bkay -- I'm guessing that this type of Miracle Grow soil is advertised for use in outdoor planters and hanging baskets to cut down on the amount of watering required. Am I right about that? So -- I'm puzzled -- why doesn't it work well for potted hostas? I would think that is a choice many people might make.
Jan

I'm in Texas, so this type of potting soil is everywhere. I haven't seen any advertising for it, so I don't know how they are promoting it. At Home Depot last year, it was often the only variety of potting soil they had. When I was at Home Depot yesterday getting my perlite, they had a pallet of it right by the door. It's all that Sam's had last year. It might work fine for annuals, but it breaks down very quickly.

Hosta like well drained soil. This stays wet. Also, I don't repot my hosta every year. Most of the time, I don't repot until there's some particular reason to do so. This variety of potting soil breaks down totally and turns to mud in less than one year.

bkay

BKay,

Sorry if I steered you in the wrong direction with potting soil. I don't use Miracle Grow MC, nor would I recommend it. I use the 5-1-1 mix that is recommended in the Container forum here on GW. The formula is 5 parts pine bark, one part peat and one part perlite.

If you are concerned about the watering schedule imposed by municipal water restrictions, then you might consider adding a handful of those slow release water absorbing crystals. I think Hallson's sells it. But in either case container soils must be able to drain well and MGMC potting soil certainly doesn't do that.

Steve

Steve, that MG soil has those water absorbant crystals in it. I have used it myself but add in about 50 % composted pine bark and it has been fine. Always use composted pine bark compared to nuggets or small pieces. Bkay sorry to hear about your plant. Make sure you look for rot. Rob

Steve, you didn't steer me to this product, you steered me AWAY from it. I repotted this one before I took your advice on making my own mix. It was so big, I couldn't do it by myself, so I played like it would be ok. There doesn't seem to be any rot, it's just smaller.

In all fairness, it could be smaller because of our really bad summer last year, too. We'll see when they come up. Sum and Substance is the only one that has leaves so far and they're only about 4 inches tall. So, I can't tell if any besides my "old blue" will be smaller this year.

It turns out that potted plants are not considered landscaping and are not subject to the Wednesday and Sunday watering schedule. They can be watered anytime.

bkay

BKay, thank you for that rant because the message is one I need to hear.

I'm about to swear off of Miracle Gro products entirely. In fact, they are being fined for KNOWINGLY selling wild bird food that had been coated with insecticide, and continued to market it even after their ornithologist warned them about it. As if the wild birds are not having a hard enough time, the bird count is down enough as it is already. With climate change causing southerly birds to expand further north and replacing the northern song birds, which is what I think they discovered to be happening this last count.

I forget now where this item about Scott Miracle Gro appeared, but it was of interest to all my bird-loving friends. I would not put it past them to pack it up and ship it out to some third world country where the wild birds happen to be endangered parrots. Not that they have done that, I'm just saying I would not put it past them. I did not read if the government made them destroy it or not.

But that is at least TWO strikes against the company already.

Miracle Gro does good products, i.e. hosta seed growers use Tomato fertilizers on their seedlings with great success.
Bernd

I found a link to the article about contaminated bird seed. Interesting.

Here is a link that might be useful: contaminated bird seed

I use miracle grow products. I just wouldn't use the MGMC with hosta. After making my own, I still use the regular MG potting soil for annuals. There's something to dislike and something to like about most companies. It's my opinion that we need to tell them when they are wrong. ..........Sometimes, they even listen.

bkay

I have used Miracle Grow in my half-whiskey barrels for years with no problem,as they are drilled in the bottom,for drainage. It is not the moisture control variety,however. I also use the other type that Lowes sells,which is much less expensive,but when I set up a new pot,I also put oak leaves and compost in there. Also tree leaves fall on my outdoor pots all winter,further changing the soil in the barrels. I'm not advocating one product,or another,just telling what I do. Phil

Hosta Freak, the latest two whiskey barrel halves came home with me and I left them in the back of my SUV for a day, windows rolled up. DH took them out when he used the car, and said the aroma of Jack Daniels was pretty powerful. Sure enough they had the serial numbers or IDs on the bottom of the barrels. These still need the holes drilled, but soon will be planted with hosta.

Contaminated bird seeds, Hm. Last fall I bought this carton of 10 "Morning Song year long suet" made by Scotts, for $8 at HD. The moment I started to hang one up the woodpeckers, nut hatches and chickadees stopped coming. I hope they are still OK, and it is only poor quality = too much millet in it. So I hung a $1.59 per suet cake up, also only one woodpecker came.
Bernd

Make your own, Bernd. It's better and cheaper than the filler crap that Scotts/Miracle Grow sells. It'll give you something to do while the Hostas sleep away the zone 5 winter.

Steve

Here is a link that might be useful: Big Suet Recipe Roundup

I hear you moccasin landing! My half-whiskey barrels came from Jack Daniels also,but they have never been inside a car

in my own experience as well as observation at very many actual nurseries ... not just bigboxstore ...

setting aside water management ....

the biggest variable with pot growing .. is fertilizer management ...

excess fertilizer .. late in the year .. or not used up time release ... causes a plant to go into dormancy in a lush growth phase.. instead of slowly winding down and hardening off ... and i really think this is a prime issue for you super warm zone peeps .... you are barely getting enough winter dormancy ... and if they dont harden off properly ... you might be losing the requisite dormancy period ...

and when that happens.. crown and roots rot over the winter ...

as i said .... its all complicated by water management late in fall ... as excess water in late fall.. just speeds up the fert issue ...

specifically defining what happened.. is near impossible.. after the fact .. IMHO ...

all that said.. media breaks down.. and sooner or later.. you need to totally change out the media.. completely ... proper media is all about water management.. a medias ability to move water thru the whole pot.. in a predictable manner... when the media start to break down ... then all of a sudden.. mysterious problems start happening ...

and to come full circle.. when the water is not moving thru the media properly.. then how the fert is moving thru the media becomes a problem ...

oooohhh is all so complicated ....

ken

ps: what does bird food have to do with this????

Ken, it was Miracle Gro Moisture Control-> MG owned by Scotts -> contaminated bird food -> suet cakes by Scotts.
Steve, thanks, the suet eaters are the most interesting birds.
Bernd

"...its all complicated by water management late in fall ... as excess water in late fall.. just speeds up the fert issue ..."

I missed something here. I think you are saying that excess fertilizer late in the fall does not give the plant enough time to go dormant. I see it kind of like too much caffine late in the day.

Now, what does the above mean? How does excess water effect fertilizer? I would think excess water would wash away fertilizer.

bkay

WHEN I MOVED OUT HERE.. IN 2000 .. darn cap key ...

i had 1650 potted hosta ..

i lost about 9% of them.. and it was mostly from becoming too wet in spring .. while the plant was still dormant ..

but many i found fertilizer from the year prior.. and my hypothesis was that they did not properly harden off in fall ...

potted hosta should go into winter .. pretty dry ... and mind you.. in MI.. pots freeze solid.. so i dont know what to tel you about your zone ...

so i put the two together.. and wonder if excess fert.. in a pot with too much water.. lead to a lack of hardening off .. etc ... perhaps the root tissue.. in lush growth phase in fall.. could not handle excess water in spring ...

ken

I have success growing them in bark, much like orchids. I give each pot a weak solution of Miracle Grow fertilizer every couple weeks or so. Zero water after they go dormant in late Fall. I had too many rot when I tried to keep them moist over Winter. They would get smaller each year. This year I even let the root mass shrink away from the sides of the pots, so they are quite dry. When I see about 1/2" of green shoots they begin to get water.

Ken, if you could "find" the fertilizer, are you using a timed-release capsule form?

-Babka

Babka, what's your humididty like? I would think I wouldn't have good luck with a planting medium that loose. In July, August and most of September we're above 90 most days and around 80 at night. Our humididty is pretty low those months, too.

Usually, I have some pretty scraggly looking hosta at the end of the season. They start turning yellow and looking yucky, but the first freeze is what really knocks mine all the way down. Our first killing freeze is about Nov. 15. I usually keep watering as long as I'm watering other container plants. During the winter, they generally only get rain water. They usually start coming up about March 1. We sometimes get freezes after that, but I don't usually protect them. (I will this year, as some are already leafing out.)

When do you stop watering? Do you think that the way you withold water over the winter might contribute to the hosta's need for dormancy? (poor sentence, but i hope you know what I mean) I understand you cover them with tarps or someting so they don't get rained on. Are they all the way down when you cover them?

Bkay

Bark is amazing. The roots attach themselves to it so well that when I up-pot a plant to the next size, the whole package holds together and I just add bark in a larger pot. I tried to spray wash some divisions once and I'm telling you that those roots would not let go of the mini bark pieces.

After it is totally soaked, something like a couple weeks of watering every other day, it retains a lot of water. We get very dry in Summer here,(zero rain) down in the twenties humidity-wise during the day but higher with our cool nights...but I only need to water my pots maybe twice a week. They would survive a week at 100 in the shade(and they did when we had to suddenly leave for a family emergency one July and the temps soared). When we returned they were only slightly droopy and popped up with a drink.

Pots also have this ability to retain a lot of moisture at the very bottom even though the top inch or so is dry. I use mostly plastic nursery pots and you can poke your finger in the bottom holes of a 3 gal can and feel the moisture there.

My advice is to stop watering when they die back and go dormant, mine from shortened daylight, yours from a freeze. Whatever makes the tops flop/mush. Put them somewhere where they won't get rained on and wait until they poke up in late Feb or March before you give them any moisture. Witholding water in Winter may help keep them dormant in our warmer Winter areas.
Just think of how you hear of some hostas going into heat dormancy in Summer. It is not so much due to the heat as it is the lack of water.

Just for the heck of it, try putting some in the tiny tiny 3/8"-1/2" bark chips and see how they do for you. Give them a little weak liq. fert from time to time. This is what I've found, over many years, (and many losses) works for me. YMMV.

Good Luck!

-Babka