Now this really blows my mind. When I read the report without the pics, I wasn't catching on no way. (Your photography is fantastic). Now I can't wait to see what those little eyes do. Who knew what is really involved in re-inventing these plants. I did read once that when this guy got tired of no action from a Hosta, he would take his heel and grind it into the eyes. How about showing us that experiment next? LOL. Mary

it takes some guts to do that to a hosta

i have only tried it on hostas i don't care about.

i have smashed the eyes of hostas also - by accident and they came back fine with more eyes even but i would rather let them make eyes on their own pace.

EO,

Zumberize is a term I'm not familiar with. Can you tell us its origin?

You have to have nerves of steel to experiment with a plant as pretty as this one. I'd be terrified that I'd lose it. You, however, are the king of experiments and I wish you a great outcome with this one.

Lainey

I believe that originated with Elmer Zumber of the Wilson County Zumbers. They did some strange things to cats too, but I won't go into that.

The Ross method cuts all the way through the crown. Zumbar found if he cut just to the crown he had less loss and the plant will divide where it is cut.

I've done this many times with no problem, of course this will be the one.

You can do this to a single eye by pulling back all of the leaves exposing the dormant eye behind those leaves. Actually that is what I've done here except I didn't pull back the leaves.

It was Alex Summers who most famously used the stomp method of stepping in the middle of unstable plants to keep them unstable. Or rather they would make a bunch of new eyes, some of which would still be unstable.

They are just hosta, throw them into the driveway and come back later to replant the ones that live, called the Kenizing method, survival of the fittest.

I'm going out to zumberize one of mine. I've got to try this and I've got a couple of candidates in mind.

I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks for the pics.

Oh, did you sterilize the razor blades? or the plant?

Lainey

Oh, did you sterilize the razor blades? or the plant?
Lainey

These are hosta not eye surgery. You can't keep them clean, it would be appropriate to sterilize if you had reason to think something bad was on the razor blade. This method can be done in the ground, wash away soil and make as many of these pie shaped cuts as you think you need and put the dirt back. The most common method is to excise one eye that is sporting.

The less clean the more loss but there will never be enough loss to worry about unless it is a one of a kind plant as mine is.

Oops, it is hosta eye surgery! If a hosta could not survive damage every time a slug ate a hole in a petiole or leaf the plant would die.

Relax they are just hosta.

E.O.,
What Thu? Is yor goal to force the crown to make more eyes from the unstable leaf? I have never seen this before. It almost seems sci-fi. I saw a guy at the mall the other day with a razor blade through his eybrow! I bet he has no idea of what is about to happen!!LOL!

Denny

Is yor goal to force the crown to make more eyes from the unstable leaf?"
Denny

You should take a division of your grand plant H.'Avalon Wild One' strip it back to the crown exposing those little bitty dormant eyes and make those pie shaped cuts. The plant has very attractive coloration, so find that one good stable eye that will be worth putting into TC.

Hopefully one of the eyes that would be worth having will reappear. How many times have you seen a sport then it never comes back. Not always but 90+ percent of time that wonderful looking leaf will never show up again.

The usual advice is leave it alone and see what happens next year, I'll tell you the numbers; it will not come back. The plant is trying to be what it is, now reverting to green is different. That is the plant trying to become what it was eons ago, green.

I explained how this can be done in the ground, the same method applies to a pot. Strip down leaves to the one dormant eye behind the leaf you like and make the cut right in the pot the get the hell out of the way.

There are grand wonderful sports lost every year because we wait.

E.O.,
This addiction never ends! Now it sounds like I am gonna have to buy a Lab coat and some forceps!Think anyone would notice if I just painted my Moo Moo white?

Denny

Here is a small H.'Little White Lines' with a very interesting leaf that I hope to capture. I don't really think this leaf or anything special will reappear but it is way cute.

Notice the size of the leaf v the size of the razor blade.

BTW it was very easy to recognize when I had reached the crown and if you cut into the crown then you've "Rossed" that works well.

Holy Cow!

...does anyone else want to BE eo? Sheesh.

If anything comes of these I'll name one H.'Holy Cow' if the name is available.

My oldest son said to me; "Dad, you aren't like other people and don't seem to know it"!

EO: If anything comes of these I'll name one H.'Holy Cow' if the name is available.

Regatta: How cool is THAT??!?!?! I'm so tickled I can hardly stand it!

EO: My oldest son said to me; "Dad, you aren't like other people and don't seem to know it"!

Regatta: Aren't kids funny? You probably know it just fine that you aren't the same as other people and are super okay with it. Kids think that being the same as everyone and mixed up in the same pop culture is the only way to be cool. Meanwhile they are trying to have different clothes from their parents and do different things in order to "be different." The best part will be when they figure out that all those other people that are the same are simply ordinary, and that you are the special one. Maybe he has figured it out already!

More Zumberizing and update.

The plant as of 07-29-08. Note it only made new eyes on one side, note the dormant eye that didnÂt get a message to do anything. IÂm going to make another cut
to see if I can stimulate this eye to emerge.

Note the dormant eye about 2/3rds way down.

Now the new cut trying to get the plant to say; I have to grow or die! Wish I had better biological terms for this.
If anyone really wants to know IÂll do some research and describe this more precisely.

OUCH!!! Not exactly how I did it with the blighted 'Golden Sculpture' but boy it's putting out the eyes now!
I sliced off the petioles down to the crown, rather deeply and it just went to work to make up for the loss!

I know they will all be much smaller--but in time I should have a nice pot of 'Golden Sculpture', to share
if I want to!

Hey_j isn't that fun, like waiting for a special plant to appear in the spring?

A more precise method on mine would have been peeling back to the dormant eye I've shown then Zumberize. This particular plant had so many unusual leaves I was just going to get as many eyes as possible.

The Zumberizing method has its highest and best use excising sports from a plant before the sport is lost, usual case.

The most common advice I hear on GW is "oh that is nice leaf, wait and see if it comes back", that is not likely.

Actually--I think the one I just performed surgery on, only showed maybe one tiny dormant eye,
at the time! I really can't remember--but I do know I would have noticed 5, which is what is sprouting
up right now--three of them sporting leaves already--not really sporting, but they are putting out leaves!!!

And, yes this is fun!! I'm thinking, that some of the hosta I love so much, might benefit from
a little 'encouragement' like this!!!!

Hey_J here is the dormant eye that we are looking for usually behind the leaf we want to capture. IÂm posting this again because I canÂt find the other one.
This is a Abba Showtime with wider white edge.
I then put it in the stream crown and new cut under water to see what would happen,
it is growing but to soon to show anything.

This is the plant, then remove or strip the leaf and you should see this little whitish triangle thingy, a dormant eye.
Then make the pie shaped cut to cause that particular eye to emerge.

Plant before leaf stripping.

Leaf stripped exposing little dormant eye.

In my case--I probably 'scalped' any hidden eyes that were there in the process!
So-----if I scalp what is there, then does that stimulate them to madly
produce even more eyes--thus the 5 I'm seeing? Maybe!!!!

Any time you stress a hosta there will be some stimulation to do something so if you peeled back the leaves those 5 eyes were there whether you could see them or not.

Some of these dormant eyes receive a message to grow and some do not. Some plants make more divisions than others, see the Snow Cap in the water post to see a plant that never seems to make a new division. Removed from the soil, turned on its side and submerged under water it is now making 5-7 eyes all on a 10 year old plant that never made more than one division per year.

This is just an update!
I was very disappointed with the amount of new eyes that appeared earlier, been watching the damned thing ever since.
Finally it is putting up more new eyes, hopefully you can see these little devils.
Probably not so interesting to most but IÂm thrilled to death.

O.E, your experiment has really captured my attention. Our winters here are long enough and this could be just the bridge to fill in the gap, and, now that the children have all gone I have the room. My question is, must you wait till spring or can you forget about the dormancy of the plant? I guess as previously mentioned its an experiment.

I am planing to try my luck and have fun with H. seed this winter....purchased a few varieties on E-Bay Love Pat, On Stage and Big Daddy......I have read not to expect to much.

Paul in MB

My question is, must you wait till spring or can you forget about the dormancy of the plant?"
Paul in MB

NO, you cannot forget the dormant period. BIG BUTT you can allow the plant to go dormant, Zumberize the dormant eyes then after the winter solstice put it in the house in as much sun as you have. Then go outside into low light, see below.

Take several that you have more than one of and try it or divide a few and do it. It is way too much fun, Aren't you glad you found these toys?

Here is a link that might be useful: low to high light