I have yet to water any of my hosta this year other than ones that were moved. You should be fine.

tj

It was over 100 degrees with very strong dry winds. I am root watering some of my larger hosta in a lot of sun. I have no idea if it will help.

I have had to water 1 x a week for the last 3 weeks. No rain and very hot and humid. This is earlier than I usually start summer watering. I have hoses all over the yard and use sprinklers in the evening after the sun goes down. I water for 30 minutes each bed. 6 hosta beds, vegetable garden and pot garden of starts (waiting to be planted) maybe this year. This is my normal in summer.

Things that were planted this spring not in the hosta beds get a big black pot lined with a plastic garbage bag with a nail hole thru the garbage bag at one of the bottom holes of the pot. I fill the pot with water and direct the drip flow into the area around the base of the plant. I usually make a soil edged dirt circle around the plant to help retain the water. I have found that if I do this the first year the plant will be well established by the next summer. My poor girl's drip irrigation. It's not pretty but it works.

I have watered a lot, too. I can manage twice per week for the front yard and backyard, but I do not do both in one day. I water every other day for 1-2 hours during drought + heat wave. We had nearly 1 month without rain; drought ended last week.

I live in the South and it can get hot hot hot and dry here. I never water my hostas, ever. They come back every year beautifully.

Came back from a short vacation, (two nights out). It was misty/rainy when we left. There were cracks in the lawn when we came back. But digging out the euynoums I was pleased (sort of) about how wet it was at 4-6 inches deep.

It hit 100 here. 20 degrees above normal. we had a day 2 weeks ago the high was 47. they have a hard time adjusting to drastic temps.

the dryness and heat scorched some of them.

no time for a schedule.. water when a plant needs water ... dont focus on the surface alone to decide ...

watering late in the day.. also has the benefit of cooling the soil for a better night time recovery period ... but if too late.. encourages slugs ...

ken

"and use sprinklers in the evening after the sun goes down"

The worst possible time of day to water anything!! Late day/evening/nighttime watering does not allow water to dry on the foliage and will lead to fungal issues. If you use drip or a soaker hose or a similar watering system that directs water only to the ground and root zone and not on the foliage you might get away with it but that still increases humidity due to still night air and that can be just as harmful as wet foliage.

Instead, water as early in the day as you can manage.....dawn or shortly thereafter is good :-) This reduces most evaporation and fully hydrates the plants to successfully deal with the daytime heat and almost eliminates any chance of fungal issues.

It was a mild and dry winter, warm and dry spring. So deep mulches and some waffle planting, and a minimal in ground and container gardens this year.

I collect rainwater and haul it by hand to the plants. I use a whole lotta 3 gallon jugs for the in ground gardens, but just dip out of the tanks right by the container garden. Watering is early morning, usually before the dew is fully burned off. Morning music and coffee while watering is a nice way to wake up and get the morning workout in.

A few years ago, someone successfully used those end of the hose misters to hydrate/cool her hosta in the sun. She was in Minnesota, so your mileage may vary.

bkay

I’m in Northern Virginia, zone 7a. I’ve never had a hosta that could stand up to summer sun. They may get huge in the sun, but the leaves scorch and look awful here.

I water my full sun hostas almost every day when it is hot. I have a lot of pots w/annuals scattered throughout the garden so I'm out there every morning dragging a hose around anyway- may as well hit the full sun hostas.

I have a lot of cultivars in full sun and the only way I can keep them looking nice is to water frequently- otherwise they get all tired and scraggy looking before their time.

I always think of our dear departed Papou when I water hostas- his access to water and stunning hosta gardens are what keep me at it.

What cultivars do you have in sun?

Sagae, Liberty, Marilyn Marilyn, Sting, Orange Marmalad, Snow Mouse, El Niño, Brother Stephan. Then first year, they burned while adjusting to the sun conditions in my yard. This year they are fine. The new onew this year are scorching a bit, so I will provide some umbrella shade. :-)

debra

The drought has been hard on my plantings around the base of trees. The trees have been thirsty. Normally, tree root competition has not been a problem. This year with drought, I have seen established Hosta suffer/die as well as ferns, poet’s laurel, and even Solomon’s seal. When the rain came last week, it was a week of flooding downpours. Large tree limbs have fallen, smashing pots and plantings below.

utog we have been suffering drought too. Last year was terrible and this year has been no better. We finally got a good rain yesterday for the first time. Of course it had to come as a deluge that toppled tall plants.

So sorry your garden has suffered in the weather. I stopped wishing for normal a few years back since apparently we do not have that any more.

But drought IS normal. Look back at old newspapers-they tell the true history of our weather, not the brain washing exaggerated

”news” of today.

Weather reports are saying this is the highest the Drought Monitor has ever been. Gosh! We are in trouble!

But then, with further research, we discover that the Drought Monitor has only been in existance for a little over a decade...

Utog, and peren, sorry to hear that your gardens are suffering. Utog, I always wondered how your plants grew so well under trees.

peren, I agree with you, that apparently we stopped having normal a while back.

ulisdone, I don’t know where you are getting your information, but no one here is looking at a monitor……..all we need to look at is the EXTREME climate changes the world is experiencing……..more frequent and much more intense hurricanes, tornadoes, cyclones…….much more extreme flooding repeatedly in areas so much so, there is no time to recover before the next storm and resulting flooding occurs…….many many more volcanic eruptions above ground and below the sea causing massive devastation from molton lava flowing on ground and by tsunamis from eruptions and quakes under the water……fires, fires,fires—— all over the world! Who even looks at a monitor! We can all see the entire West coast of the USA is on fire! And so is Austraila and many other parts of the world!,

well, you are entitled to your opinions from the brain washing exaggerated news ”you” watch, but they really don’t belong here in the hosta forum.

debra

I watch the drought monitor- it's been around for 20 years, but I've been watching it a lot closer in the last decade or so. Along with other weather monitors and forecasts, helps me plan out my gardening year. I also watch the water levels in my ponds and the great lakes water level monitors, pay attention to cold season rodent activity, keep an eye on the tick and mosquito forecasts, watch to see who's tapping maples or not.

Watching the drought monitor along with other information over last fall and through the winter helped me decide to cut back a lot on the containers and work in the deep mulches and waffling.

Since there are five levels of drought from abnormally dry to exceptional drought, it can be handy to watch the monitor to see if it advances or recedes from my gardens. See how other areas are impacted like back in 2012 with the drought that lead to livestock cullings and feed thefts in some parts of the U.S..

Debra, my point is that there is not more extreme weather now, that is a media narrative used to benefit certain adgendas.

Historical research reveals bad weather as far back as man has been recording it.

Yes there is drought now, as there has been in the past, so that makes it a normal pattern.

There are not more intense hurricanes and flooding now. It’s all propaganda. Someone is benefitting from that narrative, don’t empower them any further. And water your plants, that benefits us all.

I agree about leaving politics out of gardening. Drought is real, and has always been an issue throughout all of history. I never said otherwise. I like knowing how the rainfall compares one year to the next. Except for the trees, my plants are all less than 10 years of age. The trees are more than 100 years old, and they are sucking up water more than they have in past 10 years.
Please, no politics, propaganda, or hate speech. This has been a safe space for all of us for a long time, even people like me who did not participate until 1 year ago.

You may not believe in global climate change, but I do. Over the last 30 years the scientific community has overwhelmingly agreed that global climate change is occurring. You may not agree with the scientific community, but I do stand with science. As far as neferious forces benefiting from exaggering the effects of weather, in my opinion, I think such conspiracy theroies are for those who don’t think critically.

debra

Politics

According to the Standardized Precipitation Index, the last 125 years of records show some small upticks in the general extent of extremity of both dry and wet condiotions, with noticable increased in the severity levels of both dry and wet conditions.

According to tree ring values of the last 2000 years, the years 0-200 are steady and low, 200-900 show a slow increase in general extent of extremity of both dry and wet conditions, 900-1800 shows another larger jump in general extent of extremity and also increased severity levels with both dry and wet conditions. 1800 into the late 1800's/early 1900's shows another uptick, with a steady increase since then.

Over the years, there have been a lot of changes and increases with both dry and wet conditions, and also an increase of amount of land mass affected.

And of course there are many more people affected by storms, flooding, and drought because there are many more people now and they are living in/on places that were not considered ideally habitable in the past.