Host love designers not only for the spectacular beautiful leaves, but also for unpretentiousness. Still, decorative leaves solve a lot. They create a surprisingly beautiful background for other plants, and the flowers of the plant themselves are quite interesting.
Did you know? Khost comes from the Latin name Hosta and has another name - funky. It is believed that she bears the name in honor of the Austrian doctor and botanist N. Khost. And its second name is from his German colleague G.Kh. Funk. It belongs to the family lily, then to the family of asparagus. In total, there are about 40 species of this plant.
Tips on landing hosts
Many flower growers and amateur gardeners wondering how to grow a host in the country. On the one hand, this is a completely non-capricious plant, on the other hand, you need to know a few subtleties in order to grow a beautiful and healthy plant.
Important! Usually in flower shops the plant is sold whole, or only its roots. So that the roots do not rot, it is necessary immediately during or after the purchase to check them for the presence of rot and remove such, if any.
1. The host is not very demanding on the soil, although it has been observed that it grows much better on humus loams than on others. It is only important to avoid stagnant water, as it does not like wet soil.
Sandy soil does not contribute to the rapid growth and development of hosts, which must be taken into account when deciding where to put the hosts in the country. But if you have to plant it on such a soil, it is desirable to fertilize it with mineral fertilizers, humus.
2. Before planting plants, the ground should be dug to a depth of about a shovel bayonet. It would be nice to saturate it with Kemira wagon fertilizer or 15 g of potassium sulfate, ammonium nitrate and 20 g of superphosphate at the same time. Each mixture is given at the rate of 60 g per well.
Did you know? Hosts basically grow slowly, and the more decorative a variety is, the more difficult it is to wait for its “bushiness”. In the first year, the plant does not even have a pronounced color characteristic of the variety. And only in the second or even third year you will see on your site exactly the host that you landed.
3. The pit should be the larger, the larger the bush. She needs to provide drainage and water flow. Roots spread on a mound so that there are no voids under them.4. Early autumn or late spring is the time when it is possible to divide and replant the host. It is important not to plant it in the same place - it will not take root.
Host Care Secrets
Caring for plants is simple and includes typical actions: regular watering, weeding, feeding, loosening. For the bush to grow beautiful and neat, young floral arrows should be cut off in time.. Then the leaves will not develop to the sides.
Important! Planting should be in the penumbra or shade. Certain species of plants do not tolerate direct sunlight at all, losing their decorative color. It is believed that the more on the leaves of yellow and white stripes, the more it loves light. But even in this case, if the host has to be planted in a sunny place, cover it from the sun at noon.
Watering, fertilizing and fertilizing the soil
The plant has wide leaves, so in hot sunny weather a lot of moisture evaporates from it, which can be a problem in the hottest period of summer.
Dark tips at the ends of the leaves indicate that the plant lacks moisture. Water in the summer it must be every day. But the overflow is very dangerous for the hosts.
The soil should be periodically loosened and fed with organic and mineral fertilizers. Moreover, the plant receives the main nutrition from organic fertilizers that are applied during mulching.
As a top dressing, a mullein infusion is used with additions of potassium sulphate, ammonium nitrate and superphosphate in a ratio of 10:10:20. In July, as well as April and May, it is fed with potassium, nitrogen, phosphorus.
As regards the feeding regime, this should be done at the beginning of the growing season, when flowers are formed, and immediately after the plant has faded.
Did you know? Initially, hosts grew in Japan, China, Korea, the Kuril Islands, Sakhalin and the south-west of the Far East. Moisture-loving varieties settle on forest edges, on the slopes of the mountains, along the banks of streams and rivers.
Weeding and mulch: do we need it
Mulch ground land is necessary every year. It is usually planted near large trees that take a lot of nutrients. But mulching will help her to rise above the ground.
The only rule is that mulching cannot be used for dwarf and miniature varieties, otherwise they will disappear.
Preparing plants for winter
The hosta is considered to be a frost-resistant plant, therefore, it is usually not hidden especially for the winter. But sometimes, just in case, in autumn, fallen leaves are not removed from it, and then they also watch to lay a good layer of snow on top. If you follow all the rules and recommendations for the care of the plant, it will retain its attractiveness for 10-15 years.
Controversial is the question of cutting hosts in the fall. Some recommend not to remove wilted leaves for the winter, as they serve as an additional cover for the roots, saving them from frost. They are recommended to be removed only in spring, when the first shoots appear.
Others strongly advise that they be removed and burned to remove possible pests. But in this case it is important to remove the leaves before the first frost, and the leaves themselves should be already yellowed.
An inexperienced florist can not guess with the right moment. Therefore, it is more often recommended to try two methods in different areas so that in the event of the death of one part of the plants, they can be restored at the expense of the other.
Did you know? Cuttings plants in Japan are used as a delicacy, and the plant itself is considered sacred. Popularity on other continents found after it hit the New World. Prior to that, she appeared in England, but did not cause much furore.
Different ways of breeding hosts
There are several ways to grow a plant. Which one to choose is up to the grower.
Dividing bush
The simplest, and therefore the most common - the division of the bush. It is possible to divide it for reproduction in spring or at the end of summer. But if you know how to do it neatly and correctly, then you can divide the bushes all year round. However, it is not recommended to use young bushes for this, otherwise they may slow down in development.
So, when can you share and plant in the spring host? As soon as the young shoots. Then with a sharp knife, shovel or pitchfork a small part is separated from the bush. If during this process shoots broke off with part of the rhizome, but without roots, they can be planted in a greenhouse.
Cuttings
It is not always possible to cut the cutting, because in some varieties they grow very densely. The cutting, as a rule, does not have roots, but there is a part of the rhizome on it - the so-called “heel”.
In the summer they are planted in the shade and planted under a glass cap. For a couple of days, he will take root. To speed up this process, it is important to cut the leaves of a seedling in half.
Growing from seed
Having decided to grow a host from seed, one must be prepared that the plant will enter the stage of its complete ornamentality only in the fifth year of its life. The percentage of seed germination is kept at the level of 70-80%.
Seeds are sown in winter, but before that it is important to properly treat them. It is recommended to soak them for half an hour in aloe juice, zircon, root or Épinay. Sometimes seeds are recommended to stand in the cold for a month.
Seeding is carried out in April or May. When sowing, monitor the sterility of the substrate, fungi and other microorganisms which can infect the plant. Similarly, the pot must be pre-treated with a solution of potassium permanganate or alcohol.
Buying soil in the store, make sure that it contains vermiculite, peat and perlite. It is necessary to observe the acidity of the soil for the host. The bottom of the pot is lined with drainage, then the soil is poured and moistened.
After pouring seeds into it, they are covered with another layer of soil for 5-7 mm, compacted and covered with film or glass. The temperature should be at the level of 18-25ºC, direct sunlight should be avoided, and water the seeds moderately. Shoots need to wait two to three weeks.
As soon as one or two leaflets appear on the sprouts, they can be dived into separate quarter-sized pots filled with sand. Watering in this case, use the bottom - the pots are placed in a deep pan with water until the soil is saturated.
Then they begin to take shelter for a couple of hours in order to temper the plants. After a week, they are fully opened, then they begin to be exposed to fresh air, which should be above 18 ºC.
Disease and pest resistance
Although the plant is fairly resistant to disease, there is still the risk of infecting it when planting a new specimen, “picking up” the microorganism from the soil or from another plant.
On frost-frozen in spring or weak plants, a fungal disease phyllostizosis often appears - yellow-brown spots on the leaves. Phyllosticta aspidistrae Oud fungus can appear on the flowers. Such plants should be cut and burned, and the soil in their place should be sanitized.
The leaves can hit the gray rot, which is removed by folpet based fungicides. Sometimes white cotton is formed on the root neck of the plant - sclerotinia fungus, which can be controlled with dichloran.
If large holes began to appear on the leaves, it means that the plant has chosen slugs. Struggling with them, putting around a bowl of beer.
Can attack plants and stem nematodes. Their appearance is identified by yellow necrotic spots between the streaks of the leaves. This is the worst of the enemy hosts, since it is impossible to fight with him.
No drug affects nematode eggs. Therefore, getting rid of them for one season, you have to fight them again in the second.
The only way out is to cut all the plants within a radius of two meters and burn them. Prepare also insecticides that will help in the fight against grasshoppers, beetles and caterpillars.
Combination of hosts with other plants
When picking a pair for hosts in your garden, avoid plants that grow quickly, especially when it comes to miniature varieties. In this case, it is better to combine them with a soft cuff, geyher, lungwort.
With other varieties of plants are well combined adiantum stopovidny, astilby, low varieties of daylily, mountain woman. The ideal neighbor will be Fragrant Bouquet, which has a yellow border on the leaves, as well as a Patriot with a wide white stripe.
Since the host uncovers the leaves in late spring, it is good to plant bulbous plants next to them, which bloom in early spring. This will animate the landscape before the host enters into force.
In general, the general rule of combining plants in group plantings is the neighborhood with perennial plants, which have carved, openwork foliage. Therefore, plant a fern near it, garden geranium and others.
Khosta in landscape design
In landscape design, the plant is most often used as a border plant, since it can grow well for a long time in the same place. To do this, use miniature varieties like Light Up or Blue Cadet, which has bluish leaves.
A variety of varieties allows you to build beautiful compositions, for example, along the tracks. But we must bear in mind that in a thick shade they will simply become green without decorative features, and simply burn out in the sun, having received burns.
The host is also used for carpet plantings. In addition, the broad leaves of the plant drown out the weeds, thus clearing the area around them. Moreover, a variety of varieties allows you to build beautiful carpet patterns. Often for such compositions, the host is used as a plantain or "Fortune".
As you can see, the host is an unpretentious plant, but at the same time it is beautiful and varied in terms of design possibilities. Grow and propagate it easily. And in one place it will grow over the years, without losing its beauty, provided proper care.
