lack of water..

get something like an old dishwashing pan ... and soak it ... or even leave it in the tray ...

think dollar store ...

hard to differentiate sun damage.. on a plant that is water starved ... did the sun damage a leaf that wasnt turgid.. probably ...

ken

https://www.google.com/search?q=dishwashing+pan&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Thanks, Ken. So I can leave it in the pan full time with water in it?

I have not had this problem in previous years so maybe it reached a point that it is large enough to take up more water than I can give it. This year it had 15 pips and is 3 1/2 feet across in a 12 inch pot.

Whoa Santamiller! That's a whole lotta hosta in a 12" pot :-)

It sort of got out of control last year so I up-potted from 10 to 12 inch this spring. I guess next spring I'll have to figure out what size to move up to but I know normally people go up to the next size pot.

When you said your Guacamole was in a 12 inch pot, I just had to go and look at the size of my plant and its pot. This year I had 20 pips and I also have mine in a 12 inch pot. Of course, I am in a different zone than you---and our temperature is in its 80s---but I am wondering what pot media you are using? I don't think Ken means for you to leave your pot in a pan of water all the time---do you Ken? I would worry about rot setting in.

I'm using Miracle Grow.

I feel your pain, Santa. If it's dry when you go to water it every time, you need a bigger pot or more shade. It's not taking up water as fast as it's losing it.

Don't you have yours on a sprinkler system? Program the sprinkler to come on about 2:00 in the afternoon for a short time. It will cool down the area. That's what Mocc does.

bk

Thanks, bk. Being dry is a problem I can deal with. I am usually here to water it twice a day, which I will do. And yes, you remember correctly. Most of my hostas are in a huge bed that is all irrigated with drip irrigation sprayers. Would you suggest the 2pm running in addition to an extra watering each day? BTW.....can I borrow some of that excellent memory power of yours? :)

I should add that the sprayers don't give many of my hostas the full watering that they need. Many of them I hand water as needed. This time of the year daily on some and every other day on the ones that get hit pretty well with the sprayers.

I'm in a totally different zone with totally different conditions. I water maybe every 3 or 4 days. I get some that look like that even if the media is damp. I normally lift a pot and can tell if it is getting dry or not by how heavy it is. Those leaves are showing that for WHATEVER reason, the roots aren't getting enough water to sustain the leaves. I get the same look when some of mine get root rot, which throws that balance of roots to leaves out of balance too. Tip it, slip it out and see what is going on underneath. Wet or dry and then go from there.

-Babka

I use Miracle Grow too, but add pine bark. I agree with Babka that, if possible, it would be beneficial to remove the hosta from its pot to see if the media is wet or dry. It might be a little bit difficult though because of its size. Perhaps taping of the leaves might help.

I have had a couple of hosta in pots that also were losing their leaves slowly but not because of lack of water. One of them deteriorated and died. The other one I removed from the media, removed dead roots, repotted in Miracle Grow with additional pine bark and made sure the crown was at soil level. The deterioration stopped and it has continued to thrive.

I grow the majority of my hosta in pots. I am learning that not all hosta like to grow in pots.

So hopefully you can have a look at your media and have this Guacamole come back to life!

As you water your Hosta, try watering the soil, and avoid pouring water over the leaves. I've read that watering over the leaves can lead to Nematodes. I would cut off leaves that look bad and browned, then throw them in the garbage. Don't compost to avoid spreading a problem. Good luck.

The pot is not at all overly heavy when I lift it. I really don't think overwatering is the problem based on that. As far as lifting it out, I'll have to see if looks like that can be done without doing major damage. If not I'd rather wait until it starts drying back for the winter before I risk tearing it apart, but I'll experiment with that today and let you know. We did have a very wet spring but it has not gotten any more water since then than in the three previous summers.

Babka.....some of my pots can easily go every other day with no watering or some without total leaf cover over the pot and smaller pots can get most of the water they need from the sprayers, but some get dry daily, I assume from the heavy root growth. This time of the year in Texas even some drought tolerant plants in the ground can show heat stress in two days with no water.

I've not used any bark in my pots since over the last 3 plus years I have not seen any problem with drainage. Part of that may be that drying out from the heat IMO pretty much overrides the drainage issue. However, this year I changed media on some of my new plants to an organic potting soil with expanded shale mixed in to see how that works. Some of those pots are really drying out fast in the summer, so we'll see how that goes. They are all new plants with smaller root systems so I have seen no problem at all so far.

Kristen.....I have seen the posts about not doing overhead watering, but one of the last studies I read said that the problem with that was that you could splash the nematodes from plant to plant and not that overhead watering actually caused the nematodes. However I suppose they could splash leaf to leaf. I am not at all as knowledgable as most people here so maybe someone else will chime in on that.

Mocc sprinkled the leaves to cool down the plant and the area. (Maybe she will be back soon.) She felt like a cooling sprinkle in the hot part of the afternoon kept her hosta happy. Gesila (MN, I think) used those misters to keep her hosta happy in full sun. I bought a cheap one, but it mostly leaked, not misted.

Overhead watering does not cause nematodes. It can spread them if you have them, but any type of watering can spread them. That's how they the babies get homes of their own. They travel in water. (Overhead watering will melt the wax off your blues, though.)

However, if you have nematodes, I don't think refraining from overhead watering will keep from spreading them.

bk

the problem is.. that you have more roots than media ...

the roots are sucking up.. all available water.. before the media can properly be wetted .. and store water to use later in the day ...

by soaking it in the pan.. you can properly wet all the media there .. and PERHAPS .. store enough water.. so it can make it thru the hot parts of the day ...

they arent bog plants.. i dont think i would let it constantly stand in water ...

and i am guessing... one day in pan.. soaked completely .. a day or two out but still watered as you usually do ... if the pot floats in the pan ... it means the media inside is bone dry ... water resistant if you will ...

you probably need to double or triple the pot size... i cant really tell plant size ...

i thought we talked you out of MG media.. and you were going to try something better ????

my spider plants... inside a year or so ... make the potting media completely disappear .. and that is when ... i can not add enough water.. in the top .. to water the plant .. there is simply no water storage capacity ..... hence my theory ... then i grab a few spideys.. and kill giant old momma.. and start over with new media ...

ken

bk....I use the actual sprinklers, not the misters with my drip irrigation systems. I have no experience with misters but I'm sure the sprinklers would serve the same purpose as far as cooling. My fear would be, and I'd like to hear Mocc or someone else chime in on this, is that wet leaves with sun hitting them can cause a magnifying affect and leaf burn when direct, hot sun hits the leaves of some plants. I do get off and on direct shots of sun several times a day, even late afternoon, on almost all of my hostas.

If you want to look at anything drip irrigation, which I am a huge fan of, check out Home Depot. They have a really large supply of anything you need. It's inexpensive and easy. Feel free to message me if you ever decide to look into it and have any questions. I have eight beds that all all watered with drip irrigation.

Ken.....I checked the pot this morning. After two waterings yesterday the media is definitely soaked. I stuck a finger up in the drain hole and it's very wet in there, maybe close to mushy wet, but I've never given it that much water in one day before. I'll recheck it this afternoon and see where we are.

I played with it and there is no way this Guac is coming out of the pot without destroying it. It's locked inside of the pot and isn't coming out without a major fight. If the leaf die off continues, and there are signs of that, I'll re-evalute that later. Next spring I'll get some advice here before I up-pot it as to what size to go to.

I did change the media on about 3/4 of my 16 new plants this spring. I am using approx 5 parts Ladybug Raised Bed Blend organic media mixed with one part expanded shale. I like what I'm seeing so far but this is only year one. When I water the pot is nice and heavy but it seems to dry/drain pretty quickly. In one day it is almost dry right now. I'll see how they look when they come up next spring and go from there.

I played with it and there is no way this Guac is coming out of the pot without destroying it.

if plastic pot... cut the pot with a razor blade ...

i cant see your pot in the pix ...

if clay.. hammer ...

when very wet... it might come out easier ....

also .. if flexible... tip pot on side.. and squeeze it ... kinda like kneading dough ...

if there is a will... there is a way ... lol... show it who is boss ...heck.. throw it around on the driveway ...

ken

After watering it this morning I managed to hold it upside down and loosen it enough to be able to pull it out. There are some roots all the way to the bottom but it does not seem to be overrun with roots. I didn't break any inner media away but the roots that I could run my fingers on along the outset edges seemed firm. The roots growing on the surface of the pot are thick and plentiful. The media seemed to be evenly wet. I did move it to a shadier spot the day that I originally posted this thread. It was getting some pretty heavy late morning sun before that, although that didn't affect it before this year. One other leaf is now showing a browning/burning look at the edge and another is yellowing.

I think that is just August in Texas. Very few of mine don't get some of that by September. Some years, it's worse than others.
I read something the other day that totally refutes the water on the leaf burn thing. I can't remember where I saw it. I'll see if I can find it again. Basically, it says the water does not magnify the sun and essentially makes no difference on the leaf surfaces.

bk

bk....it's pretty much the way it goes out in the fall but usually not before Sept. Since this started in June I assumed it had to be more than that. I'll see if moving it to more shade changes anything.

The leaf burn from watering thing being false wouldn't surprise me a bit. That's the kind of thing that gets started and before you know it has gone from one person's opinion to "fact".