I have had mature hosta with roots easily 16 inches deep...
Look at it this way....it's a pot you are planting the hosta in....best be deep if you are going to do it at all.
Linda C

i have 700 or so hostas planted in agroliner bags. All but 2 are in 5 gallon bags and doing quite well. you are so right about digging in those nasty roots - it is backbreaking.

i have 700 or so hostas planted in agroliner bags. All but 2 are in 5 gallon bags and doing quite well. you are so right about digging in those nasty roots - it is backbreaking."

How long have they been in those bags?

Do have photos?

If you do more I would try to buy rolls from a greenhouse supply and make my own bags as you might see if you fashioned your own coffee filter.

When I bought the bags last fall, I was going to purchase the 10 gallon and was told by the seller that the five gallon were plenty big for hosta. So far I've only got a couple of them planted because it is a pain planting them under the maple. Make sure you leave some of the top of the bag above ground so the tree roots don't grow over!

EO - i am going to have to take you to task on this one. have you ever used the rolls? i think not or you would never have made that statement. i have used the rolled material for over 5 years now and without a $20M commercial sewing machine - you could never keep root #1 out. i am tearing all that material out and replacing it with the bags which have not had a failure for 2 years now running. As to a picture - here is a picture tonight in bad lighting of 'regal providence' enjoying it's nice root free environment.

You don't sew them, place them in the hole as you might a coffee filter with no way in. I've used both and prefer rolls but I truly don't care what anyone does.

And, the bags work well! They were first tried at the University of Okla about 1980 with good results growing trees in clay then in Fla in sandy soil. Then work was done with spin-out in pots to keep tree and shrub from circling in the pots leading to root girdling, which is not a problem with hosta in pots.

I don't own stock in either.

Hi Esther,
Where can I buy the rolls of this agroliner fabric? Is it the same as the propagation fabric that Horticulture specialties sells?
Thanks!

Horticulture specialties list the product and I'm sure other professional supply houses carry it.

The spin out treated propagation fabric will work just fine, use a lap fold it it is not wide enough.

Spin out is the active ingredient (copper hydroxide) in latex paint then applied to the fabric.

If you go one step further and put a container at the bottom of the hole to hold water, fill this container with the soil that came out of the hole and you have a constant water reservoir. Anytime it rains or you water it will hold water for the plant.

Leave a bit above the soil for settling.

Have you ever tried digging up let's say....Sum and Substance, Squash Casserole or Niagra Falls after the plant has been in the ground for about 4 years?

Some of these plants get roots that are monsters. You will need all the space in the larger bag for those roots.

"Have you ever tried digging up let's say....Sum and Substance, Squash Casserole or Niagra Falls after the plant has been in the ground for about 4 years?

Some of these plants get roots that are monsters. You will need all the space in the larger bag for those roots."
Trudy

Very true the soil is the best place if it works for ya?

The advantage to using the rolls is one can make the hole wide enough to accommodate a large plant to grow into. It does require planning but it can be done.

Say a wide area with a small young S&S in the center and smaller plants around it, when the S&S over grows the smaller plants then move the small ones.

Hey Ken...forgot to tell you that is a lovely photo.

Havent seen to many "Regal Promenade's", yours has very nice streaking to it! :)

trudy said: Have you ever tried digging up let's say....Sum and Substance

riddle me this batman ... WHY DIG OUT A PLANT THAT IS OUT COMPETING THE MAPLE ....

do NOT fix that which isnt broken ....

dig and bag.. when you see a decline ....

MOST hosta will not be able to beat the maple... those that do beat it.. really dont need a bag...

eh????

NEVER EVER dig a monster out... under some belief that you will do it a favor ... all you will do is set it back 5 years... and then you will not be happy .. bag or not ...

good luck

ken

Oh sorry Ken...was just trying to make a point on how big the roots are on some of the larger hostas. Was just giving a reason to get the larger bag.

I line out hostas to sell, and sometimes,they get out of control (meaning to big before they get sold, they then become a stock plant). I then have to dig out the stock plant to divide.

Trudy, we may have talked about this but do you grow hosta in your bog?