Re: Moisture

I've never treated hosta as water plants with the
entire plant under water which I firmly believed would
drown them.
--- "W. George Schmid" <hostahill@Bellsouth.net>
wrote:

> Butch,
> As long as the rhizome remains above the water line,
> you cannot have too
> much water. The roots grew out of my pots into the
> trays and some were as
> much as 4 feet long at the end of the trial. They
> grow wherever there us
> water. G.
> W. George Schmid
> Hosta Hill - Tucker Georgia USA
> Zone 7a - 1188 feet AMSL
> 84-12'-30" West_33-51' North
> Outgoing e-mail virus checked by NAV
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "butch ragland" <wilddog_202@yahoo.com>
> To: <hosta-open@hort.net>
> Sent: Saturday, January 08, 2005 2:33 PM
> Subject: Moisture
> 
> 
> > George,
> >
> > I had actually begun with plants in pots when I
> first
> > transplanted the plants I had in tc. In an effort
> to
> > get consistant water to these plants just out of
> > tubes. I potted, then sat them in a tray without
> holes
> > and never noticed any problem with too much water.
> I
> > later went outside in 4" pots in trays with
> constant
> > water. In constant water the fertilizer was
> different
> > so I mixed about 1/32 the recommended application
> > everytime I watered. Outside the rain took care of
> > salt buildup from constant water. Inside I changed
> the
> > water weekly and tried to use rainwater when I
> could.
> >
> > Next came the pots that I floated in my water
> feature
> > 24/7/365 for 3 years to look for the outside
> limits of
> > water which I never found.
> >
> > Then I planted a pot, without holes, under plants
> in
> > the ground that acted as a constant water source.
> > When I dug this up I found that some roots had
> entered
> > the pot of water while others moved into the
> ground. I
> > assumed that the plant found whatever it needed,
> > water, humus, etc.
> >
> > Let me give you a free good source of water.
> Either
> > your sump pump or air conditioner condensate. I
> also
> > set up a little bog garden from the air
> conditioner
> > water. I did this at the plant with a window unit
> that
> > driped into the bog. Once again the hosta did very
> > well with this constant water.
> >
> > The assumption from the start was that hosta can
> not
> > have too much water. I've not been able to prove
> the
> > negative. At this point if I found too much water
> as a
> > problem I would first eliminate salt buildup
> before
> > believing it was too much water.
> >
> > In this continuing investigation of the effect of
> > water on hosta I'm working on another situation
> that
> > I'll report on in a year or so.
> >
> >
> > --- "W. George Schmid" <hostahill@Bellsouth.net>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Butch,
> > > You are right on.
> > > A genus that gets between 70 and 110 inches of
> > > water, most of it in
> > > August/September has to have WATER during our
> dry
> > > summers. No matter species
> > > or cultivars. I did a similar experiment in the
> > > 1980s and put a number of
> > > pots in 1' x 2' seed trays without holes and
> kept
> > > these full of water. The
> > > sister plants were in the ground not watered in
> > > summer. You should have seen
> > > the difference in growth rates. Your
> observations
> > > hit the nail on the head:
> > > It is not temperature, but the lack of water
> during
> > > the summer growth cycle
> > > that results in smaller plants. 1999-2002 were
> > > drought summers in Georgia.
> > > Many hostas not watered went heat (summer)
> dormant,
> > > reduced their size
> > > (trying to survive) and finally croaked. I lost
> over
> > > 100 of them (could not
> > > water due to restrictions). You are right!
> George
> > >
> > > W. George Schmid
> > > Hosta Hill - Tucker Georgia USA
> > > Zone 7a - 1188 feet AMSL
> > > 84-12'-30" West_33-51' North
> > > Outgoing e-mail virus checked by NAV
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: "butch ragland" <wilddog_202@yahoo.com>
> > > To: <hosta-open@hort.net>
> > > Sent: Saturday, January 08, 2005 12:39 PM
> > > Subject: Re: Winter Dormancy
> > >
> > >
> > > > George let me change to moisture. While I did
> not
> > > set
> > > > this up in a pure scientific way I did enough
> work
> > > to
> > > > draw strong conclusions.
> > > >
> > > > I suspended potted hosta in water 24-7 365 for
> 3
> > > years
> > > > in full sun. They did very well and showed
> little
> > > > effect from the sun which normally causes leaf
> > > > problems in July and August.
> > > >
> > > > I have come to believe that water is the
> single
> > > most
> > > > important factor in Hosta culture. The problem
> > > that
> > > > many growers do not understand about water
> with
> > > plants
> > > > is consistancy. They are like babies who will
> > > starve
> > > > in hurry without water. During hot windy
> summer
> > > days
> > > > they may require daily watering to get near
> > > results
> > > > that hobby gardeners want.
> > > >
> > > > --- "W. George " <hostahill@Bellsouth.net>
> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > Hostas do fine in the South given enough
> summer
> > > > > moisture.
> > > >
> > > > >But given plenty of moisture in late summer
> in
> > > > southern regions seems to make up for the
> shorter
> > > > winter cooling periods and earlier soil
> warm-up.
> > > Up
> > > > north they may have enough "chilling" but if
> they
> > > dry
> > > > out during the critical root growth period
> they
> > > suffer
> > > > too.
> > > >
> > > > =====
> > > > Butch Ragland
> > > > Conflict is as addictive as
> > > > cocaine, alcohol, cigarettes,etc
> > > > I'm sorry to report that
> > > > cooperation is not
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
>
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> > > majordomo@hort.net with the
> > > > message text UNSUBSCRIBE HOSTA-OPEN
> 
=== message truncated ===

=====
Butch Ragland
Conflict is as addictive as 
cocaine, alcohol, cigarettes,etc
I'm sorry to report that
cooperation is not
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