Yes the threads are the roots that need to go into the soil or media. If you could take a picture that would be helpful, sometimes bareroot Hosta are dried out and not viable.

Hostas are not bulbs so your description is confusing. A photo would certainly help.

I would also be very suspect of a hosta that was being sold bare root or without any visible growth this late in the season in your location. The previous comment about "dried out and not viable" is a very distinct possibility.

Yeah, I gotta see a pic. Roots should be fleshy, tentacle-like structures. The only threads (more like hairs) could be on the crown, but they’d only be an inch or so long.

tj

This is the package:

It came from Lowes, and they had them for 50% off. They were in a sealed bag that was about 1/3 filled with loose dirt.

I've bought these bags of plants before, maybe 50% of them grow but the manufacturer has always been good about replacing them. So I figure it's worth $3 :-)

From my experience, though, the picture isn't always what's in the bag! I've bought things that were supposed to be one variety and were something completely different, so I take that with a grain of salt. This could be a Blue Halcyon, or Variegated, or it could be an Empress Wu for all I know! LOL I'll find out when/if it grows up...

Here's the first plant:

And a close up of the... bulb? rhizome?

Second plant:

Third plant:

I had put them in potting soil about 3 hours ago, so the dirt you see here is my soil after I pulled them out. The soil that came in the sealed bag was very dry and dusty!

So the roots look good. I see top growth on the 2nd plant and hopefully the other two will grow. Thank you for the pics.

Those are the factory rejects from the netherlands. roots down hope for the best. cross your fingers that they dont have virus hvx.

there is a potato like structure called the crown ... from the the roots go down.. and the leaves develop up ...

if you have little or no crown... and/or its shriveled to kingdom come.. you might not have a hosta ...

ken

ps: didnt last week you post that you were removing a bunch of now full sun hosta.. what possessed you to buy more??

@hosta_maker, THAT's about what I would expect! LOL I have them in a nursery pot, though, and figured I'd give them a permanent home next year.

didnt last week you post that you were removing a bunch of now full sun hosta.. what possessed you to buy more??

@ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5, keep in mind that I have 9 gardens spread across about 1 1/2 acres of land (surrounded by 3 1/2 acres of wild woods), so finding a new home for those hostas isn't really an issue :-) Although I think I've been talked in to leaving them in the sun and just see what happens...

Those hostas are all green with purple flowers, though, and I bought these in the hopes of adding a different color to my shadier areas.

Plus, it's REAL easy to say "it's just $3, who cares?" LOL That's how they git ya!!

Yes, I agree with hosta_maker, pray they don’t have HVX. It’s good to plant them away from other hostas or put them in pots……when you work with them I would sanitize them tools before using them on other hostas so IF they are infected you don’t spread the virus. Good luck, keep us posted!

debra

Once they've sprouted (if they sprout), what steps would I take to make sure they're healthy and not carrying a virus? That's a new concept for me...