nature provides its own hardening off period.. usually known as fall ...

they get lazy as the soil temps go down... and start turning colors... and eventually getting the shock of the season.. at first frost ...

IMHO ... all we have to do .. is not fertilize the bee-gee-bees out of them late in the season ... they should be lazy ... not going full gonzo ... whatever that means ...

i learned this the hard way .. when i grew foo foo roses ... and applied the last fert too late ... and they all died .. go figure ...

ken

PS: try this... fertilize a tc plug.. let it get juiced up for a few weeks.. then throw it in the fridge .. and see if it dies

"IMHO ... all we have to do .. is not fertilize the bee-gee-bees out of them late in the season ... they should be lazy ... not going full gonzo ... whatever that means ..."
Ken

I sort of believe that and don't but I can't really find references to support either.

"PS: try this... fertilize a tc plug.. let it get juiced up for a few weeks.. then throw it in the fridge .. and see if it dies"

I've done just exactly that and if allowed to go dormant then they do fine and can be frozen in the frig if they are in a jar to avoid freezer burn associated with the defroster in the freezer. Cut off the lights and lowered temp and they go dormant and they were fertilized to within an inch of their lives, growing like crazy as only a TC plant just out of the tubes can grow.

I keep asking myself what cuts off the fertilizer in the soil?

="I keep asking myself what cuts off the fertilizer in the soil? "
I wonder if fertilizing now hurts. Not an overdose, but a regular amount. After all they sell bulb food to put down now for tulips in the spring. I've been using the Bayer 3in1
for about 3 years now. It contains fertilizer and systemic. I sprinkle it around the beds in spring, throughout the summer and in fall after we rake up all the leaves.
I think it's the shorter daylight hours and cooler nights that starts to trigger dormancy, until the killing frost. But just as the plants feed off their drooping leaves throughout the fall, and store that for next spring, why couldn't, wouldn't they absorb a regular fertilizer and store that also?
Pam

EO, I haven't done any extensive research, which I think you think you seem to need sometimes, but I have a few thoughts on this.

Hostas don't "harden off" prior to dormancy, they do the opposite, and slowly shut down. It's the way nature intends it to be, like ken pointed out.
If you choose to interrupt the natural cycle, and over fertilize a tc plug, and "allow it to go dormant" then throw it into a glass jar in the fridge, I am sure it will be fine when re-planted. Bet you could control dormancy periods this way and get a Hosta bigger faster, if you controlled the dormancy period, then woke it up with the minimal time needed, and started the whole thing over again.

Most people here are home gardeners. We let nature take it's course. If you over-fertilize a Hosta planted in your garden too late, and if the weather cooperates late enough, all you have done with getting all the new growth is killing off next years eyes that would naturally be going dormant now, and rise up next spring when they should.

In answer to your question, NO Hostas do not require hardening off before dormancy, and nothing cuts off the fertilizer in the soil. The Hosta just stops taking it up, because it is preparing for dormancy.
Rox

"But just as the plants feed off their drooping leaves throughout the fall, and store that for next spring"
pam

Most plants are sending carbohydrates to the roots for winter storage, I'm not sure that foliage on hosta in the fall needs any protection. How many have seen green hosta leaves in the fall be brown almost immediately after the first frost.

Activities are directed toward the roots, this is a good time to kill certain perennial weeds with herbicides because the foliage is sending to the roots and the herbicide is carried down to the roots.

"wouldn't they absorb a regular fertilizer and store that also?"

The natural fertilizer is there being used or not used according to the decisions the plant is making.

Still haven't found anything to say that a hosta receiving plant food in the fall is a problem and IÂm still looking.

BIG BUTT I don't want to be the author of another "old wives tale".

"If you choose to interrupt the natural cycle, and over fertilize a tc plug, and "allow it to go dormant" then throw it into a glass jar in the fridge, I am sure it will be fine when re-planted. Bet you could control dormancy periods this way and get a Hosta bigger faster, if you controlled the dormancy period, then woke it up with the minimal time needed, and started the whole thing over again."
rox

This is not what I found and others have tried and I don't know of any report that you can pickup any time doing that. It seems like you should and I expected to but could not.

"In answer to your question, NO Hostas do not require hardening off before dormancy, and nothing cuts off the fertilizer in the soil. The Hosta just stops taking it up, because it is preparing for dormancy."
Rox

I agree with you!

My hostas (Zone 9) go dormant all by themselves, even if they've recently had fertilizer. No frost involved. They just slowly die back in October/November. They are all in pots and get 1/2 strength Miracle Grow every couple weeks. The fertilizer gets washed away quickly as they are in mini bark which drains clear through with each watering to avoid salt build-up (we get no rain here in Summer, and are dealing with mostly well water, so minerals can build up. They (the minerals) build up in all my Japanese Maples which all get leaf tip burn as the Summer progresses.) Some of the hostas are showing that too about now.

-Babka

the problem is NOT us .... we all have green thumbs ....

its all the other homeowners... one of the greatest threats to the environment in the world ...

one bug... 10 gallons of spray ...

gets the thought in their heads.. that their plants are their children.. or grandchildren .. and need to be constantly feed ..

they work under the presumption that if one teaspoon of general fert will provide all the plant needs.. then one handful is better.. and two handfuls is even more better ... lol ...

build the soil ... and hosta need NO FERT PERIOD .... it will get.. what it needs.. all season long ...

so if the debate.. moves beyond us hostaholics.. to include newbies... i retain my position that you should NEVER fertilize in the fall ... and frankly .. that goes for all plants .... err on the side of safety ....

they will get bigger next year.. simply by applying proper amounts of water ... skip the water.. and put a bag of fert on them.. and you will not make up for the lack of water ...

obviously .. little of this or that.. applied at the proper time of year .. which for hosta.. is in july.. when they start growing roots .. to store the energy for next year... NOT IN FALL ... WHEN THE ROOTS ARE ALREADY GROWN .... and you are in a position to make a mushy crown.. that will not harden off.. because it is on steroids ....

i dont want newbies to say .. oh i was reading on the hosta forum .. and ester... or ken .. said fall is an OK time to feed my hosta .... it is NOT the best time to do it... and this time of year is fraught with peril .. especially in ground freeze zones.. i dont know about higher zones ...

maybe that is a variable we have ignored .... i dont deal with veggie crisper temps in winter.. i deal with freezer conditions ... think of it this way .. a piece of lettuce in each .... it will turn to goo in the freezer ... now think of a hosta as lettuce if NOT properly hardened off ... then think carrot in the same circs ... or a properly hardened off hosta.. and it will have a better chance in the freezer ...

i gotta take kenny to school.. leave me alone ....

ken