OldDirt, I have the little thingy you make newspaper pots with, but never used it for hosta. I have rooted things like begonias though.

Newsprint is surprisingly sturdy even when wet....IF you do not handle it a lot, and keep the little pots against one another for support. Not a lot of water, but seems it absorbs quickly. Maybe set them on a wet paper towel....or even more newsprint. A small cookie sheet works if you have only a few. Easy to move around to follow the light.

Be sure to report on how your project goes.

sounds like a lot of work ...

i used 6 oz plastic solo cups.. what we of some age.. might call cups we used to see at the dentist ...

just use a razor to cut the bottom edge 3 times ...

i was wondering on the homemade cups.. how you put in drain holes

ken

I used egg cartons (not the stryofoam ones, the cardboard-like ones) for these jalapeno pepper seeds and it's working out just fine. Keeps them nicely separated and seems to hold the moisture well. By the time they are ready for potting up, the egg carton won't even be removed, I'll tear away each pod and place each one into its own pot and let it disintegrate. That way I won't be disturbing the roots. Go buy eggs.

Hosta seedlings will need to be taken care of longer than i.e. tomato seedlings. This year I started in November. I usually repot seedlings as they grow and keep them in 4 inch and larger pots until late August. So these paper pots might disintegrate by then. Hosta seedlings like to be in standing water with their roots. I also use cheap styrofoam and plastic cups from Walmart for upcupping.
Another aspect is real estate in seed trays under light. Paper cups might be much bulkier than plastic, such that you can put less seedlings under a fluorescent light, meaning more cost in electricity per seedling. Bernd

Right now I have my hostas babies in 4 ounce cups in a soiless mix. When I up-cup do I keep them in the soilless mix or do I introduce potting soil? They were planted in Jan. and Feb.

I would keep in soiless mix, which is sterile. You do not want to introduce other organisms such as fungus and weed seeds. When I bring them outside into larger pots, then I will use potting soil, compost, bark and perlite.

Thanks Berndnyz5. Will do. I know that the soiless mix worked so well with starting the seeds. The potting soil I used on a couple of cups just turned hard (like cement).

VP ... you take them out of the 4 oz cup.. shake off the old used up media.. and replant in fresh media ...

the shaking is said to trigger a hormone release ...

they are hosta.. no need to be too foo foo with them ....

you also get rid of any salt buildup in the media ... aka fert ...

you up pot.. when the roots have worked their way down the edge of the cup to the bottom... do it before they start curling around the bottom ... tip a few out to see how they are doing ...

throw used media out on any bed ... no need to literally throw it in the garbage ...

then throw the used cups in a 10% bleach solution and wash them out for next year .... no need to throw those in the garbage either ....

ken

Well this is what I am trying for my first stab at starting hosta seeds. I bought the little tray with the peat wafers that you just add water and they expand and add a few seeds to each. I guess the only thing I need to figure out is how much and often to water. The instructions say to add water when the peat turns light brown but I think I would want to add water before they become that dry.
I did make the newspaper pots and will transplant the seedlings in them with a soil less mix (if they ever come up.) If they don't, I'm only out $6.00.