Dividing Hosta

I've researched this on the internet, and from everything I've read, August is the best time to divide hosta. So, now my question is, how many stems/leaves to divide it down to. I found one site talking about single stem divisions....but, how will they look next spring? I've never done this before, and I'm just imagining 2-3 leaves on each hosta next year. I would really like to get as many divisions as possible though, so I might do single stem divisions. I was just wondering what other people normally do and how the hostas look next year. I only have one hosta in my shade bed, and want as many as possible. My clump has been in the ground 3 years, and I'm itching to divide it. It's a whirlwind hosta, if that matters. Oh, and I'd run out there right now and do it, but they're calling for temps in the mid to upper 90's for the rest of the week, so maybe I should wait? What I've read said that hostas like it hot to put on new roots, but they said 85-90 degrees....would the forecasted 99 degree day be a little too hot for it? Thanks for any input!

Kristie

I think that divisions with at least 5 leaves work best. How they will look next year depends on many things...plant variety, soil type, light conditions, and moisture. If the conditions for Hostas are met, they should be substantially bigger than the division you plant this year. It will take about 3 years for them to reach their full size. That's not to say they won't continue to get bigger each year, but you won't see as much increase each year as you do for the first 3 years. Mainly you want to plant them in rich moist soil with lots of organic matter mixed in, and of course keep them out of direct sun - especially in the afternoon. The Hostas I divided last year (Gold Standard) with about 5 leaves each have about 18 - 20 leaves at this time. As for dividing them now, I would say it is too hot. I usually divide mine in March or September. I think we have the same weather, basically. You stand a much better chance of getting them to "take" if you wait until the hottest part of the summer has past. They will have plenty of time to get established if you get them in the ground by mid to late September. It took me years to get used to dividing and planting in the fall. I was sure our harsh winter weather would do them in, but I have found that fall is the best time for many plants. Hostas are very tough and take just about anything we can dish out. I love that in a plant!
Chris

This message was edited Jul 31, 2008 12:26 AM

I agree with growgirl. Hostas are incredibly tough. Mine are growing in heavy clay soil in the shadow of a rock wall. The more I ignore them the better they do. We had some hail damage this year that wrecked a few of the leaves, but nothing significant.

They like to be divided every 3 years or so but I have one monster with beautiful blue leaves I divide almost every year because it grows so rapidly. As far as how many leaves per division, you could go as low as a single leaf but why? It's not going to look great next year. I'd divide the big guy into 2-3 smaller plants that look like nice miniatures of the parent plant, then when those grow and get bigger divide again, and again, and again.

I've had the best luck dividing and transplanting just as the weather begins to cool. My mother always advised that when the local vendors start putting out the pumpkins to start dividing and we're Zone 4.

I would divide when the weather starts cooling off a bit.

As said before, it all depends on the type of Hosta, the growing conditions and the size of clumps you want for next year, as a rule of thumb, I cut mine into big enough clumps that I can wrap my finger and thumb around, they look sad and tiny for the first year, them after that, every year they just get bigger again, I would never cut them up into individual stems, unless you want to wait several years for them to grow large enough to go into sale production, but Hosta's in general can be sliced up say every 4/5 years into smaller clumps and this improves there root system and appearance, they can end up growing into a large clump with nothing in the middle, be warned, if you have really large clumps, they are tough and heavy to lift out the ground and you may need to cut through them with your spade sections at a time to enable you to lift them out, but even this dont seem to harm them, give them a good deeply dug new planting hole and add plenty manure/compost and they will thank you for it, keep them well watered till you know they are settled. good luck. WeeNel.

Thanks for all the advice! I went ahead and did it at the beginning of the week. The temps have finally cooled down. I ended up dividing them into what I suppose would be a single stem, but there were 4-5 leaves on each one. This just seemed to be the natural dividing place of it, so that's what I did. I ended up getting 9 separate plants, one more than I was hoping for! So far they are still alive and doing well. They don't looke even remotely phased by the process at all. I don't mind them being small for awhile....I just wanted more hosta to fill out my shade bed, and am too cheap to go out and buy 8 more hosta when I can divide my own. :) So, if they're small for awhile that's ok....I've dealt with one lonely hosta in the middle of the bed for 3 years, so having more than one in there, small though they may be, is actually a joy to see! When I read about dividing hostas, I had read about stomping on the emerging hosta "buds" in the spring so that it would grow more leaves/stems to divide that fall. Could I just do this next spring to maybe make them a bit fuller quicker?

Thanks again for all the suggestions!

Kristie

I have never heard of this method of making more new plants or growth, I would be afraid that I killed the growing buds where they throw out the new growth, but then again, maybe this is another way of doing it, it sounds rather harsh to me as emerging buds are normally so tender and soft. to be sure it works for you, why not try it on one of the new plant-lets you have just split up, by next spring, they will be throwing up new growing tips as this is what Hostas do, this way you will only find the answer by either loosing one small plant instead of taking the chance on a nice mature plant. please let us all know how it goes next spring if you decide to stamp on your Hostas, it may start a new trend, but not for me I'm afraid. good luck. WeeNel.

lol....yes, the thought scared me too! I'll go see if I can find the article I read on the internet.....

Ok, can't find it, but I have found references to "stomping" on hostas, so it is a thing I guess. Maybe I'll wait around and see if I hear any first hand success stories before I go stompin' on my own!

I suppose its something like pinching back a plant, but still.......lol.

Kristie

Most hostas form buds in the fall that will be next year's new shoots, so I can't see how stomping on the dormant eyes would give you more stems. BTW, I've also found that dividing in spring/summer is the quickest way to get the new divs to grow larger, because it does give them time to form those dormant eyes before fall, so you'll have them next spring.

Well, I think you're supposed to wait until spring when the shoots start to emerge.....I didn't know they made next year's buds in the fall, that's neat. I had one extra hosta that I put in the corner of the house....maybe I'll give him a stomp next spring to see what happens....

I would always err on the right side, Hostas are bulb/tubers and I cant see how stomping on this type of growth wont kill the growing eyes as said before, all bulbs make new plants from bulblets, so maybe stomping on them just makes them think they are under attack and better make new bulblets faster, who knows, I am keen to find out how it all goes for you, keep us informed, good luck. WeeNel.

Ok, I'll use my extra one as a test next spring and let everyone know. Maybe someone who's done it will come along and let us know their experience with it....

Ouch. Hosta stomping just sounds so cruel...

onion bulbs get stomped, too- it means that the growth of the plant isnt in the leaves, but underground in the bulbs, you would stomp them when the top growth looks good, but the flowers have died if i remember correctly.

Now I'm really confused, stomping on onions because the growth is not in the plant but underground in the bulb, am I doing things all wrong over the many years, I grow my onions TO EAT THE BULBS, thats the part we always grow for eating, to stomp on them I would imagine would cause bruising to the edible bulbs, but we lift the bulbs before the flowers arrive or die, I guess it all depends on the type of onions you grow, once they have set flower the edible bulb has started to loose it's firmness and cant be stored over the winter, we have always lifted the onions when the foliage starts to turn yellow BUT before the flowers appear, geeeees, I'm learning new tricks here, but not sure if I want to try it out, I'll wait till someone else gives it a go first, We have an old saying here "dont tell your Granny how to sew her onions" so for now, I'll stick to Grannies methods to be on the safe side. good luck to all you stampers though. WeeNel.