hey ....

the TC process in a nutshell ... aka TC for dummies ... i will leave it to others to correct or add to the basic theme ...

there are 3 parts to a hosta ... roots below ... leaves/stalks above.. and the crown in the middle ... it is a potato-like substance that holds millions, nay billions of dormant buds ....

cut off the top ... cut off the bottom and shave the crown down and sterilize it to within an inch of its life ... ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING IN THE PROCESS HAS TO BE STERILE....

prior to this you have built a stand that has lights.. and hold mason jars at a 45 degree angle.. and filled them with jelly aka agar .... with various ingredients .... more on this later ... the angle doubles or triples the area of the jelly .... go figure on that ...

after the crown is ready to go .. you insert it into a mason jar with the jelly that has budding compounds ... you can put many in one jar ...

a time period later.. the darn thing starts putting up tiny plantlets .. stalks and leaves ... no roots ... we are taking rice grain size here ....

at the right size and time.. they go into the jar and cut off the babes with some crown .. maybe 20 or thirty per piece of crown material .... and get a new mason jar with jelly enriched with rooting hormones ... and back go the plants to the stand for another time period ... probably weeks for both ...

we come back a few weeks later and they pluck out the plants... now maybe pea sized ... and plant them into 1 cm cubed flats .... and grow them on .. eventually into cell packs .. etc ...

when they are the size of a seedling ... maybe 4 true leaves.. 2 or 3 inches big plus roots .. they will sell them for 2 to 15 to 25 dollars a piece to josh .... price depends on how many true to name hosta come out of the process ....

some people buy at this stage .. and double the price and resell them for 4 or.... you get the idea ... these are very speculative plants for all but those with experience.. and willing to take the risk ...

good sellers will nurse these on for a year and sell well grown second year plants for double the price again .... etc ...

that about sums it all up except for culling ..

as i have said until my face turned blue ... hosta are inherently unstable .... take an edged plant [BTW.. TC is technically cloning .. growing plants from cells of the mother] .... and you will get percentages of the green, the edge color, the center color and streaked versions ....

and if the babes are not grown on enough.. one can not tell if they are selling true to type clones of the mother .. and to make matters worse.. they name and sell every variation they get off the mother ... sometimes putting carpy plants onto the market ....

my best suggestion for newbies .. don't buy tiny TC plants[aka bargains that are too good to be true] until your learning curve is up there.. and you are willing to risk loss of your investment ...

and plants sold to clubs are usually pretty good.. what TC'er wants to mess with their addicts .... but i inherently don't trust strangers on eBay ... unless other vouch for them ...

kids Tylenol works wonders..

questions, innuendo .. out and out lies... i look forward to them all ....

ken

PS: i did this post before... i wonder if its over in the FAQ's .. if it is ... carp ... anyone care to link it and see if i told the same story twice ....