I am growing large Hostas and would like to keep them growing. Would it help and be safe to stop the hostas from flowering? Thanks.
Quite safe; I have a friend who never ever lets hers bloom, and they still look fantastic. Just cut the flower spike off below the leafline.
Why would you want to keep it from flowering, have something against flowers? I realize a lot of people grow Hosta for their foliage, but you may well be overlooking the best aspect of the plant you have... have you seen yours in bloom?
I think psychonaut is hoping to encourage his hostas to put on more foliar growth by preventing them from diverting their energy into flowering. I'm not sure his full question has been answered -- specifically, "Would it help...?" To be honest, I don't think it will really make a huge amount of difference. In my experience (though I don't grow a huge number of hostas) these plants seem to stop producing new leaves at some point in early or mid-summer. I suspect that whatever energy the plant conserves by not flowering would not immediately result in new growth, though perhaps extra food would be stored over the winter, resulting in more vigorous growth next year. Even without this intervention, however, hostas will continue to expand and produce larger clumps year after year -- indefinitely, from what I can tell -- if they are grown in good soil and have their basic needs attended to.
I have seen my Hoastas flower plenty of times. I prefer to just enjoy the foilage as well as trying get more leaves out of them. Thank you all for your tips!
I'm the same as psychonaut4, I prefer to only see the foliage. At the cottage, I use yellowish/green hostas as skirts for my row of 4' dahlias, deep red with dark green foliage. I don't want to see hosta spikes in front of the dahlia plants. At home in the city, I prefer a low profile garden, so I pluck all the flower shoots before they have time to grow. Each to their own.