Re: what is the solution, again?
- Subject: Re: what is the solution, again?
- From: B* N*
- Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2001 22:41:03 -0400
At 11:05 PM 09/29/2001 -0400, Alttara wrote:
>Hi all,
>
>Someone (mary?) posted a message awhile back about a sugar and water
>solution in which to keep scapes inside to continue them ripening, after
>frost. What is the solution? How much sugar/water/bleach?
Alttara; I tried that, in the past two years running; and used about a half
teaspoon to a full teaspoon of sugar in a quart preserving jar, with a few
drops of Javex bleach. Last year, I tried adding a bit of SUPER'thrive
(magic fertilizer?) but nothing outstanding happened as a result of this.
The pods on mid-season bloomers ripened nicely; providing germination
however, the late bloomers like for example H. longipes 'Grand Slam'
produced seed which looked good, but it sprouted nothing! About the only
sure method, to ripen seed of the late flowering hostas, is to pot them up;
and bring them into a sunny window until the pods show slits; and harvest
the seed, and then, put the dormant plant into 35 to 37* Fahrenheit
refrigeration for 6 to 8 weeks. Two years ago, I brought Grand Slam
indoors to ripen seeds, and would you believe, the seed did not start
splitting until mid-February, when it was collected. This selfed seed
provided excellent germination. My garage is insulated and heated, and in
mid-February we are like into minus 20 degrees of frost, so it is rather
easy to provide the dormancy to hostas via garage storage until spring.
I personally, don't believe the *cut scape in sugary-water plus bleach
routine* can be successful in maturing seeds of the late season blooming
hosta varieties, but then, this is just one person's opinion, right? I've
never had any success with late blooming longipes types in sugar water,
since the flower stem seems to simply rot away after a couple of months,
but then, maybe the water needed changing every few days, since it does get
murky looking quite fast, even with the bleach added?
nothwithstanding, I hope this is helpful to you
Bill Nash\canada\zone 4
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