I have a sick hosta. Recently transplanted after many years from ground to barrel. Was doing fantastic. Now wilting, brown and and drying leaves. Ugh..help!!
Hi Rick, It might help to find out how big the plant was when you moved it. When you transplanted it how much of the root structure was disturbed? Moving a plant often disturbs small hair roots that aid in water intake. Is the barrel in the sun? Hostas prefer a shady location. Has the temperature increased significantly? Again hostas prefer shade. The leaf damage indicates that the plant is unable to move enough water from the roots to the leaves to counteract water evaporation from the leaves. How often do you water the plant? Jerry
Yeah, pretty much what he said ^^ It just looks like it’s not getting enough water! Plus transplanted plants often go through an adjustment period where they react negatively at first to being moved. Hostas though are incredibly hardy! Several years ago I had to dig up an entire bed if just as because the tree that was shading them had to be felled. By then it was too late in the season to replant them, So on the advice of the many knowledgeable people here on the stew, I overwintered them by simply laying them out by the side of the house and covering them with a solid layer of mulch. Not only that but by the spring I was having to move and so I replanted them in a completely different location, different soil, everything. After their initial shock, they are now bigger and healthier than ever!
Maybe it is just transplant shock. Tell me, @Ricksickhosta how is the new growth coming in? If it looks good, the hosta will be right as rain by next growing season. If not, then you may have a problem. Or it could be that it is the end of the growing season where you live (is it?) and the plant is preparing to go dormant, just a little early, given the insult you have dealt it!! It could be that. I echo what everybody else has said: give it time, keep it in the shade, keep it moist but do not over water. Generally, you can't kill these things. More than once I have yanked one of them out, dumped it on the compost pile, unceremoniously continued dumping weeds, vegetable parings etc on top only to discover the next spring it was bigger and bolder than before! One of them earned its place back in my garden that way. The other was rescued by a friend. (BTW I wish I took a picture of that hosta in the compost pile. There was this big pile of partially decomposed material and a huge glorious green hosta flourishing on top! It looked like one of Sesame Street characters with green hair!)
You didn`t say how long it has been since it was transplanted. They can do this soon after transplanting but as the roots get settled in it should be fine !
