How to Grow Hosta

Video Transcript

"Hi this is Yolanda Vanveen from vanveenbulbs.com. Next we are going to want to learn all about how to grow hostas one of my favorite shade plants. Hostas are a beautiful, beautiful shade plant because they'll grow so beautifully in the shade. My trick is they can't handle too much shade either so if you have an area where weeds won't grow and there is only moss and pine needles don't even try to grow hosta. But if you have any kind of a shady area where weeds are coming up or bulbs are coming up or you have any other ferns growing then hostas will grow really well there and they're just easy to grow. They are just a root with a lot of leaves and they multiply quickly so hostas are really easy to grow. Basically they come as a root with part of a stem and when you divide them out that is all you need is part of a root with the stem and so you just plant it about three inches deep so the stem is barely out of the ground. Put it in a shady spot and it will do really well. Give it lots of water to start. They really want to drink some water. They don't want to dry out to the bone because if it is just really really dry sometimes you'll lose them but I have had some of them just die back because you have quit watering them and it is maybe too much sun and then when it rains in the Fall they come right back up. So with that said they are an easy plant, you can pretty much grow them anywhere, survival of the fittest. I have put them in the hot sun and they have thrived there as well because they were near rhododendron and got just a little bit of shade. So test them out you can grow them almost anywhere. Good composted soil or good potting soil is the best mix for them. They love raised beds but they'll do great underneath trees. One thing I've known about the hostas too because they are usually in the shade is in the Summer time when my trees are really full of leaves I have to water them pretty well but in the Winter time when they lose their leaves they pretty much get watered on their own so there is kind of times in the Spring and the Fall where you do have to watch even if it is raining outside that you do give them some water because they will still dry out if they are getting any water and you'll lose them even in the Spring or the Fall. Once they are established you'll never lose them and you'll have them for years and years."