I enjoy the look of Hosta plants. They are easy to care for and work well in those shady areas that you’re not really sure what to with. And with Hostas you have a wide variety of color variations and sizes in the plants.
They look wonderful alone or as accents for other perennials and annuals. The Hosta is a perennial that can be divided to create more plants or started from seed.
Hosta seeds are actually very easy to start from seed and an advantage to this is that you can harvest a variety of seeds from many locations. If you see a Hosta plant you like in the fall and it has the long seed stem ask the property owner if it’s ok if you collect some seeds.
To collect seeds wait until the seedpod is turning brown or quite brown. Pick the seed pods and place them on paper towels to dry. Once dry split the pod and collect the seed.
Perennial seeds benefit from a cooling spell. It’s the seeds way of knowing its time to sprout. In nature this occurs with the seasons. If you collect seeds you need to give them a cold treatment in the refrigerator of freezer to create this seasonal change.
When I collect seeds I mark the variety or description of the seeds and place in envelopes once they are dry. Then I place in the refrigerator until I am ready to plant.
Planting Hosta seeds.
I use plastic trays and fill with a potting soil. Place the seeds on top of the soil. If you cover the seeds, just dust the top of the seeds lightly. (I often use peat moss for this.) A Hosta seed does not seem to need to be covered to germinate.
Lightly moisten the soil, place in a semi dark area with moderate heat and ignore. I usually see seedling in a week. Then the seedling start to sprout I move the tray to sunlight. You water these by lightly misting the tray.
In about one month I will transplant the seedling into small peat pots that will dissolve when planted into the ground.
Often times when a plant is this small I will place the plant in a holding bed for a year until it has more size and will not be taken over by small plants and weeds. (A holding bed is a raised bed that is made to hold small or weak plants so that they are protected from animals, weeds, plants, and the lawnmower.)
When your plants are bigger, its time to select their new garden location and get them planted. Or if you have a lot of plants you may want to trade them with friends for other plant varieties.
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