Bare root hosta advice needed

9 years ago

So about a month ago, I was in a big-box gardening store picking up supplies, and I saw a “grab bag” box of bare root hostas. It was much cheaper per plant than buying them individually (and I am pretty broke), so I decided to get it.

Now, I did have something of an inkling that bare root plants should be put in soon after you get them, and that maybe I shouldn't be buying them when the ground was still basically frozen, but you know, cheap. I stored the box in a cool, dry place.

I decided to get them out of the box yesterday to see what was up. They are definitely alive! They did try to sprout inside the box, though. There are 2-3 spike-sprouts growing from each plant, and they're completely white and yellow, the way plants are when they try to grow without light. Some of the sprout-spikes were kind of rotten, and I cleaned off the rotten parts. The roots are sound.

What I decided to do yesterday was put the plants in containers of potting soil, and put them in bright indirect light indoors, with the idea of slowly increasing the light, and then hardening them off and putting them outdoors in their final spot in a few weeks.

But now I'm doubting that plan a little. I'm unclear on whether the white spikes will grow into viable leaves. I’m thinking that instead maybe I should cut them off as close to the crown as I can get, and then proceed to plant the roots as you would normally plant bareroot hostas, directly outdoors.

I’m on the cusp of zones 6 and 7, and the one hosta I already have in my garden has 3″ spikes coming up.

(As a side note, I am quite pleased with the varieties I got in the grab bag. 2/3 are varieties that I had admired elsewhere and would have sought out, and the third ain’t bad. None of them are plain green. This gives me further incentive to try to keep them alive.)

So, advice, opinions?

Featured Answer

fuzzytrees
Original Author

8 years ago

Having success here! Both of the 'Elegans' are cheerfully throwing out leaves, one of the albomarginata has several new eyes (the other one's thinking about throwing some leaves off the old main stem, too) and the gold standards aren't doing much, but they are alive. Just thought I'd update you!

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Comments (20)

don_in_colorado
9 years ago
Welcome to the forum. One thing I will say is those white spikes are the beginnings of leaves. DON'T CUT 'EM OFF.

Cheers,

Don B.
josephines167 z5 ON Canada
9 years ago
Welcome, Fuzzytrees! You've come to the right place! I agree with you - can't beat the price!!!

I've purchased bare-root hostas for three winters running now, exactly as you have. Here are some comments...I chose bags that showed elongated pips.

The first spring, neither Liberty nor Rainforest Sunrise emerged although they grew well enough the season prior.

The second attempt was last March...appears, so far, that Fragrant Dream, f. Aureomarginata and a couple of NOIDS have survived the winter in pots....that is if they still make it after the snow dump we just had overnight!

This year I also picked two pcks. which contained Julie Morss, Paradigm, Blue Angel and what could be Antioch but should have been Francee. Three confirmed IDs out of a grab bag of four isn't bad, lol! I also picked up two more: Stained Glass and Touch of Class. TOC may not be TOC but we'll see as it develops. :-)

I placed all roots in containers of water and they stayed there until this past week-end (four weeks!). I changed the water several times during that time. Before I potted them, I rinsed root systems in 10% ammonia solution to disinfect the plants.

They look fine so far. One particular one has soft/almost shrivelled tips (my fault) but otherwise the plant looks good. All are potted now awaiting warmer weather when they will go outside. No direct sunlight though. I plan to stand them against the wall on North side of house where they will get exposed to some bright light late in the afternoon...then gradually bring them into a bit of dappled sunlight.

This bare-root-growing hostas is a fun thing to do to overcome the winter blahs! I'm so glad more people are experimenting with the grab-bag bare-root hostas :-)

Here they are...

Then we proceed to....

Here they are potted...I'll collate them in PhotoGrid and be right back.
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Moccasinlanding: I have planted the two hostas in pots and will be leaving them in the house to grow. That should speed things up. Daily temperatures here are just above freezing and night times are just below freezing. It will be my first time "forcing" a hosta indoors. I actually have one hosta outside that has awakened. I noticed it just yesterday with one eye. Today a second eye is making its way out. The hosta is Wolverine. I have looked at the hosta library and there are beautiful specimens to view. Unfortunately no very young GM. But like you say, this forum has loads of pictures and I will do some searching so that I can make a comparison. I agree that we need to put our trust in the sellers. I had "heard" of the growers from which my bare root hostas came from, so I feel optimistic that I will have the correct hosta. (Nothing like last year when I bought a bag of hostas and none of them were what they were supposed to be!) Thanks moccasinlanding for your feedback! Thanks Paul (paul in mn) for the photo! Your Golden Meadows looks so lovely and fresh! I hope my one eye will look like that---then I will (almost) know for sure. Ken: "back in the day.. white oak had an old fridge.. or they called their sale .. a fridge sale ..." That's so cute---a fridge sale---never heard of anything like that. That 's very interesting about the plants coming from division or TC plugs. I think you are right about my bare root hostas probably being from TC plugs as I did not notice any cut area. "so its hard to define a bargain" That's so true, especially when it comes to plants. I thought I was getting a good deal---two bare root hostas that cost me less than one potted hosta from a hosta nursery. But if this hosta takes off slowly, then I think I may not have gotten a good deal after all. Time will tell. As for rambling on---you can ramble on with me any time you want! Thank you Phil (hostafreak) for your comments. I am glad you think the roots are good. Sieboldiana heritage---doesn't that mean slow grower? Oh dear.
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you should probably dig/divide them the season prior.. at root growing time.. late summer ... ... and figure out how to winter them over.. so you can present a nice vigorous well grown plant.. for immediate gratification ... or line them out.. so that in spring.. you can dig in dormancy.. and pot them then .. the problem.. with digging and potting in leaf.. is the flop/droop.. and how they will 'look' like they are dying ... and who will want to buy them ... i would think.. that just having a bunch of roots laying around.. is not going to be the type of peeps.. who will come back every week or two.. and buy more .... it would be all about getting some new peeps enabled.. to make them keep coming back.. and feeding their addiction ... please send 20% of first months profit for marketing advice.. lol ... ken
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I'm not that great at identifying, but maybe a mature Gold Standard? What ever it is, it's pips are taking off nicely!
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Thanks so much forum friends...takes most of my confusion out! roxanna: so good to know that they grow big so quickly...!! This is going to be lovely. I was thinking of my shadier areas but I will give some thought to sunnier areas knowing BH can handle fair amount of sun. thank you!! dhaven: i am glad to know your regular BHs dont go dormant way early. Is it a function of being watered well you think?? I "heard" that if these BH are well watered they dont disappear so quick. And thank you absolutely for reminding me of the golden bleeding heart. there are some online vendors that still have it in stock and i am certainly going to get at least one. if I plant them in the first two weeks of may in my Zone 7a will they still bloom for me this season?? MadPlanter: I just saw a picture of hosta ADG. It is so unusual and beautiful. I hope you get a chance to post a photo of it growing in your garden. I would love to see it again and how big its getting. Thanks <3
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josephines167 z5 ON Canada
9 years ago
Here they are, potted for your viewing pleasure!
josephines167 z5 ON Canada
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
My suggestion is also to leave them to grow. They develop more colour as they grow just as they do outdoors. Granted the lighting indoors is inadequate but if you keep them near a bright window, they will be fine!

You will have to harden them off before they can stay outdoors. If you expose them to sunlight prematurely they will burn. Growing them indoors requires a bit of patience but once you've gone through the process at least once, you soon know what to expect. It is fun to garden when there is snow outside. Edited to say: I've re-read your post and you've already covered this, sorry.

I hope I didn't forget anything...if I did, please ask away. Mountainyman/Denis from Ireland also started some of these. Hopefully he will comment as well and offer his experience.

Jo
fuzzytrees
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks for the responses, and the welcome, Don and Jo! Sounds like my first instinct was correct. I hope I wasn't over-vigilant in cutting off the mushy bits--my first love is succulents, for which you get rid of the rot FIRST and ask questions later.

I actually checked in on them, and one of them is already a little green! Hopefully the others will follow soon. I think tomorrow I'll try rearranging my succulents so they're all in front of one window, and put down the blinds on the other (south-facing) window, and have the hostas in front of that. The diffused light will hopefully help them green up.

Thanks for sharing your beautiful hostas, Jo! The varieties I have are 'Elegans,' 'Gold Standard,' and albomarginata (two of each). I don't know if they're anything fancy as far serious hosta-growers are concerned, but I'm quite pleased with the variety of leaf colors and plant sizes as a starter pack :)
josephines167 z5 ON Canada
9 years ago
Fuzzy, you know what you are doing! Cutting off mushy bits was definitely the thing to do...and I would have treated the cut with ammonia solution as a precaution but I'm sure it'll be fine.

The varieties you have are wonderful hostas...our own Bruce Banyai on the forum.... his mother, the late Pauline Banyai introduced Gold Standard to the hosta world! A hosta is fancy if we think it is - beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right? I hope you'll stay with us...there are a lot of pictures coming very soon as the weather warms around the world!

I'll have to drop in to the succulents forum and browse! ;-)
josephines167 z5 ON Canada
8 years ago
Looking good! This is fun, isn't it? :-)
Deb Herbert
8 years ago
just received 10 bare root hosta plants yesterday -- I live in Northern Minnesota -- isn't it too late to put them in the ground as it's the middle of Oct. now? Also can you plant bare root hostas in pots and leave them to grow indoors all winter long? Wondering if I should keep them in the house or put them outside yet.
Babka NorCal 9b
8 years ago
The original post here concerns Spring planting. Hostas need to go dormant for winter. They are not house plants. Plant them outside. Here is a link to some info on how to do that.

-Babka

A recent discussion about Fall planting of small plants.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
8 years ago
they are not houseplants.. and need dormancy ...

i welcome you.. and suggest you start a new post ... this time.. and next time ...

ken
josephines167 z5 ON Canada
8 years ago
Just plant them outside as soon as you can. Be prepared for some frost heave in spring during the thaw, but they should be fine...even if they are heaved somewhat...or perhaps not at all. I had some bareroot hostas lying around and buried them earlier today (I am in zone 5). Yes, it is rather late but they're in! :)
sandyslopes z5 n. UT
8 years ago
jo, in looking at your pics from April, I think Stained Glass and Touch of Class are mixed up. Being October now, they should be bigger. What do you think? Just want to make sure you have the right name tag with them.... as always, I could be wrong. :-)
Pieter zone 7/8 B.C.
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Sandy, I think you're right about the mislabeled pictures. 'Touch of Class' should still look quite decent in comparison to 'Stained Glass', that may be an additional clue...Also, the back of TOC will be glaucous, the back of SS will be shiny.

Pieter
josephines167 z5 ON Canada
8 years ago
Good eye, Sandy! They were inadvertently mixed up when I posted the pics...I didn't notice until you mentioned it just now. Thank you!

Here they are as of a few days ago...

Stained Glass - very late bloomer

Paradigm

Julie Morss

Touch of Class. Blue Angel is planted... all the bareroot hostas are doing well - this year's and previous purchases. Rainforest Sunrise and Liberty were the only ones that didn't make it the following spring but I had replaced them last year (although not bareroot).
josephines167 z5 ON Canada
8 years ago
Sorry about the blur but this photo was taken on Saturday - the individual pics above were taken earlier.
sandyslopes z5 n. UT
8 years ago
jo, they all look so good. It looks like you're doing pretty well with pots. Nice progress on those. How kind of Stained Glass to make a flower this year.
josephines167 z5 ON Canada
8 years ago
Thank you, Sandyslopes! Having the bareroot hostas survive in pots (coming on third year for a few) gives me the encouragement I need to continue to grow some in pots... as space is so scarce!

I picked some mums to bring indoors... I also brought the flower scape of Stained Glass indoors to enjoy its scent as well. :)
hostahillbilly
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Don't do mystery plants. Provenance is meaningful. My 2€ worth,
josephines167 z5 ON Canada
8 years ago
Well, I agree that provenance is meaningful..... but I love a good mystery too! Lol.

There is always room for error when the packs contain multiple hostas, but if you purchase a bag with a single hosta, that margin for error is decreased ... somewhat. I'll probably buy some more late winter (March) just to "start gardening" earlier LOL and have some fun!