Geesh! Houzz is so irritating---deleting posts and pictures! I try again:

This is a poor picture of the front, but all I have:

repot it.. and leave it out .. until the frost or a freeze takes care of it for you ... and then forget about it ... ken

ps: why are you repotting.. this time of year??? ... just out of curiosity????

OK Ken, thanks.

I thought you might ask why I was repotting now. I suspected root rot and thought it best to deal with it now. I was right about that.

i was being a bit tongue in cheek .... i dont really care about leaf issues on ANYTHING that is deciduous ... this time of year ..... they will fall off soon enough ....

now tell me about the root rot thing you confirmed ....

ken

A few black roots on that one. I figure if a hosta has root rot, then best to repot no matter what time in the season it is. (Planted in wrong media!)

Generally speaking though, too many hostas, too little time. So repotting doesn't get done when it should. Also hard to find bark in the "right" size around here. I've decided that it best to try to reduce the bark size by whatever means it takes. I even asked my garbage man to drive over it---and the nice man that he was drove over it several times!!! Did it help? Only a little. So now I am using my blower/mulcher. But it's a slow process indeed.

you go girl ... you do.. what you gotta do.. when you got time to do it... eh???

hallson chris... puts his thru a chipper shredder that he happens to have .... hope that isnt some super secret trade secret.. lol ...

ken

I dream of having a chipper shredder! I am not surprised that Chris would have one. With a large nursery like he has, it's the perfect thing!

NHL- reading this I’m wondering if it would work to use a food processor, with very small batches. The bark I bought this year was larger than I like too. Hmmmm... maybe I’ll try.

i had a home scale chipper shredder back in the day ....

it was great for leaves ... pia with any stick or branch .... that blocked the leaf inlet ...

and near useless with larger wood .... as you had to strip them down to a straight stick to fit in the 4 inch aperture ...

it ended up being basically a leaf shredder.. and for that it was great ...

i paid a good amount for it .... and figured out i would have had to have paid 2 or 3 times for a real machine ... shop wisely ...

i highly doubt a food processor would do the job .... but if i found one at a garage sale.. and wore eye protection.. i might try it.. but suspect i would end up with wood dust ...

ken

Windymess, I am wondering about the food processor too. I actually have an older model but I would need to purchase a blade for it. The thing is that even if it works, it will probably be chopped in varying sizes. When I use my shredder/blower, once is not enough. Some of the pieces remain too large and have to be redone. And as Ken says, the processor will probably make a lot of dust or small particles.

Ken I've looked at Amazon to see what they had reasonably priced and not too big. I've asked those that purchased the chipper/shredder (on Amazon) what the end result is. Basically it sounded like the pieces still were too variable and small---more like a mulch rather than bark chips. In fact, you couldn't put anything too big in the machine, like 2 inches+. Maybe a more expensive machine would do the job, but no room here to store it and too expensive to buy. Back to the drawing board!

In regards to using a food processor, along with the eye protection that Ken mentions, add noise protection too.

Looks like common rust to me. Sanitation is the key.

Have you looked at fancier nurseries? Our box stores do not have bark fines but fancier nurseries almost all do. Other choice get a big pile of what you can, by the spring it will be partially rotted and good to use.

Rust was something that came to mind to me also.

"Sanitation is the key." Could you elaborate on that lindalana?

What do you mean by "fancier nurseries?" I am asking that because sometimes things can vary between the US and Canada.

I will have some bark left over from this season. I was wondering what it would look like next year. My questions are: does it need to be moistened for the winter? Kept in a closed bag? If partially rotted next spring, will that mean it will be softer and easier to break apart to smaller pieces?

Sanitation is the key.

==>> since i know you will otherwise waste your whole Saturday waiting for an answer .... and playing solitaire.. lol ... i will presume to answer for her ...

clean up the dead leaves ..dont leave the spores or whatever to sit there til spring ... i would just wait until they are frosted down.. and you can just grab the whole mess.. and THROW IT AWAY ... not in the compost pile ...

ken

How did you know I'd be waiting for an answer, Ken? You are getting to know the hosta forum members too well! LOL

Thanks for the info!

Yep, removing leaves is half the battle. If you continue seeing it on other plants or next season evaluating situation might help, what is missing, why plant is allowing fungal problem? Same as with humans healthy plants with strong immunity will not get sick. So either using some tonics like compost tea, probiotics or different approach of wiping it out with lets say biosafe I. E. Peroxide with vinegar creating peracetic acid. Other methods might include using aspirin, baking soda its. But just removing foliage should help greatly.

As for fancy nurseries here we have box stores with you general stuff and specialty nurseries some less expensive and some cater to expensive landscape places. Those I have found have bark fines for sure.

Yes I did see rust on other hostas. I attributed it mostly due to the weather as we had an exceptionally warm and very humid summer---longer than our usual. But then, can I do something better? Yes. Bare in mind that these hostas are potted. So I'd say better media and proper fertilization would be something that could be improved. I am not knowledgeable about any of the methods you mention. I can't remove the foliage right now as some plants are small and that would mean most of the leaves would be gone! I will remove the leaves after frost.

Nurseries that cater to expensive landscape places---hmmm, interesting. I will give that some thought and make a few calls.