The host is called the “queen” of shady areas and rest areas in the garden. This is a real emerald in the front garden, on any flower bed. Planting hosts and caring in the open field will not cause much trouble to gardeners or gardeners. You can propagate the flower by division, cuttings and seeds.
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When to plant a host in open ground?
Landing begins in August and ends in September. These dates may vary depending on the weather and location of the region. It is necessary to calculate the landing time so that the hosts take root before the frost. With the early onset of cold weather, young plants necessarily cover.
The root zone, on which brushwood or other suitable material is laid, needs winter shelter most of all.
The host is divided and planted in the spring, before the leaves open. A plant with a root lump acquired in a store or donated by acquaintances is better taken root. Before boarding, the host can be briefly stored in the basement or in the vegetable section of the refrigerator. Planted in open ground when the threat of late frost passes.
Seeding in open ground
Hosta seed sowing is an opportunity to get many seedlings and seedlings for landscaping a large plot. A laborious procedure requires certain knowledge and skills. Unfortunately, hosts grown from seeds do not always inherit the traits of the mother plant. This is especially true for variegated varieties.
Description of the sowing procedure:
- Reproduction by seeds is carried out in early spring.
- Use for germination a container, pot or plastic box.
- Drainage is poured to the bottom, the container is filled with a light fertile substrate.
- Watered, laid out the seeds, sprinkled with a layer of soil with a thickness of 0.5 cm.
- Cover with glass or film, germinate in the shade, at a temperature of 20-23 ° C.
- The soil is often sprayed with spray water.
Germination time varies from 7 days to 3 weeks. Shoots usually appear after 2 weeks. Seedlings are dived into other containers, quenched in the fresh air, but protected from direct sunlight. Seedlings at first develop slowly, acquire the characteristics of the variety only after 3-4 years.
Propagation by cuttings and division of the bush
The most common methods for obtaining new plants are used in the presence of at least one bush at the age of 3-5 years. Propagation by cuttings and dividing is not recommended 1-2 years after planting. During this period, they provide an opportunity to strengthen the underground and aboveground organs.
Division of the bush and cuttings allow you to get hosts of the same variety as the parent plant.
The best time for propagation by vegetative methods is in the spring, when seedlings appear. The mother plant is carefully dug up, large lumps of soil are shaken off the rhizome, and old and rotten parts are cut off. Cut the host with a shovel or sharp knife. Parts of the divided bush must have buds and root pieces.
Tips & Warnings:
- Only healthy plants are divided for planting.
- In the first few weeks they are watered often, but without stagnation of water.
- Hosts after transplantation grow slowly, especially variegated varieties.
- Young leaves in most cases have a plain green color.
- The signs of the variety are fully manifested after 2 years.
Cuttings - separation of the part with the kidneys and a piece of rhizome - can be carried out from spring to autumn. Sometimes the procedure fails, there are almost no roots, but there are kidneys, or there is no outlet, but there is a rhizome. Even such inferior planting material is not thrown away. Cuttings are planted in the shade, covered with a cropped plastic bottle. Missing organs gradually grow and full leaves form.
Proper care of shade-loving plants
The host's flower, in its homeland in Asia, is found in meadows, along the banks of rivers and lakes, on the shady edges of moist forests. It is recommended that plants in the garden and flowerbed create conditions resembling a natural habitat.
Soil and location requirements
You need well-drained soil rich in moisture and nutrients. There are no special pH requirements; moderately acidic and alkaline substrates are suitable. Variegated forms require shading at noon. Under the direct rays of the sun, colored stripes and spots disappear. Varieties with blue foliage also change color. Only one-color green forms retain their characteristics in the sun, but subject to good soil moisture.
Watering and fertilizer
The plant does not need frequent watering with sufficient rainfall and placed in a shady place. In the dry season, you need to water 2 times a week. The soil under the hosts should not dry out even in winter. In summer, you can treat the leaves with an evening shower. Feeding is also best done in the evening.
The young plant is more in need of care and nutrients, so fertilize 2-3 times. In the spring, top dressing is carried out at the very beginning of the growing season. The next time fertilizer is applied to the soil during flowering. The third feeding is needed for plants after flowering. It is advisable to alternate making compost and complex fertilizers. Be sure to mulch the soil immediately after watering and top dressing, but only without damaging the lower leaves of the plant.
Loosening, cutting, transplanting
Rhizome hosta is located in the upper loose soil layer. Loosening is carried out carefully so as not to damage the roots. Sometimes replaced by mulching after watering, then the soil retains moisture for a long time.
Peduncles are usually removed, but in beautifully flowering varieties they are left and cut before the seeds ripen (if there are no hosts in the plans for seed propagation). Dry and damaged leaves are pruned throughout the season. Experienced growers recommend leaving foliage in the fall to protect the roots from frost.
The best material for transplantation is plants with 2-3 buds and well-developed roots 10 cm long. The planting hole is made wide because the underground organs grow in the horizontal direction. The depth should be at least 30 cm. Pour to the bottom a mixture of compost, garden soil, peat and sand. You can sprinkle a handful of wood ash to normalize pH and disinfection.
The planting hole is filled with a substrate at 70% of the height, moisturized abundantly. The host is positioned so that the roots are on the surface of moist soil, the growth buds are at ground level. Sprinkle with soil, compact and again watered. In conclusion, a layer of mulch is poured up to 2 cm high. Peat or sawdust is used as the mulching material.
Care at different times of the year
During the summer, the host is regularly watered, the dry parts are cut, weeds are weeded. In the autumn, after the first frosts, the leaves begin to fade. You do not need to cut or tear them. Foliage protects the soil from freezing over the roots. Additionally, you can cover the plant with agrofibre. In spring, the remaining leaves must be removed (plucked).
Growing Hosts in the Garden - Diseases and Pests
The plant is little susceptible to disease, but is infected from horticultural crops by phylostictosis (brown spotting). A severely affected host must be destroyed, the soil should be disinfected with a fungicide. Against pathogens of fungal and bacterial diseases, they are sprayed with biopesticides.
Slugs gnaw holes in the leaves, they become less decorative. Regular inspection of plants and removal of pests is recommended. If you can’t fight, you can find in the nurseries or flower shops planting material of resistant varieties. Slugs prefer soft tissue, and less attack hosts with "leathery" foliage. Another option is to mulch the soil around the host with small gravel or crushed shell rock. With good care, the plant remains healthy and attractive for 10 years.
Host in landscape design
A shade-tolerant plant with beautiful leaves helps out when it is necessary to decorate the rest areas in the garden, the entrance to the arbor. Against the backdrop of lush greenery, hosts look great blooming annuals and perennials: bells, primrose, phlox. In landscape design, varieties with two-color and three-color leaves are especially appreciated. Such plants should preferably be placed alone on the lawns, in small groups along the paths.
Growing hosts is best to start with varieties that have green foliage. They are less demanding of conditions and care, easier to tolerate bright lighting and transplantation.
The host is great for mobile landscaping the entrance to the house, terraces, gazebos. Plants in flowerpots and containers are often watered, because the soil heats up and dries faster. In the fall, old leaves are removed and the container is covered. In early spring, the protective layer is removed, a container is installed against the wall of the house.
Any use of hosts in landscape design should be considered in terms of the conditions that will be created for the plant. With proper care, the “queen” of the shadow will not disappoint her fans, she will attract attention with a magnificent view of leaves and bell-shaped flowers.
