Looks like a good candidate for dividing right through the middle. Guacamole is a large hosta, isn’t it? You have 2 pots or a place in ground for half of it?

If I were wanting to keep it the size it is now, I would slice the present root ball vertically in three places and then re-pot it...

Agree with the above. Divide it and plant the pieces. Hostas are tough.

Barbara, 'Guacamole' this time of year will have only very subtle variegation, it'll become a little more pronounced as the season progresses. It's one of my favourites, it makes such a nice showing in July with its flowers and their scent!

Pieter

Thanks, Pieter. Before my hosta got that dread disease a few years back, I had a beautiful Guacamole. I loved it and it's gorgeous large flowers. I'm hoping to enjoy this one as much as I did that one.

bk

You said you want to put it in a larger pot, not divide it. I'd use a bamboo skewer or crochet hook to GENTLY loosen only those outer roots to pull them about a 1/2" away from the rootball, to encourage them to grow into the new soil in the pot. The best looking hostas in my pots are rootbound!!

Guacamole was the first named hosta I ever bought. That was in 2001!

-Babka

Bkay, was that a Monrovia hosta? If so, I think I have its twin. I picked this guy up last Friday. Two big eyes and rootbound like crazy. It even ovaled the pot. Healthy plant side margins are there but also light in color. I will have to cut off the pot too.

No, it's not a Monrovia plant. It's a "Blew Label" plant. (If I remember correctly, they are out of NJ) I've gotten them for the last few years at a local nursery. I wouldn't put them up there with buying from a reputable supplier but, they provide large hosta. (They ship them down here in the winter and they start coming up about the same time as my own hosta.) I'm not as patient as I used to be at waiting for my hosta to mature.

Even from reputable suppliers, I seem to only get about a 50% survival rate. Twenty years ago, when I first started to grow hosta, I got about 70% survival after 2 years.

The weather has changed. We are getting hotter and dryer summers and odder weather in the winter, sometimes warm, sometimes really cold.

Also, I'm getting older and maybe not tending to them as carefully as I used to.

bkay

I get a lot of plants like that, especially hostas. I have an old serrated kitchen knife that i make three or four cuts a few inches from the bottom and all the way through. Works for me.

I would soak the root ball in water and then tease out the roots. Another method I use for rootbound plants is taking the hose and spraying the rootball to get the media off of it. Then loosen the roots. You can spray them quite hard as long as long as the new delicate roots haven't begun growing. If some of the roots are too long, I would trim them.

I know Guacamole is a good tough hosta. I always consider that the roots are the foundation of the plant, so I don't like to remove many roots unless I really have to.

Get suggestions here!! I agree with Roxanna and littlebug. I’m also wanting to get a bigger hosta quickly so I would slice it as suggested or soak it and then plant it. It will be beautiful, just like Pieter’s. 👍🏽

debra

Deffinitely soak it, spray the dirt away until all the roots are clean and dirt is gone. You will be amazed at how long the roots are. If you want it large fast dividing isn't the road to go down.