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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Simple Garden Life Podcast, a program dedicated

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to keeping the art of gardening simple, fun and always rewarding.

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Now Here are your hosts, Jim and Mary Competti.

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Speaker 2: Hello and welcome everybody to the Simple Garden Life Podcast.

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Speaker 3: I'm Jim Competti.

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Speaker 4: Along with Mary Competti.

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Speaker 2: That's right, and we're here today to talk about hostas

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and actually fertilizing hostas. More importantly, I guess, more to

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the point, the best way to fertilize hostas, which most people,

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as we'll get into it a little bit, Mary, don't

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even know if they really need to fertilize their hostas

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or not. But it's actually a very good idea.

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Speaker 4: Absolutely, you know, hasa has come up in early spring

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and people really don't know what to do with them.

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They just let them grow, but it's really beneficial to

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give them a little dose of fertilizer throughout the year.

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Speaker 3: It is.

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Speaker 2: So before we get into that, we remind everybody that

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you can listen to us on all the major platforms,

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Spotify and good Pods, which, by the way, this week

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we have to say, I guess we're tooting our horn

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a little bit, but it's kind of cool for us

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we became the number one home and garden podcast on

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good Pods.

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Speaker 4: Thanks to all our listeners.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, thanks to all of our listeners.

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Speaker 2: They rank theirs based upon listenership, loyalty, shares, whole slew

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of things, and we've been in the top ten before,

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but last week, for the month of April twenty twenty six,

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we have now launched into the number one thing there.

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So that's pretty exciting too.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, thank you everyone for listening and sharing our podcast.

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Speaker 2: That's right, and coming along and putting up with us.

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I guess yeah, crazy talking. So again, any questions you

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can always email us at the farm at Owgarden dot

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com and you can follow on all of our podcasts.

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We have Simplegardenlife dot com as well, which has all

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the podcasts there. So again, thank you everyone for listening.

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So let's get into this, Mary. Let's talk about what

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we're here today for. And that's the best way to

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fertilize host hostas. Excuse me, so you know, unlike most

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perennials and annuals, hostas are almost always grown for their

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foliage and not their flowers. They do flower, but that's

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not why really.

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Speaker 3: People grow them.

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Speaker 4: No, they grow them for their nice, beautiful, different color leaves.

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Speaker 2: Oh, massive leaves that can come in and variegated greens, whites, creams,

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even the bluish green which we have a start out

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here inside our garden to keep it protected from deer.

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From my mom, there's just so many beautiful hostas, but

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it's that leaf color and traditionally, obviously they're a shade plant,

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so they like a lot of shade. But they can

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really fill large spaces with those leaves and they're beautiful.

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But people want to know, how can I keep those

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leaves so beautiful? And one of the keys really does

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come down to the foliage. A lot of people when

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they talk about hostas, what's the thing they say they

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hate that in the middle of summer, a lot of

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those leaves start to just disappear.

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Speaker 4: Right or brown off. And you know there's a certain

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reason for that, and there's certain things you can do

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to help prevent that.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, sometimes it's due to deer taking them.

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Speaker 4: Out, and deer do love hostas, that's right, and if that.

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Speaker 2: Happens, just to let everyone know, even in the middle

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of summer, at anytime, you can cut those right back

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to the ground and they're going to produce new leaves,

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especially if you've taken a little bit of time to

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fertilize them up and make them you know, really have

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the power they need. The key with hostas is you

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don't want to give them the wrong kind of fertilizer

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or too much. They really don't need a lot, but

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a little goes a long way for.

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Speaker 4: That, and the type of fertilizer you use really does matter.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, they're not heavy feeders, I mean, but they do

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really benefit greatly from that added boost of nutrients, especially

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through those long summer months when the heat might get

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to them, the pests get to them. And again remember

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when hostas are unhealthy, they become more attractive for things

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like mildew and pest to attack them and make them

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even worse.

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Speaker 4: So if your hosts have holes in them in the

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middle of summer, you know, it's not the healthiest plant.

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But fertilizing will help.

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Speaker 3: Oh, it will definitely help keep them strong.

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Speaker 2: We've done it for years here and makes it just

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makes them look so much more lush and beautiful. Even

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a light feeding hosta, which that's what people you know

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sometimes think I don't have to do anything to it.

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It really does make so let's talk about that. There

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really is a couple of times you want to really

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fertilize them. And we've used a one two punch the

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very first time, which you know right now we're into.

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Speaker 3: April almost May. Yeah, the last day of.

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Speaker 2: April almost into May, and this is a great time

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to apply that first dose of fertilizer when those hostas

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first start to emerge from the ground.

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Speaker 4: But what type of fertilizer do you use?

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Speaker 2: Well, that's the key on this one. You want to

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use something that's going to be slow release and give

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them a slow amount of power all through the springtime

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as they grow. And people ask us all the time,

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but what if I divided my hostess last fall, or

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what if my hostess were too big and I'm going

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to divide them right now? You can still give them

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a light dose. But if your hostas are just in

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the ground and getting ready to come up, this is

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where that granular fertilizer works. Why, Because they release that

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energy slow and steady. It allows the hostas, you know,

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just enough nutrients and energy to really put it into

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that leaf growth, but not so much that it just

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overgrows them and can be harmful to them.

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Speaker 4: So granular fertilizer is the best. But what amounts of

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NPK should you look for?

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Speaker 3: Yeah?

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Speaker 2: I like personally with hostas and most perennials that are

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you know, lower feeders. I like to lean towards the

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five five five when we talk about that nitrogen potassium

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and calci or nitrogen potassium makes marry off.

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Speaker 4: Nitrogen phosphate and potassium.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, we're going to be number seven next term.

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Speaker 2: I realize I don't know what MPK stands for, but no,

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I like the five to five to five because that

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first number it keeps the nitrogen lower. Nitrogen is super

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important for leaf growth, so you do want an equal

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amount when it comes to the other two. However, ten

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ten can you can work. You just have to do

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a lighter feeding, a little bit less. It just the

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five five five alike, because it's not going to overpower

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the hostile.

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Speaker 4: Right and for the new gardener, we probably should explain

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what those and we know it's nitrogen phosphate and potassium,

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But where where can you find that on the product

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that you're looking at at the store?

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Speaker 2: To be uplisted on every type of fertilizer there is,

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That's the one thing they go to.

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Speaker 3: They want to show those three numbers.

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Speaker 2: And the reason you want that a lot of times

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when you're talking about annual flowers or vegetables, nitrogen is

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important for that early growth. But then you get into

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the phosphors and you know that's a huge part of

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the blooms and all that.

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Speaker 3: Well, we're not so.

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Speaker 2: Much worried about that with the most tastas, or even

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perennials for that matter, because they have a short bloom period.

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So that balanced ratio of all three, the nitrogen, phosphorus

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in the potassium, it's ideal to help get them off

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to a fast start.

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Speaker 3: You know that nitrogen is key for the.

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Speaker 2: Strong foot foliage and stem growth, but also those other

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two when you're talking about phosphorus and potassium, those are

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really good for the health of the plant, not just blooming,

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but the health of the plant.

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Speaker 3: So together all three really help hostas well.

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Speaker 4: Let's get to the details down. So how when and

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how do you fertilize with the granule fertilizer.

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Speaker 3: Yes, so for the spring. When you know when putting

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down green.

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Speaker 2: And fertilizer, it's always important you have to remember this,

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either to do it earlier or towards the.

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Speaker 3: End of the day.

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Speaker 2: Don't do it on a really hot day where you

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might be on the leaf and it could burn the

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plant a little bit. We just it's just never a

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good idea. But there's also another important thing to do.

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You know, you always want to water in GRAINI and fertilizer.

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So often people go out and they spread those granules

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around and they walk inside and they forget about it. Well,

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if you don't get rain for four or five days,

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those don't break down very fast and you're not going

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to get but.

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Speaker 3: A little bit of water, and you don't have to

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water hard.

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Speaker 2: You just want to set that into the soil is

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going to go a long way. And another thing is

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people say, well should I move my mulch back?

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Speaker 3: Should I do this? They're going to break down and

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get through it.

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Speaker 2: But we do like to move the mulch back a

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little bit so it's not so thick right there when

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you're putting.

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Speaker 3: Those granules in.

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Speaker 4: It's important to put the mulch right back on.

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Speaker 3: Yes, yes, so five five, five, ten, ten ten. We

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always tell.

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Speaker 2: People to make sure hey follow along with what you

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know is on the bag for perennials or for plants,

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it'll tell you often, but if you really I mean,

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for us, I would say we use a quarter less

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than a core, probably an eighth of a cup per

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hostile plant, and sprinkled.

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Speaker 3: Around the edges.

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Speaker 2: I don't like to go to the core of the plant.

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I don't like to put it anywhere near the leaf.

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I like to do it on the root zone. And

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a root zone is nothing more than where those leaves

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come out. That's that circle around the main clump of

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your plant of where you can put the fertilizer. So

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you know, granular fertilizers are great for that. But as

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we'll talk about after our break, it really comes down

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to the next time you fertilize them, you want to

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give them a quicker punch. Remember we talked about the

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low and slow of the granular works. But in the summer,

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as you'll see in a second, you want to go

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to liquid. So we right back after this break. Okay,

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we are back talking about fertilizing hostas, which is hostas

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are probably one of the most popular perennials that are

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almost in everyone's bed, especially when you have a shady

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part of your yard. But as we talked about, a

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lot of people. As you get into summer, hostas can

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kind of tend to look bad. So we're going to

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talk about fertilizing, but I want to cover a couple

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of quick things really quickly. There are two things that

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really take their toll on hostas in the summer. One,

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we've already covered pests. They tend to find a way

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to get to them. If your pest have been chewed

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up by a ton of slugs, rabbits, everything else and

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they just have holes everywhere and it's July, don't let

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them look like that the rest of the year.

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Speaker 3: We take a pair of shears, Mary, We take them

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right to the ground.

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Speaker 4: Right and they are going to regrow.

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Speaker 2: They're going to regrow fast, especially if you give them

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a little dose of this liquid.

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Speaker 3: Fertilizers we're talking about.

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Speaker 2: But we always tell people if that's the case, if

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you've had a bad season or it was overly wet

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or overly dry, and they look bad, cut them down.

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You've got plenty of time for that foliage to grow

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back and be beautiful, and it's far better than trying

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to cover up your flower beds the rest of the

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summer while they look bad. The other thing that hurts

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hostas and their foliage is the bloom. Just think about

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any bloom on any plant. It takes power to produce

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those blooms. Well, let's face it, hostile blooms, I mean,

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if you love them, fantastic, we actually leave a fair

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amount of We have a couple of varieties that really

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bloom somewhat pretty.

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Speaker 3: And we see a lot of the hummingbirds.

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Speaker 4: Right, hommybirds and honeybees.

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Speaker 2: But if you're growing them solely for that foliage and

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to look great and the leaves and you want them

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to look beautiful when those shoots come up in the

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middle of summer for that bloom, cut them r at

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the base. Don't even let it bloom. It's going to

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put all that power back into the leaves of the

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plant and look much more better. Again, it's a personal choice.

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Speaker 3: We tend. I would say we opt more to leave

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our balloons come up.

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Speaker 2: I really like the butterflies, and you know all the

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birds that come in, the hummingbirds especially to do it.

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Speaker 3: But if you really are doing it for the leaves,

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cut them off.

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Speaker 2: They'll do this in a lot of gardens where they

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want to look beautiful, cut them back when they try

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to make so don't allow them to blame.

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Speaker 4: Right, And when they do flower, if you'd like to

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let them flower, there is a point where you do

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need to cut them back.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, as soon as they're done flowering, cut those back

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because that again Mary's right, they're going to start working

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on forming seed heads everything else that's going to take

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power from that plant. So once they're done, clip them

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back all the way to the bottom and I'm talking

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about the bloom stein and then that's going to help

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your plan.

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Speaker 4: Right, Just don't take the dead flowers off. You've got

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to cut it down at the bottom of the stem

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exactly exactly.

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Speaker 2: And it also makes your plant look a heck of

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a lot short. Okay, So now we're talking about that fertilizing.

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So just went off on a little tangent there, but

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it's important to talk about those things.

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Speaker 3: So now we're back to what do we do. So

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now we're not going.

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Speaker 2: To use green because it's going to be too slow

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to help these plants really stay strong ego to a

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liquid fertilizer. And liquid is so important because it's fast acting.

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Liquid absorbs not just through the ground when you're springing it,

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but also through the leaves. Of a plant, and you know,

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it can really give a lot of a quick boost

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of power versus the granular. I mean, I think Mary,

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we have never really used green in the summer because

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of that very thing. Liquid fertilizers just work so much faster.

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Speaker 4: So why is it important to switch?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, again, as I said, it's gonna because the amount

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of fertilizer gets to the plant quicker.

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Speaker 3: That liquid is instantaneous.

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Speaker 4: It's not the slow and low relation, no, No, it's

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it's really fast.

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Speaker 2: And in addition, if you use the granular, it's it's

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gonna still keep feeding.

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Speaker 3: Them so late into the season. You want that power

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to be right then and there.

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Speaker 2: And so that's why liquid fertilizer really comes to the

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forefront once you get to the summer.

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Speaker 3: And I think that's the way. I mean, we kind

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of do that with all of our perennials.

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Speaker 2: If we want to give a little boost when summer comes,

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we tend to use grainers in the early spring.

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Speaker 3: And then switch to the liquid. So now it all

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comes down to.

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Speaker 4: What's the best what's the best liquid fur lineser do

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you use?

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Speaker 2: So you can really do a lot of things here.

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A lot of people like to use compost t or

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worm casting tea that they can make at home. And

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I'm gonna tell you right now, that is fantastic. It works,

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It's great, let's face it. Though not everyone has the

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time to do that or they don't want to mess

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with it.

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Speaker 3: So what can I use again? We're gonna go back

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to that NPK.

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Speaker 2: We talked about those three big keys, and we're looking

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for a five to five to five to a.

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Speaker 4: Ten ten ten, so pretty much the same ratio as

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the granular for license it is.

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Speaker 2: And this is where I become a little bit weird.

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I like in the summer going a little bit stronger

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with the liquid dose. I like the ten ten tents

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because I think it gives it that quick boost. But

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five to five to five again is great. I still

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do this, though I don't. I don't do it as

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strong as they recommend, no matter what it is. So

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if it's on the back and it says, you know,

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use one teaspoon for every half gallon of water, I

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use one tea spoon for the whole gallon of water.

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Speaker 3: I want to almost dilute it in half. And why

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is that?

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Speaker 2: Because I don't want to fertilize this. You know every

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eight weeks. I want to do it a little bit

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more often. We like, what three to four weeks is

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really our key.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, we furtilize every three to four weeks.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so you know, when late June hits to July,

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we'll hit our plants again. Do not fertilize in the

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middle of the day with a liquid fertilizer and put

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the majority of it on the ground around the plant.

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But it's okay to hit the leaves a little bit

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because it's going to absorb through there and give them power.

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Speaker 4: Early morning is always best.

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Speaker 2: I like early morning way better than the late in

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the evening because late in the evening, if you get

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cool nights, it tends to now you can start to

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have mildew and other things. Mold can come into plants,

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especially hostas a big leaf plant that's going to be

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very susceptive that. So I think the big key is

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to fertilize. But we like to do that every three

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to four weeks. So for us here in Ohio, that's

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the end of June, the end of July, the end

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of August that.

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Speaker 3: We're pretty much done.

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Speaker 2: At that point, all all perennials stop fertilizing in the fall,

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because it just causes a lot of danger for plants.

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It can cause them to overgrow with some tender foliage,

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but not just ten of funch. It's a roots you

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really worry about, and those can easily then be susceptible

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to freezing off in the winter times.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, we've pretty much stuff fertilizing in August.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it promotes too much late season growth and it

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just has a lot of issues. So the other thing

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about hostas, people always ask us all the time is, well,

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O Kate, when is the true best time to cut

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them back and divide them? And there are you know,

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hostas and dailers are two plants for me that I

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will tell you almost any time.

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Speaker 3: Unless the grounds, you know you're in the middle of winter.

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Speaker 2: Fall is ideal because if you can cut you see

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how big the plant grew, you can divide it back

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to where you want it to, you can transplant them,

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the roots can get set and they're ready to go

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the next spring.

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Speaker 3: But if you're sitting there in spring.

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Speaker 2: Right now and you realize you have this hosta that

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every year is just way too thick, it's okay, dig

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it up.

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Speaker 3: Even if those leaves have started to come through. Quarter it,

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put it in eights.

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Speaker 2: Whatever you need to do to make your small plants,

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put them back in the ground, put a little fertilizer

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around them, and you know what you're gonna be.

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Speaker 3: About what three weeks behind, right, and that foliage is

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gonna come right through.

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Speaker 4: And keeping your flower beds full of plants perennials is

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key because less mulch, less risk for disease.

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Speaker 2: You know, we just spent a lot of time here

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splitting grasses, ornamental grasses in the springtime and in the fall,

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we split a lot of our plants and put them

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into holding beds. Mary is absolutely right when people always

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ask us how do I keep weeds out of my flowerbed?

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Then obviously mulch is number one, but number two is

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grown more plants than mulch. When you pack your flowerbeds

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full of plants, weed seeds can't find a home.

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Speaker 3: And hostas are a great.

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Speaker 2: Example of that that the broad leafs of a hosta

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can cover a lot of area. You're going to use

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less mulch, you're gonna have less weeds. It's going to

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look prettier and you can divide them and it's free.

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I mean, once you get this plants.

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Speaker 3: It's free.

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Speaker 4: So after summer's done, fall comes, the plants leave start

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to die off. What do you do.

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Speaker 3: That's the only thing you have to do with that point.

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00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:02,799
Speaker 2: If you're gonna dig them up and you're gonna divide them, great,

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And if you're not, you're gonna cut those leaves off.

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You're gonna make sure it's down to the ground. You're

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gonna put a little bit of multi around it. You're

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00:16:07,519 --> 00:16:10,120
gonna forget about. You're not gonna fertilize. You're gonna wait

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till spring, and you're gonna start the whole process over again.

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Speaker 4: And in the spring, those shoots of the hostage are

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00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:16,600
gonna come right through that mulch that you put on

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top of it.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely absolutely, and that's gonna keep them good. So there

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it is.

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Speaker 2: It is important to fertilize your hostage a little bit

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if you really want maximum growth. They are a low

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00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:28,240
plant or a low nutrient plant, that doesn't mean they

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00:16:28,279 --> 00:16:31,960
don't benefit from a little a little bit of fertilizer.

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The one thing you can do in the fall. Sometimes

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00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:35,960
people will put a little compost around and that's not

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00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:38,120
gonna give them that massive energy, but it's gonna help

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00:16:38,159 --> 00:16:40,759
them for the spring. But other than that, to try

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00:16:40,759 --> 00:16:42,679
your hand out this year, give your hostage a little

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00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:45,639
bit of extra TLC, a little bit of you know

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00:16:45,799 --> 00:16:48,799
power in the spring with you know, a granule, and

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then a little bit of liquid power in the summer,

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00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:52,279
and you'll be kind of amazed.

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Speaker 3: At the result of what your hostis look like. So well, Mary,

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I think that does it for this week's episode, and

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we better get back out in the garden out of

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let's get work, I know, all right. Thanks everyone for

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00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:03,000
listening and happy garden, Happy gardening.

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Speaker 5: We hope you've enjoyed this episode. Subscribe to the Simple

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00:17:06,559 --> 00:17:10,400
Garden podcast on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or most of

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00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:12,960
your favorite podcast apps. You can also head over to

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00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:15,880
simplegardenlife dot com where you can listen and read all

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00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:17,680
of the show notes to every episode.

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Speaker 4: And if you have any questions, any ideas for show topics,

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00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:23,079
or if you want to share your favorite garden tip,

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00:17:23,359 --> 00:17:27,000
email us at the farm at owgarden dot com.

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Speaker 5: Until next time, Thanks everyone,