overwintering hosta plugs

I just posted this on the Hosta forum -- I apologize for the double-posting, but this also applies to any small perennials in our climate. And I am getting really worried.

Here is the question:

I have a bunch of hosta plugs I planted in 1 quart pots earlier this summer. I am betwixt and between about what to do with them over the winter. I'm at the top of zone 7a, near 6b. I have them now on wire shelving outside, because I thought that would discourage slugs. Then I gave in and used Sluggo.

But I can't decide between:

1) leaving them as-is, where they are
2) leaving them as-is, but covering them with row cover cloth
3) putting them on the ground and covering them with mulch.
4) digging the pots in the ground

They are too small to give them a permanent planting yet.

I know they can handle the cold here. But I want to protect them from the freeze-thaw cycle. I am also worried they will get too wet with melting snow and occasional heavy rains, and that they will rot.

What do you think?

I would definitely not leave them above the ground on a wire shelf. It will be a lot colder there than even just sitting on the ground.

A row cover wouldn't give them much protection either. Wth small plants, I think you have to assume unless they have large root systems, they're going to be a lot more tender than larger plants.

Personally, I'd sink the pots into the ground and cover them with a bit of mulch or at least group them together in a warm spot (next to the foundation of your house, especially if you have an inside corner with a southern exposure, will be a lot warmer than anywhere in your yard) and cover them at least to the tops of the pots with mulch.

I've thought about that, but I'm afraid they get too wet. You don't think that will be a problem? I don't know how to assure decent drainage.

I have a bunch too but mine aren't even in 1-gal pots, they're in small pots. Should I put them in my unheated greenhouse for the winter? I'm in zone 7, only a tiny bit of snow a couple times a winter but lots and lots of rain. I also have a covered porch I could put them on, which would make it easier to water them.

Gwen

About all I can say is that I over wintered hostas (not plugs...~1 gallon sized) in pots the last two winters and all of them survived. In each case I buried them about half way in a bed of mulch.

- Brent

If you're worried about drainage, use the next to the house covered in mulch method and they should be fine. If there are holes in the pots, they'll drain.

Gwen, it sounds like it's so warm where you are, you shouldn't have a problem putting them on a porch if that's what's easiest.

You know our winters aren't that harsh most of the time either, but sometimes we do get those extreme dips in the temperatures and that's what I'd be most worried about.

Thanks. We have plenty of mulch because my step-son has gone crazy with our chipper-shredder of recent, so that part is easy.

It's cold here - at least I think it's cold! - but doesn't snow too often. We get a lot of temps in the low 30s and mid to upper 20s but our conditions are such that when it's that cold, there's no rain/snow. But the porch should be pretty protected - it's a wrap-around porch that's pretty protected from all directions.

Gwen

What worried me about using a covered area is that I might forget to water. . ..

Same here, Gwen, but we do get those cold spells sometimes where it dips down into the teens or zero, which is too cold for little baby plants that aren't protected. Winter winds can be hard on plants too.

Just keep in mind that an open porch probably won't be a lot warmer than a lot of places out in the yard and being raised off the ground, it might be colder. The house holds a certain amount of heat though and near the foundation is always warmer.

Do you have a basement or garage with a window?

My basement is pretty dark and the garage is completely dark.

I hate to put the plants next to the foundation because there can be run-off off the roof that will damage them, especially if it snows. Unless I put them on the sunporch, but I know I'll forget to water them.

But I don't understand why I should be worried about cold. Hostas usually are good to zone 3. Maybe that's not true for all hostas, but it seems to be true of those I checked. I know that as a rule of thumb plants in pots are a zone further "north." I'm in zone 7a/6b. So at worst that would be zone 5. Doesn't that give me plenty of wiggle room?

Not for plugs. They don't have big enough roots to survive if it gets real cold. How long have they been potted in the larger pots? Long enough to establish nice roots?

Don't you have gutters on your house and an overhang? And what's on your roof that's harmful? I tuck stuff up against the foundation all the time and if anything, it's too dry because the overhang and the gutters keep any water from getting to them.

Maybe your winters are a lot wetter than ours but I'd worry more about the cold killing them than wet.

They don't need a lot of light. They're going to be dormant when it gets cold enough.

We do have gutters, but they sometimes back up and in huge storms the water sheets off despite the gutters -- I have found it can be tough on plants. I'll survey the place tomorrow and see what I can figure out! I really appreciate all the advice. (They've been in pots a month or 2.)

I once received a box of bareroot hostas very late in the fall. Inside the box, they were in peat inside a plastic bag. I put the box in the frig thinking I'd plant them when the weekend came. Well, I forgot all about them, and come spring, what a surprise! They were fine and made good growth that next summer.

You know, hostas are related to lilies, which also can be wintered over in peat in a plastic bag in a refrigerator - perhaps this isn't so strange after all?

just seems to me that if you keep them from drowning and heaving/too cold, they'll be easy. they aren't using any water and nothing for slugs to eat. $.02

I agree -- but I don't know how to keep them from drowning and heaving - that's my problem!!! Or do you mean I don't need to water them over the winter (which would be terrific but sounds too good to believe)?

my very humble guess--I feel sure they won't dry out, being dormant and chilled and in, I'm assuming, plastic pots. I even think the garage is fine. They aren't growing, they don't need light.

Makes sense -- but I am anxious to take a chance on it since I have a lot. . . .

Okay, you're kind of stuck. Even if they're not right up against the foundation, if the pots are buried in mulch or sunk in the ground with a little mulch on top your plants are going to be okay. Just keep in mind that the warmest spots are going to be on the side of the house that faces south. If you have an inside corner, that will protect them too. (The warmest bed in my yard is the one tucked in the large inside corner between the main house and the kitchen ell. I have dahlias and glads I planted out there years ago and have never lifted in the fall.)

Even if they don't get much in the way of light, dormant plants don't photosynthesize so they'd be okay in the basement or garage but you'll have to water them a little bit. Of you don't water them some, I'm sure they would die.

What I wouldn't do if I were you is leave them on wire shelves where they're going to be a lot more prone to damaging cold than if they were just sitting on the ground.

I found this article on microclimates. Maybe it will help.
http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/weather/microcli.html

And Happy, if your gutters are overflowing that often, you might want to consider getting someone to come out and take a look at them. It only costs about $35-$50 a year to get them cleaned. Most times they'll also check to see if any of the nails holding the gutters up need replacing and so on. Because all that water landing next to your foundation can't be good.

We do get the gutters cleaned twice a year, but we live in a very woody area so there are lots and lots of leaves. I just learned from experience years ago when I had tender seedlings close to the house, that all it takes is one huge downpour to really wash out the soil from little pots.

As I said, I'm not at all worried about most of my pots that I didn't get planted in time. But it's those baby hostas that have me shaking my head. But I'll take your advice and dig a wide hole and tuck the pots in -- I'm sure they'll do fine.

Wow. I don't have that problem because there aren't any trees that close to the house. Do gutter guards work? Might be worth installing if you have to clean your gutters twice a year. I think Improvements catalog has them.

Hostas grow outdoors and to bring them inside just for the Winter may weaken them...not a good idea.

I have overwintered Hosta plugs outdoors that were too small to plant in the garden. I repotted them into 1 gallon containers with good draining humus, compost, and bone meal (to enhance root development) and then top dressed them with some mulch. Don't put the mulch too close to the Hosta's crown as this may cause rotting. Once all the plugs were safely tucked in their gallon pots for the Winter, I located an area of my garden that was away from where the dog would get to them, a slightly sloped area that drained well, didn't tend to collect water or run-off from melting snow, then I turned them on their sides and "hilled" them in.

Once the Spring temperatures start to warm up, you can give your Hostas some fertilizer to help them grow. When you are able to work your soil, just take your winter hardy Hostas and plant them in their new garden homes!

Shirley: That's just what I'm planning to do. They are in 1 gallon containers, planted in compost. I didn't think to add bone meal. But why did you turn the containers on their sides?

Devon:

I turn them on their sides so that any excess water will drain out instead of settling around the crown of the plant which may cause them to rot.

If they are in the pots, do they still get enough moisture to survive if they are sideways?

By lying the pots on their side, moisture will drip off the lip of the pot onto the soil, without collecting around the plant's crown. You can also add holes along the sides of the container to allow more moisture in and along the underneath of the pot for good drainage. I always like to add a few polymer crystals to ensure that the soil does not dry out.