Collecting Hosta seeds
- Subject: Collecting Hosta seeds
- From: K* B*
- Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2001 21:46:57 -0400
Terry King wrote:
> How do you tell when the seeds are mature? My Frances Willam has produced
> pods but I'm not sure how long the seeds take to mature as this is my first
> year growing hostas. Its already been quite cold here a couple of nights so
> I'm afraid that leaving the pods until dry is probably out of the question.
Hi Terry,
(Any of you hostapixers out there, if there is any of the info below that needs
correcting, please do so. I don't want to give Terry the wrong info.)
I'm a newbie to Hostas also, but I will try to answer your question. When the
pods start to break open then you can collect the seed. From what I've heard,
sometimes this may not be until November. I've had a few ready this past week.
It can also depend on when the Hosta blooms. The later the bloom period the
later seed collection is.
Some people collect the pods in coffee filters and let them sit inside for a
week or two until dry. Then they store them in an air tight container (such as
film containers) in the freezer (prevents freezer burn) until the time you want
to plant them.
There are a couple of Hosta email groups that you could join if you're
interested in learning more about Hostas. Be careful, I just joined this group
in late July and I have already become a Hosta junky!!! :-) Before that
Hostas were just another plant in my shade garden.
Hostapix - you have to join Yahoo for this one. Pictures of Hostas and companion
plants are posted and you can ask questions. They have just recently started to
archive their messages.
Hosta-open - go to mallorn.com just like this Shadegarden group. You can check
the archives just like Shadegardens. No pictures in this group, just info
exchange.
There are several hybridizers and Hosta experts on both of these lists.
There is a man that belongs to both of these groups who in response to a
question from me about seeds, sent me a fairly lengthy "article" about starting
Hostas from seed. It even has a small section on hybridizing. Let me email him
and see if he minds if I forward this on to you.
Karen
z5a
