it may only be summer dormancy from lack of sufficient water in full sun ...

if it were me .... i would dig them up .. see what you have ... if it smells of rot... research southern blight .... if they seem fine.. but appear dormant ....see if your water actually made it all the way through the root zone .... replant them in more shade... and water the heck out of them ...

i water mine for 3 or 4 times per week for 4 hours each time.. with drip irrigation .... i can dig a hole a foot deep and still feel dampness ...

i dont think you watered them well enough for the amount of sun they got .... water has to get to the roots.. you will know when you dig one up .... its not how many times per week you water.. its all about how well you water ... and its all about your soil and how the water moves through it ....

good luck

ken

First of all where is your zone?
Maybe this can help.
Young hosta's do require some shade but can adapt in the north in the sun. Mine have been forced because of a shade tree was cut down.

First I would check your soil. Did you amend and make your hosta a bed that it can stretch it's roots. Also did you mulch to keep it cool. What soil do you have clay, sand.

To shade a plant you don't need a tree. You can borrow shade from shrubs, hydrangea (Lime Lite is a great selection) Weigilia and many of the conifers. Tall perennials can also be added for shade. Some posters have lath or shade cloth in zones that are harsh.

Knowing the conditions in which it was grown will help with a solution.
Don't give up.
I hope this has helped.

What have you got them planted in? A 4 inch pot?
Even in a 4 inch pot in direct sun, I doubt they would die if you really watered twice a day every day....but if you forgot for a week they might.
Linda C

I usually water them in the morning, before the sun comes up and in the evening after the sun goes down. I did use mulch. But the soil is really poor. While preparing the area, I dug up alot of glass and bricks. And I made sure to remove those things from the planting area as much as I could. But even if I watered it more than twice a day, I'm still not sure if that will keep the sun burning it up...When I dug up the plant, it didn't smell rotten, so I think I may have unwatered it. I'm new to planting anything. So I appreciate your help. Thanks alot.

New plants, planted in the blazing sun will die if you forget to water for even a few days.

Welcome to the forum. Don't feel bad about dead plants. We all manage to kill our share. I usually try at least three times and sometimes more if I really like a plant. You didn't mention which zone you are in. In the southern zones, you really need to have some shade. You might want to try a lasagna bed if your soil is poor.

Here is a link that might be useful: lasagna 101

Welcome. Please give us more information about your zone, etc. It will help with the advice that we give.

Teresa

If you don't know your zone, just say what state you live in and what part of the state, or what city.

Lainey

Consistent water is as important or more than the total amount. A young plant on a hot windy day especially in the sun could need more than water 2 times a day. I would pot them and develop more roots before planting in the ground.

If they dried 1 day or more enough then nothing you do after that matters.

Most if not all hosta and stand a lot of sun but there are better plants for the sun and they do well in the shade where many plants will not.

It would really help if we knew where you lived, even a general area of the country would help. If you are in one of the areas experiencing drought, you have a double whammy. The water put into the soil wicks into the surrounding dryer soil very quickly.

As you are new to gardening, maybe it would be easier for you to keep hostas in the shade. Otherwise, if you just have a few, don't water with a hose, fill a 5 gallon pail with water, then slowly pour the water near the base of the plant. This bucket method is fool proof for me.

EO keeps insisting that hosta can tolerate a lot of sun, but watering anything that much just to keep it decent looking is like trying to grow northern lawn grasses in the south; it can be done, but the price is very high.

As far as I understand the process huge leaves tend to evaporate huge amount of water so supply has to be very good to the roots in sunny spots. It has been my observation that hosta and some varieties more than others is sun tolerant but shade loving. If you have nice sunny area- there are gazillions of plants that would love growing there, many of them will have fabulous foliage.
Before I put my boggy garden I used to grow ligularia and rodgersia- very much moisture loving plants- by placing plastic couple of feet down underground to retain water flow. I wonder if such trick could be used for hostas if one wants to grow them in sunny areas or will they just develop root rot?

Hi everyone. Thanks for your feedback. I live in Philadelphia. It's usually sunny this time of year. However, durning the time of my hosta's untimely death, the city was getting alot of rain. I didn't want to over water it. So on rainy days I would wait and water in the evening or the next morning after the rain stopped. But after reading your comments, I'm realizing that there is no such thing as over watering? Also, I don't have ANY shade anywhere in my yard. It's full sun all day until the evening. What can I plant around the hosta's to provide shade? Also, i'm going to try the suggestion of watering the plants with a bucket instead of a hose. I really think that under watering was the real problem. So, if I watered the hosta's more, making sure the water was really getting down to the roots and planting other plants as shade, my next hosta might have a fighting chance? By the way, what is a lasagna bed?