Just went out to look. I have yellow seed pods on:

Silver Bay
Alligator Shoes
Emerald Necklace
Nakaiana
Emerald Ruff Cut

This post was edited by vpeterson on Wed, Oct 16, 13 at 11:51

Seeds need 8 weeks from fertilization until they have matured. Given the cultivars you mentioned above, I'm sure that all these seeds have matured as much as they are going to. You can harvest them now.

You can let them dry off the plant before you clean the seeds, but I don't like dealing with dried and opened pods. I give them 24 hours after harvest, then I open the pods and clean them. Hosta seeds consist of a wing and a cotyledon. You want a cotyledon that has a discernable bump in it. Those seeds are viable and likely to germinate.

Steve

they can hang out there all winter.. forget about temp as an issue ...

snip off the bottom one pod .. and find out if the seed inside is mature ... if so.. they all are close enough ... if its all wing.. and no kernal.. not ripe yet ....

otherwise... let them hang out there as long as you can ... and when the bottom one opens.. harvest the whole shaft ....

if you dont have streaked plants.. i highly recommend you buy some seed from such ...... its a lot more exciting to grow some streaked babes .... check out the post about the seed growers auction .... its hanging at the top of the posts ... do not reply to it and knock it down ....

ken

I would imagine ripening of seeds is the same as for all perennials? I just harvested some hosta seed pods that had turned that dry-looking beige colour. All seeds encased were black and plump to the touch and disengaged from the casing easily. I let them dry, then placed them in a dry paper towel inside a Baggie and off it went to the freezer until March, when I will try to germinate them.

I have not harvested hosta seeds before...so I'm just experimenting for something to so. It will be fun to see if anything comes of it.

This post was edited by josephines67 on Wed, Oct 16, 13 at 13:22

Jo,

Some people freeze, some don't. I have a friend who harvests seed, cleans the pods within 24 hours and then plants the next day. He is currently getting about 80% germination. However, if you aren't going to plant until March, freezing is a good idea.

I harvest after 8 weeks, clean the pods before they are dry and then plant in November. With a heat mat I get about 50% germination overall. Some pod parents have more viable seeds than others.

Steve

This post was edited by steve_mass on Wed, Oct 16, 13 at 13:34

really steve.. only 50 %???? you should be doing better than that ... unless they are specific out of bounds crosses ... and as such.. a lot of bad seed ....

and hosta seeds need NO STRATIFICATION... no cold period ...

if you want to store pollen... of late bloomers for putting on early spring bloomers.. that goes in the freezer

OP .. ??? ... VP .. are you aware of the potential of the seedlings you are going to get.. based on the ones you mentioned .... you will not get edged plants... i dont want to waste time typing.. if you know what you are doing ...

ken

I had bought seeds from an internet source. They must have been very old and dry, got only 10% or so germination.
Then I got seeds from streaked plants as a gift from Trudy and Mr.Hosta of the Hostaseedgrowers Forum, they gave me over 90% germination. Some of those seeds I froze (in a plastic bag) and used them the next year, got again over 90% germination.
Right now I have seed pots in paper envelopes, harvested 6 and 2 weeks ago. Some Sum and Substance crosses split open and dispersed seeds inside their envelopes. I am looking forward sowing them in a few weeks. Bernd

I don't usually grow seeds in my basement,but I did once. I usually wait til' they are dry and already opening up,before harvesting them. Although,I once cut off some Olive Bailey Langdon seed pods while they were still green,and threw the stalks down just under the parent plant. The next spring there were hundreds on tiny seedlings growing there. I guess it's not an exact science! Phil

Thanks for all of this great information. I did go over to Hostaseedgrowers forum and registered there. I know that my seeds probably won't produce anything but green plants but this is my first time experimenting with it. I think that I will bid on some seeds at the auction and see what happens.

Good for you, VP! I'll look for you, and if I opt to bid on something will try not to hinder any previous bidders. My favorite crosses or OP hosta will be in the plantaginea range, crossed preferably with something streaky. And fast growing. I don't have forever to wait for a grown plant.

The more folks who participate, the more exciting it becomes. I cannot wait for the AHS plant auction, followed by the First Look 14. ....oh fun! Those will ship from the folks who donate them to the auction, and they won't be shipped until at least the end of April, sometimes mid May. This will be my third year to be caught up in the auctions. Almost have the hang of it, you know?

here in MI .. in the next few weeks .. or when the bottom pod opened ..... i would take a 100 pack of standard envelopes ... and a box top from a ream of paper.. and a pen ...

write the plant name on an envelop .... strip the pods into such ... leave open.. stack in boxtop ..

when done.. leave in garage for a month .. temp is irrelevant.. they will dry and pop open ...

i used to watch college football and clean them back into the envelop.. using a teacup strainer [dollar store] .. to grind off all the wings ... they can rot and mildew ... when planted ...

then come football bowl time around 1/1 ... i would plant them ...

once i did it too early .. and regretted it.. when i couldnt get them outside until late may ... lean towards later ...

media should be sterilized.. and fresh .. there is actually media specifically for seeds.. much finer ...

then i stopped watching football.. and coincidentally.. quit seeds about the same time...

i agree purchased seed is hit or miss.. depending on the seller ...

at the library.. bob has a front page link to his rather intensive seed growing system ... you could glean a lot of info from that ...

ken

heres what it looked like:
{{gwi:268893}}

vpetereson, thanks for coming over the HSG's Forum. If you do a search on the forum you can find lots of info.
Other wise please ask on the forum if you have any questions. We understand there are many new folks just starting out and will give you an answer to your questions.

Lots of photos of seedlings to drool over too!

here, this year, the seed pod generation has been, well, sparce - L.S. Mom only two possibly useable podz.

Lots of other good info already posted

it's a very experimental field,

hh
,

Here is a pic of Blue Mammoth seedlings growing up in my garden,not far from the parent plant. They are growing quite well,considering they just came up by themselves,with no help from me. Phil

BTW .. as to my pic ... you ONLY need separate envelopes.. IF you want to retain mom's name ...

if not.. put them all in a paper bag ...

ken

Growing seedlings over winter lets you have 12 months of hosta gardening. All you need is the seeds, sterilized seed growing mix, plastic pots, a shelf and a shop (fluorescent) light in your basement and you can see your darling seedlings grow until putting them outside after last frost. Bernd

Do you need a special grow light? Also, if you start the seeds too early (like now) does that interfere with their going dormant patterns?

regular ... CHEAP florescent shop lamps are good enough ...

how many and how close is the issue ... key word: light intensity ... 2 words.. lol ...

plants started now .. [too early!] .... will not go dormant until next fall ...

you need a 2 or 4 light fixture.. fully adjustable from about 6 inches to 3 feet ... lights will be on a timer .. 16 hours on.. 8 off ... one on/off cycle if your timer allows ...

did you find the link .. oh crikey.. i will do it for you ... but i have to tell you.. if i have to write a tome for you .. i will probably lose interest ... i enjoy answering specific questions ... etc ..

see link ..

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: yep.. right there.. just right of dead center on the library home page .... your choice on location ..... read up.. narrow down your questions.. please .... and trust me.. your first 'get up' need not be anything as complicated as those shown here ....

I found Josh Spece's articles helpful, see the attached link.
I use simple 4ft fluorescent lights. I have a friend who was a research liaison for the then lightbulb division of a US conglomerate. He only used fluorescent shop light bulbs for his seedlings, that's all what is needed, nothing fancy, he told me. Bernd

Here is a link that might be useful: growing seeds

Thanks for the kind words on the seeds berndnyz5.
Very well said by the way. Plain and simple, no fancy things needed.

Josh has a very good tutorial!

ken ... who are the pampers for?

yeah, i know it was 10 years ago ..

or is that a growing medium?

ÃÂ.ÃÂ --~

Trudy, thanks for the seeds again. You and Jeff Miller got me started on streakers. This year two of those seedlings had flowers, and I crossed them with pollen of large blue and green ones. I will sow their seeds the middle of November, together with seeds I got from Dan from his crosses with large ones. So I will have a great winter gardening with streaked seedlings in my basement. I am dreaming that in 6 years I will have large blue or green streakers with interesting leaf forms, which I could not buy anywhere....
I hope others here will grow seeds this winter too. Bernd

You are very welcome! Hoping your seeds are filled with lots of blue genes!

Have fun harvesting, cleaning and growing. :)

Hosta seed growing is a fun winter hobby.

I'm going a little off topic here, but it is "for the good of the Cause" as one might say.

I found another mention of GardenWeb Forums online, this time quoting some poster on a gardening forum about pepper and seeds and other hot varieties of chilies and such. I give the link below. Mention of GardenWeb is on the 2nd page. This is from The New Yorker, btw.

I had no idea things were getting that HOT in the chilie world.
Might need to use some of that to fend off the blankedy blank squirrels digging out the hosta in my pots.

Here is a link that might be useful: GardenWeb Forums quoted TheNewYorker