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| I am seeing quite a few seed pods forming, heck formed... I am surprised nobody else has mentioned it? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by hosta_freak z6 NC (My Page) on Wed, Jun 20, 12 at 22:13
| Hardly. I have had lots of seed pods for awhile now. I am in zone 6,you know! Phil |
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| Got lots of pods in my zone 6 garden too. It's been a very early, long season here. My garden looks like late July instead of June. Even the crape myrtles are blooming. Sandy |
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- Posted by moccasinlanding z9A AL (My Page) on Wed, Jun 20, 12 at 22:42
| I had a few on my NOID which turned out to be Satisfaction, and I suppose they are still there....selfed since nothing else was blooming back that early. I'll check to see if they are empty or still closed up. I have Blue Angel right next to Winter Snow, both are blooming. Would it be a likely match for a fertilized pod? |
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| I'm in zone 8....lots of pods. bkay |
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| I was just thinking about this today... WONDERING? I've had hostas for about 12 years...always cut my flower stalks off, some before flowering, some after. I have absolutely (totally, completely) NO IDEA where the seeds are, or fertile/sterile seeds... fertilizing? Pretend I'm 5 years old and explain this to me? Just in a nutshell... not asking for all the details. If I leave my flowers alone, I should see pods? In those pods are seeds? Can I just plant them and new hostas will grow? |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Thu, Jun 21, 12 at 17:42
| sounds like a personal problem ... some old Hitchcock or twilight zone.. night of the living zombie problem ... any clue what movie i am thinking about.. all i remember is large person sized pods.. and black and white ... ken |
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- Posted by lavenderlver none (My Page) on Thu, Jun 21, 12 at 19:33
| Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Ken...I think. You're fine unless you fall asleep. I would appreciate the skinny on pods too. |
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- Posted by leafwatcher zone 5 (My Page) on Thu, Jun 21, 12 at 23:05
| Heck , as early as they will seed this year, a person might be able to get some seedlings going outside pretty well before winter... hahahahha |
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| I have pods on a Frances Williams and was just five minutes ago staring at them and wondering if FW was a good breeder and if these pods managed to get pollinated. Also wondering if hosta seeds needed to have a cold stretch before they would germinate or if they're good to go when they hit the ground. Will have to do some reading I guess. |
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- Posted by wendys_garden 5b Great Lakes (My Page) on Fri, Jun 22, 12 at 19:25
| Kiendu & Troutwind, Once a hosta flower is fertilized, a pod will form. If no pod forms, then either it wasn't fertilized, or it was, but aborted. The flower will then dry up & fall off. The seeds are in the pod. It generally takes 2 months for the pod to mature. Once it does, it (usually) will split open and the seeds will scatter. You could also pick them before they open, and dry the pods in a paper bag. The seeds should be black, or very dark. White or clear ones generally are not viable. Different plants vary in size as you can see:  You can't tell really from the picture, but one end should have a distinct "bump"; that's actually the seed. (No bump=not viable.) The black is just chaff to help scatter the seed into the wind. They do not need cold to germinate, so you could plant the seeds indoors in fall/winter, or sow them outside in fall, and they will germinate in spring. They will germinate on the soil surface, or also lightly covered with soil. Important to note, that hosta seedlings do not usually look like the pod parent. Most are greenies, but they do pass on traits of the parents, such as rippled edges, plant & leaf shape, color, but not variegation. Variegated hostas almost always come from a streaked pod parent. Even with a streaked pod parent, you still get alot of solid colored seedlings. Wendy |
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| Wendy: Thanks for the notes on Hosta seeds. It gives me a good idea of how to deal with my pods. So far both my Frances Williams, a blue sport of Dream Queen and a green noid have pods though the noid and sport only have one each. I do believe I will attempt to germinate some seeds this year. |
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| Does the color of the pod have anything to do with the seeds inside? I just noticed my Great Expectations pods were white. Gesila |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Mon, Jun 25, 12 at 11:53
| white pods USUALLY have no seed... key word there ... well the wings are there.. but no seed kernel itself ... same warning on white stalks ... and there is always the exception ... ken |
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