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Hosta Seed Growing Without Soil
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Posted by Gesila 5 (My Page) on Wed, Jan 18, 12 at 21:58
| Here's my Winter 2012 experiment. I'm going to try to grow hostas from seed without using soil.
In October 2011, I cut some seed pods off of H. Great Plains. I put them in an envelope and stuck them in the kitchen drawer.
November 24, 2011... took the envelope out of the drawer and stuck it in the freezer.
January 7, 2012... ready to try and germinate the seeds but can't remember where I put them.
January 8, 2012... found the envelope in the freezer and tried to get the seeds out of the pods. I thought I didn't get the seeds out of the pods and threw them in the trash.
January 9, 2012... recovered seeds from trash, put them between a dampened paper towel and stuck the paper towel in a zip lock bag.
January 18, 2012... discovered that most of the seeds had germinated.
Bought these cubes to put the germinated seeds in:
Planted the seeds:
Put the dome over the tray, a heat mat on the floor underneath the tray, and hung the light from the table above. Have a timer set so that the lights are on from 6:00 am until midnight.
If these seeds continue to grow, I have a Baby Bloomer hydroponic system to transplant them into. Wish me luck. If these grow, they'll probably be the most expensive plain green hostas in my garden!
Gesila |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Hosta Seed Growing Without Soil
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| Well played ! I tried a little UNSUCCESSFUL attempt with the paper towel as well.(like in grade school) ;) Unfortunately I didn't keep them damp enough..your Ziploc bag skilz are rare ! hahahaha I read that somewhere and failed to let it sink in... I liked your post, and may have to copy the Gesila Tiger Dragon seed technique ! ;) |
RE: Hosta Seed Growing Without Soil
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Great photos, hope you keep this post updated through the year to see what you get.
Cher |
RE: Hosta Seed Growing Without Soil
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| i love it .. lol ... for a woman who threw all the seed away ... you are sure making this complicated ..... lol but dont get me wrong.. experimenting is the key to discovering new things .. why on the floor.. just for the pic .... they would not mind some heat .. for me.. it was mostly about the middle of the night when the thermostat kicked the house temp down to 65 ... hence the other post where i said i ran the lights at night .... if you were to get rid of the humidity dome .. and bought some real cheap painter plastic sheeting from aco ... and tent the light into the enclosure ... it will generate a bit of heat for the setup ... plus.. if it must remain on the floor.. put a piece of styrophome under.. just for some insulation ... soon there will be a FAQ about all this.. i expect success ... ken |
RE: Hosta Seed Growing Without Soil
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Here is a comment about having heat mat, lights and all enclosed :
I stopped running my heat mat, since with 2 fluorescent light bulbs on 24 hrs, the two seed trays with domes on for moisture, and all enclosed, the temperatures on the soil surfaces were at 92 dgrs, too hot. Without the heat mat on, surface temperatures are 76 dgrs, which seems to be appropriate. The room temperature is 66 drgs.
Bernd |
RE: Hosta Seed Growing Without Soil
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| I once started seeds in a container on top of a refrigerator in my basement,with just plastic film on top,until they germinated;then put them under a flourescent shop light,with no heat mat,and they grew quite well. You all are trying to complicate everything with your elaborate rigs. My best results with seeds came from sowing seeds right into a pot of soil outdoors in the spring. Gesila,it's not hard to identify hosta seeds,and they don't have to be frozen. When the seed pods crack open,all you have to do is look for black,or brown seeds,and separate them from the other parts of the seed pods. Just a few thoughts. Phil |
RE: Hosta Seed Growing Without Soil
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| LOL everyone, my brother tells me I complicate everything! There is some reasons here behind my madness. I germinated the seeds in wet paper towels in Zip Loc bags because I didn't have sterile soil or starter trays and they weren't readily available at nearby stores. If the rest of my experiment goes well, I probably will start them in the Zip Loc Bags again. I had 80% germination and my DH had 50%. The difference between his and mine is that my paper towels were much wetter. Ken, they're on the floor because I can't think of any place else to put them. The lights is hung from a table with legs that adjust the height. Should be easy to lower the light once I take the dome off by lowering the height of the table. Remember, this time of year, my entire house is consumed by the processing of 850 tax returns! Right now, top of this table is being used for outgoing mail! Bernd, you are correct about the heat. Heat mat is now turned off while lights are on. 
Also learned that humidity drops like a brick when you take the dome off. Dropped 30% just in the time I took the dome off to take the picture. Haven't decided whether to run the lights 24/7 or not. Thanks all! Gesila |
RE: Hosta Seed Growing Without Soil
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| January 25, 2012... Our first seedling leaf unfurled today. About 80% of the cubes are showing some sort of growth above the top of the growing medium. I'm still unsure about how much (or little) to water them. 
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RE: Hosta Seed Growing Without Soil
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| I'm watering my seedlings once a day with a weak solution of tomato fertilizer (about 1/4 strength). However, I also have fan circulating the air constantly, so they have a tendency to dry out faster that way. You do not want them to dry out. If you can bottom water, that will work well also. Steve |
RE: Hosta Seed Growing Without Soil
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| water: should always be room temp.. use bleach to sterilize a one gal milk jug.. and leave it standing right next to the plants ... i used to put about 1/4 teaspoon of whatever water sol fert i had around ... media: link below how to do it yourself.. and i recommend you do it.. even if the bag says it was done prior ... just use a plastic bag from the grocer... dampen well.. and nuke it ... until it steams like ear corn ... or a nuked potato .. i think it only needs to get to about 120 [like the nem cure temp].. and of course.. steam is 212 .... so way over kill .. literally ... transplant often: when the roots hit the wall of the cell.. up-pot them to 6 oz solo cups.. then to 8 ox.. then to 16 oz ... use a razor blade to slit the bottom edge of the cups for drainage ... i was told.. that 16 hours of light.. on a two phase timer.. with one on/off cycle in the middle of the 8 hours off.. will trick the hosta into thinking the lights are on 24 hours ... if you simply do not care what 8 hours of light costs.. go with 24 ... i also found that a twice folded piece of paper towel fits perfectly into a baggie ... use it often ... just leaving it on a tea cup saucer.. w/o the baggie.. usually led to finding it a week later.. bone dry .. lol .. your media is very peaty ... you can do better next time .. the problem with the high peat.. is that it tends to either be sodden or bone dry ... this will become a bigger problem when you up pot and they are not in the humidity dome ... you might want to start a new post asking about what type of media you should buy for up potting ... you need some with perlite and/or vermiculate ... just ask at a good nursery ... especially if you can find one that grows their own plants .... they will sell you whatever you want.. but i learned to buy what they use ... in giant bulk bags ... pic below.. for when you go OTT [aka the gesila disease] on your new addiction ... http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=OTT the beauty of the solo cups.. is that you can write on them.. when you are tracking crosses ... and throw them away ... they can also be sterilized in 10% bleach.. and reused ... STERILIZE EVERYTHING ... including your water can.. your tools.. etc ... its much easier to prevent.. rather than cure a problem with tiny babes .... also.. let your water stand for a day .. to off gas whatever the city did to it.. like chlorine or fluoride .. never straight from the tap.. on babes ... ken
my 4 layer plant stand .. 4 lights per shelf
 seedlings planted en mass in a tray .. i see too many plain old green ones .. time to cull and pot up ...
 seedlings up potted to 6 oz cups .. notice no bottom heat mat ... simply not needed once the seeds have sprouted ... and its not really needed then.. but for the fact that the furnace kicks down in winter to mid 60's in my house.. and that is not germination temps ... otherwise we all know hosta like the cool spring temps.. other than frost/freeze .. and also note all the green ones that were culled and killed ...
 and here is one that made the cull .. too bad its out of focus ...
 |
Here is a link that might be useful: link
RE: Hosta Seed Growing Without Soil
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| Ken, I'm not using soil in this experiment. Though next year, I am going to grow in soil and the Root Riot cubes side by side and compare. I've saved your link. These little cubes are going to go into a hydroponic planter when I can see the roots coming out of the cubes. Looks like we'll have to get the Baby Bloomer out of the box and check the size of the pots so I can use the pot-up technique you mentioned in your post. I'm betting I can still use the solo cups. Gesila |
RE: Hosta Seed Growing Without Soil
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| duh .. lol .. potting media.. isnt soil either.. but who is to argue .... ken |
how about an update????
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| how about an update???? and some pix??? ken |
RE: Hosta Seed Growing Without Soil
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| We moved the seedlings out from under the dome and into the hydroponics beds. The bed is hooked up to a pump and timer so I don't have to worry about watering them. They get morning sunlight as well as artifical light 24 hours. 
Planted a couple of the in soil for a comparison. These are planted with a cup within a cup, so they are also self watering. Had them under the dome for a couple of days and the soil on the top quickly turned green. 
My seedlings are producing lots of wonderful long roots and I can see different charateristics in them. So far, 100% germination and growth. |
RE: Hosta Seed Growing Without Soil
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| and you were going to throw them out ... pshaw ... lol why all the clementines in the pots ... ken |
RE: Hosta Seed Growing Without Soil
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| Ken or anyone, What is a 'clementine' please. Thank you Paula |
RE: Hosta Seed Growing Without Soil
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| Ken is refering to the round orange colored growing medium in the picture. I believe it is Hydroton. Rob |
RE: Hosta Seed Growing Without Soil
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| Ken, Rob is correct, they are Hydroton, or clay pellets are cooked in a kiln at high temperatures until they expand. This process creates little catacombs and crevices inside each pellet that end up holding air and nutrient solution. They take the place of the soil. The pump floods these pots with water that contains nutrients twice a day. I believe one of the advantages of using these clay pellets has to do with an increased amount of oxygen that gets to the roots. LOL Ken, yes, these seeds were once in the trash! Of course, you probably know that I'm already bored with the little green seedlings of mine, so I bought some seeds a few weeks ago. Here's one that's popped up from a Crazy Quilt seed. 
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RE: Hosta Seed Growing Without Soil
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| Hydroton will hold and wick water also. Gesila are your cubes rock wool or something else ? I answered and asked some you some other questions on the other topic. Rob |
RE: Hosta Seed Growing Without Soil
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- Posted by babka 9b NorCal (My Page) on
Mon, Feb 20, 12 at 22:54
| Oh I LOVE this! They look like a tree sprouting in a lava field surrounded by oranges. Isn't this hosta growing thing wonderful???? What fun! Thank you for posting all these fun photos. -Babka |
RE: Hosta Seed Growing Without Soil
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| Rob, These cubes are call Root Riot. Not sure what they are made of, if I had to describe them, I'd say they were an organic sponge. I have some Dorothy Benedict seeds that I just took out of the freezer and put in the wet paper towel in a plastic bag. I have some rock wool cubes that I'll put those in once they germinate and see how they compare to DB seeds that didn't spend time in the freezer and are growing in Root Riot cubes. Gesila |
RE: Hosta Seed Growing Without Soil
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| why did you put DB in the freezer.. hosta seeds do NOT need cold treatment prior to planting ... though i doubt they minded it ... ken |
RE: Hosta Seed Growing Without Soil
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| Ken, Just experimenting to see if the seeds from the same batch will germinate and grow faster if they were put in the freezer prior to germinating as compared to the ones I have growing now where the seeds weren't put in the freezer. My Great Plains seeds germinated much faster than the DB, Crazy Quilt, and Starboard Light seeds that I bought. The only thing I did different was to freeze the Great Plain seeds first. Gesila |
RE: Hosta Seed Growing Without Soil
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| I was unfamiliar with the Root Riot cubes. I think you could start the seeds right on them and skip the paper towel. A couple CFL "daylight" 100 watt equivalent bulbs are less than 6 dollars at your local big box. Your t-5 set up is fantastic but not cheap. Your seedlings look healthy and I think your nutrient mix is working well. I have a DIY system . I start 8 1020 trays on the top self and turn a few lights on underneath for warmth. Once they germinate I move them down one shelf and start 8 more on the top and repeat. I am up to 40 trays started. I would like to do around 50. All I use for light are the CFL bulbs. I have always used 24/7 lighting until this year. I am now doing 8 hours off. I have not seen any negatives to doing this.I used to start seeds as soon as summer was over but now I don't start until late Dec.-Jan. through March. I had about 5 lbs of seed in my freezer. I reorganized this fall and got rid of half of it that I knew I would never grow. I am sure I still have a million seeds on hand. Rob |
RE: Hosta Seed Growing Without Soil
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| Actually Ken, some peeps on the Hosta Seed Growing forum did some experiments and came to the conclusion that freezing seed improved germination. It wasn't required for seeds to germinate, but it improved the percentage of seed that did. Steve |
RE: Hosta Seed Growing Without Soil
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| I'm a tough love kind of guy so I didn't use a sterile growing medium, didn't use sterilized containers, watered straight from the tap and I cooked my seeds at 90 degrees for a week on a heat mat after collecting them a few weeks ago. It worked. When I start doing it for reals late this year I will use proper protocols. |
RE: Hosta Seed Growing Without Soil
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Frank -- I know nothing at all about growing hosta so this may be an obvious question, but what is the function of the heat treatment? (I get that freezing the seeds is creating an artificial winter!)
Jan |
RE:: Hosta Seed Growing Without Soil
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| Heat can speed up the germinating process of many types of seed. Other types of seed need a cool temperature to germinate or need to have a very cold period to germinate. Some seeds have to be exposed to light during germination such as impatiens and lobelia. Lobelia needs both cold temps and light while impatiens need warmth and light. |
RE: Hosta Seed Growing Without Soil
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I no longer use the heat mat I just bought 2 months ago, had temperatures go over 90 dgrs and got poor germination. Now I have 2 fluorescent 40 W shoplights 1 inch over the domes of two seed trays. Soil surface temperature is about 76 degrees in a 66 dgrs room, germination of hosta seeds is within 2 weeks, I had 100% germination on some seeds. They are all on an enclosed shelf.
I do not freeze seeds, except when storing for coming October.
Bernd |
RE: Hosta Seed Growing Without Soil
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| Rob, Root Riot Cubes are a little more than thirty cents a piece, so the paper towel method was a more cost effective way to start the germination. I like your set-up Rob. Right now ours are on the living room floor because a lack of space and time to do anything else. You just gave me an idea! Our renter used unsterilized soil and had a billion bugs, hence my decision to try to go soiless! Gesila |
RE: Hosta Seed Growing Without Soil
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| Gesilla, Those "billion bugs" are probably fungus gnats. These can occur whether you are using soiless medium or not. Some people sterilize their medium by putting it in the microwaves (in small batches). I decided to use beneficial nematodes as a preventative for fungus gnats. I'm using an organic soiless mix (Black Gold) and thus far no bugs. Steve |
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