RE: Treating shipped Hosta
- Subject: RE: Treating shipped Hosta
- From: D* T*
- Date: Fri, 25 May 2001 03:08:33 -0000
Solid bleach, Bruce, or a 20% solution?
Thanks,
Diann
>From: BanyaiHsta@aol.com
>Reply-To: hosta-open@mallorn.com
>To: <hosta-open@mallorn.com>
>Subject: RE: Treating shipped Hosta
>Date: Fri, 11 May 2001 14:19:25 EDT
>
>Mary, if you let them soak in bleach until they turn white, with the tissue
>soft and swollen, just put them in a cool shaded area for 1-2 hours and
>they will come back just fine.
>
>Once, my mother left some really rare ones in a bucket in the garden
>overnight - panicked and called to get some chemical engineer's advice. I
>told her to let them dry out on their own and then plant as usual. She did
>and from then on she always had a bucket of them lying around. Dan -
>remember buckets of soaking hosta?
>
>Also reminds me of one winter when she and I "forgot" to plant a couple of
>big clumps that we dug late in the year and lost track of - hate to admit
>it but happens. In the spring we "found" them, divided, soaked in bleach
>and very little loss. In Holland they store their harvested hosta clumps in
>large mounds, until they need to divide them for sale or spring planting.
>Of course the temp rarely goes below 40 F, so they are ok sitting above
>ground. Also no drying winter winds.
>
>The "too much water" issue. In the heat of the summer we tend to water our
>hosta to promote vitality, as they are water lovers. If the soil conditions
>are such that the roots are in very high moisture for a period of time,
>with almost wet feet and the plant cannot move, a baby division, tissue
>culture or small division of sieb/tok type plant, they will literally drown
>the roots due to lack of air transport to the roots. Some fortunei and
>other plantaginea types will start to climb out of that root zone to
>survive, similar to a tree or bulb lily moving the crown to the best soil
>depth.
>
>One area of concern is automatic sprinklers that come on with a timer,
>irrespective of the actual soil moisture content. I have visited a number
>of gardens where they complained of hosta dying even though they water all
>the time. That is a problem of too much water. Alex Summers has watered
>around the clock on hot days in the summer BUT and a big reason he gets
>away with it, actually why he has to do it, is the sandy draining soil
>structure he has. If he tried it in the wetlands he has, then same problem.
>He has lectured me on this regularly, as I tend to water a lot.
>
>There are a few hosta that prefer wet feet. A few species, as I recall.
>
>Hope that helps.
>bruce
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