken
esther_opal
16 years ago
Forget the idea of crown rot until next year. Ken is right about the diagnostic process, disease last, cultural first and you will find cultural 90% of time has led to disease.

Hosta novice needs advice

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