and now That I look at it again, something is munching on it?!?!

First I can tell you that the munching is slugs. You can protect your hostas by drenching them in a 10/1 ammonia or vinegar with water. Do that spring and fall and it will control them. Patriot is not know to be difficult to grow. In fact I think it’s an easy hosta, in many gardens.

I would have planted it in one piece and given it time to grow a little larger before I split it up. Now I would make sure to water, not over water but don’t let it get too dry.

debra

Ok. Thanks so much! Good to know. I was trying to be frugal. Lol. Bad idea I guess. I will try the slug treatment.

Patriot is a tetraploid (Has an extra set of chromosomes) of the hosta Francee.. A lot of your tetraploid hostas have shorter, thicker roots than the parent plant that can sometimes be a little more touchy when transplanting. The "original" Patriot hosta wasn't a fully tetraploid and instead of being 3 3 3 in it's chromosomes, it was 3 3 2. The "2" set of chromosomes affected the root system, leaving it normal and a much better grower than the later 3 3 3 version IMO.

I agree with Debra that it is better not to divide a new hosta. Also, I see a shrub or a tree in the picture near the new hosta. Perhaps tree roots are interfering with the growth of your Patriot.

No they are not finicky at all. I have quite a few growing in my sloped bed. It’s dry due to many roots of an old maple tree nearby.... I give them no supplemental water, so I would say they are tough as nails!

Yours are still young and will fill out nicely within a couple years. There’s nothing wrong with being frugal...I’m the same way myself ; )

Thanks all! I shall be patient and in the meantime work on the slug problem....

I hope your Patriot grows well for you. It will take a couple years to recoup. Next time you might try just cutting in half, pot up and keep in more sun than it should have. Not full sun. The sun might burn the leaves but it will grow roots. Then plant in the fall..

I use Escar-go from Gardens Alive for slugs. Safe for pets.

I bought one at nursery last year. Divided into three.

==>>> yeah.. dont split a 3 year old plant.. and then complain when it comes up as a one year old plant ...

its like field of dreams .. built it.. and they will come ...

grow the root mass. and the plant will follow ..

disturb the root mass.. and it will decline.. until it regrows the root mass ...

also .. the third one might be planted too deep.. compare to the other two.. and note there is no petiole ... leaf stem .. like the others ...

dig it up.. and reset it properly ...

its been a very long time since ive seen a young patriot... are we even sure this is patriot???

compare to undulata albomarginata ... but again.. i havent seen a young one of those either ... lol ... leaf thickness would be different ...

ken

Lesson learned... don’t be frugal and split newly purchased hostas!

it was labeled patriot at the nursery. I don’t know any more than that.

One more thing from my experience, Patriot has been a bit slower to emerge than some others I have.

Sherry

Ken - got it. I don’t have the enormous gardens that most have on here. I’m in city and happy to have the yard size I have. My lot is about a third acre, but that includes the house and some land behind back fence that is creek space. I like hostas but I don’t see myself being a collector of them. I don’t like that they leave an empty space in the winter. Probably not a big issue if you have a huge area... I want a white variegated hosta and then I’ll prob be done w hostas. I’m thinking fire and ice and/or cool as a cucumber. I still don’t know where to put the curly fries impulse purchase. lol.

sherry-thank you! That’s good to know. the inspira for this post was because it was so lagging in emerging than my other hostas. I knew they would be small because I split them. But I was worried that they weren’t going to come back. As of this weekend, they are about back to the size I planted last year.

Mamaham--give the hosta bug a little time. 2 leads to 4, 4 to 8.... A creek would be a perfect place for MORE hosta. The best thing is that you can plant them and they require little tending.

Mamaham, I also live in the city, smack dab in the middle. So, like you I have “normal” sized yard.But I have managed to collect about 100 hostas including small companions in that count and some multiples too. I bought 22 this year. So even in a small yard you can collect........maybe the hosta bug has bitten you! There are so many green and white hostas, but also so many blues yellows, chartreuse and streaked ones! There are ones for shade as always, but now also sun tolerant ones. Hang out on the hosta forum with us—-

you’ll learn a lot and we will encourage you to buy a few more!! :-)

debra

Yay! I’m not the only one with a “normal” size yard!

ok, I’ll see if the hosta bug catches. Right now I’m so paranoid of the HVX that I don’t want any more right now. In a different Post I shared that a neighbor gave me a hosta w HVX. I’m glad to have had it identified on here before planting it!!!