Death of my hostas :(

[cheryldear]

I recently moved from Minnesota to southern Indiana and brought many of my hosta varieties with me. I planted an additional 15 or so from here in the state. I planted them with ferns under two lovely cedar trees with mulch around them but they have all died. They limped along last year and hardly grew from when I put them in the ground despite vigilant watering and fertilizing. My other hostas planted in other places have also not come back from the winter cold. Is there death to hostas under cedar trees?

Any help would be greatly welcomed! I have never had trouble growing hostas before!

[HoosierLawnGnome]

Andy is the man here with hostas!

Your soil is low on a LOT of nutrients - so that's one issue - plan forthcoming.... sorry you lost those plants

[andy10917]

This will be the short version of my anwer, since I'm writing it in my car on a long roadtrip...

Forget the cedars - that's not your problem unless they are blocking all the light. There are too much more likely problems. One is that hosts really like a soil that is very high in organic matter. I plant them in 40-50% peat/soil. Any Fancy Variety Will Sulk AND Pout IN A Low ON soil.

Transplanted hosta also undergo the 3 - year sleep/creep/leap pattern in some soils.

What do you feed them? Mine love a mixed pattern of Miloganite/Bloodmeal/Alfalfa.

[ Post made via Android ]

[cheryldear]

thanks for the thoughts; I have only fed them (gasp!) MiracleGro! But I must say that there is hope; I have seen the little guys creeping up so all is not lost!

[Southernguy311]

I have hostas under my crepe myrtle tree and they do pretty well considering my limited knowledge of them. I have not split them before. Any suggestions on that or just chop then in half like monkey grass/liriopes?

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[andy10917]

I'm suprised Hosta will live > 3 years in SoGA. Without the Winter rest, they tend to decline.

I literally use a machete. Any piece with > 1 eye can survive. I never recommend that though -- I always do at least two eyes.

My all-time record was last year, when I found a Hosta that I had missed "for awhile". It had 138 eyes.

If none of the Hosta are < 3 years on your property, you can just hack them to chunks and replant (don't forget the OM and some SoilMoist!). If any are < 3 years, clean the tool used to divide them in a bleach solution after each plant to avoid any chance of spreading the Hosta X Virus to healthy plants.