RE: a few more early spring pics! Dear UK Hostaman. Stunning photos of lovely hostas! many thanks for the inspiration. Question for you: I am growing more and more hostas in pots with fairly good success, but especailly ponder one aspect of growing them...WATERING. I bought a moisture meter that says a reading of 5 or below on a scale of 1-9 when the probe is placed half way betweeen plant and pot edge about 3" into the soil calls for water. My touch test tells me that dry soil when my finger is pushed into the soil to a depth of my first knuckle calls for water. Do you have an opinion on this subject to share? Also, does watering mean adding enough so that it runs out the bottom of the pot? Your advice would be most appreciated.

Here is a link that might be useful: Quinn Mountain hosta gardens

Thanks for the lovely photos. I don't think I've seen a spartacus before. I like it.

bkay

oh, i am just drooling over these pics and hostas in Pots!
love them. kinda hard to do here in mn, can't leave them in the pots over winter, darn. yours are absolutely beautiful. thanks for the pictures, one of them is now my desktop wallpaper. andi

Great photos and I enjoyed the link to quinn mountains also.

capehorn.....thanks for the comments,i use a free draining mix of compost and loam and water every other day i dont really measure how much i water but i dont think you can over water when in full leaf..in winter i dont touch them..but as i live in the uk the climate is very different

Great pictures of beautiful and powerful-looking hosta. I love your choices of hosta and pots.

That Striptease is amazing. Great marking. It looks like it has about a thousand eyes.

Seeing your Spartacus makes me glad I bought one last year, and it may very well be upgraded from ground to pot. All of your hostas are beautiful!

Karen

Thanks Hostaman for the beautiful pics. They will help tide us over in the frozen North until real Spring arrives. Spartacus, Goodness Gracious, and Dancing Queen are all on my list of must haves. It seems you are really taken by the rippled margins and your photographs capture the ripples beautifully. I see that many of your hostas are encircled by copper tubes. Is that effective against slugs and snails?

Mark

treemon...it certainly seems to help...i am using nemaslug this year for the first time so will see if this helps as well....

might as well post a few more!

new this year..lakeside paisley print

flemish gold...hopefully will turn gold soon

artic blast...new last year

fleet week..its a pity the blue dosent come out in the photo..this could be my fav.in few years,its a real quick grower....

dream weaver

I appreciate the info on watering, UKHostaMan. We are about 100 miles inland from Pacific where I live in SW Washington State (300 miles south of Vancouver, BC). We get rain from mid-fall to late, late spring. Minimal snow, rarely any prolonged deep freezing. Moderate winter temperatures...lots of fog, a true Maritime climate. I overwinter most of my pots in our horse barn. Not heated, just out of the wind. Rarely add supplemental water during this dormant period. Either move them into the unheated hoop greenhouse or under a deep eave of our garden building protected from the wind and direct sun, if we have any, :-) about March 1. Then outdoors in mid-May when all danger of frost and hail have passed. I was concerned about overwatering, but you said that they can take plenty of water when full leaf stage has been reached. Thanks. I feel more confident now.

What is that thing on the pot in the back left on the picture of Secret Ambition? - 4th from the bottom on the 1st post. Is it a slug?

That's called a cataphyll. It protects the hosta when it is still in a pip stage. Lots of plants have these, but Hosta's are permanent. They stay on the plant.

Steve

Steve, I don't think you and ahelaumakani are talking about the same thing. Look at this pic: In the the pot behind and left of Secret Ambition, there's a HUGE slug-looking thing on the side of the pot.
So, UK, is THAT a SLUG? OMG!

You can see this huge SLUG on the second picture from the top :)

yep well spotted!...my pet snail,made from metal it suppose to scare the rest off!..lol

Glorious photos! Can't get enough!

My hostas are still just pips poking up (and some of them aren't even doing that yet.) 'Sagae' is about the furthest up so far--it just took off once it broke the soil. But mine still all have a long way to go here in zone 5. It's great to see all these heavenly hostas. :)

uk-hostaman,
You certainly have very nice hostas, I put Spartacus on my wish list!
I looked at the website by Becker Underwood, maker of Nemaslug. Using it would really be a work saver! Would you please answer these questions :

- It is written there that it is applied as a drench, so it is sold in a bottle? Or is your label shown above from an envelope containing powder?
- How much does it cost?
- Are there any restrictions in sending it to the US? People I know in Europe could send it when it is an envelope, I guess, but a bottle probably not.
Thanks!
Bernd

bernd...this is where i get them from

Here is a link that might be useful: nemaslug link

Good Gravy, UK.
I had heard about the UK's slug/snail problem, but that scared the b'jeebers outta me!

NemaSlug :
"Due to the nature of our products (i.e. living organisms), they are only available in the U.K. via this web-site.
For information on products available to Southern Ireland / Europe please telephone 01493 750061 or Email / write to us. "

I think I will continue to use those containers with pellets I already have until it is introduced in the US. Shipping those living organisms in a letter to my US address via a plane....then getting on one of their programs, storing those living organisms in my refrigerator next to my beer and pizza, juck.

Thanks for the info!
Bernd

Oh my god! Your hosta's are gorgeous!
What do you use as a potting soil? Potted gold!? lol

You make me jealous! :)
You are an inspiration to all of us hosta lovers!

Don't forget that I'm waiting to see you build your begonia baskets. They are so pretty, I have to see how you do it.

bkay

bkay...no worries picking my bedding plants up next weekend and making them the week after..i will post all pics. and details of how to do it then...no problem

I have come to look forward to photos of your hostas. They are gorgeous. It also seems like you have a preference for rippled edges.

Love your pics. Just added Spartacus to my wish list.