The pods on my Wheee are small and green and have been there since maybe May 1st if not in April. And my FA's pod has not ripened either and it's been there since June, as well. It's much larger than the Wheee's pods. Does that mean anything?

I had several pods on my mutated London Fog and when I went out this morning noticed only one pod remained! I don't want to take any chances so I have cut the scape and put it in sugar water to mature in the house...hopefully this works.
I found a thread that may be useful for you BK...looks like you don't need to wait for the pods to turn brown...I have no personal experience with this though.

Connie May

Here is a link that might be useful: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/hosta/msg0908344510691.html

I read that, Connie. Thank you. It seems to imply that when the bottom pods turn brown, the others are ripe. I guess I need some brown paper bags even if they aren't turning brown.

bk

Thanks for this posting I just checked hosta pods again! My first crosses this year have pods which are 9 weeks old, the lower ones started to turn yellow, so I brought the scapes in for drying in the cool and dry basement (de-humidified) inside letter envelopes. Others are only 5 weeks old and still all green.

Josh Spece of In the Country Garden and Gifts has written many articles, several about hybridizing, including about harvesting seeds, see the link.
Bernd

Here is a link that might be useful: Harvesting Hosta Seeds

Good luck with your crosses, Bernd!

Don B.

bkay,

Some people leave them on the plant until they begin to get brown and open at the bottom. Others harvest pods after 8 weeks and dry them out in paper bags or envelopes inside. Either will work. If you let them turn brown, you have to be vigilant to make sure they don't spill all over the ground.

Steve

To protect the pods on the plants, I cut some aluminum screening into squares & rectangles and wrapped the pod & stem with the screening. Then, I stapled the screen together at the top, bottom & sides to form a protective pouch around the pods. Any desktop paper stapler will work but I used my trusty Ace Clipper pliers type stapler.

This year I waited until the pods were turning seed brown and just snipped them off and popped them under the parent plant to see what may happen. We are going south this winter and don't have the time to try to grow them. I found some tiny plants that grew from seed last season, not sure who they came from so I am sure just green butonder how many I weeded out first. Some made seed others looked like they didn't and some are still not ripe yet.

I felt better have those pods in the house, also put traps up for mice in the basement, you never know. Some areas might have frost tonight, forecast is 37 degrees, so it is good to have them safe. Plus we have squirrels looking for food, just caught 2 in a trap in one day, but do keep traps closed now. Bernd

I agree with Steve. After eight weeks, they are done. Just harvest them regardless of the color. Put them in an envelope until you are ready to plant them. By then, many will have broken open. If not, just break them open. The seeds will be black.

Most of mine are green when I take them off the plant. That's a good thing.

As of today, September 5th, the 8 week prior date is July 11th. Anything that was dabbed on or before that date gets inspected and once the last flower of the scape reaches the 8 week point, it gets harvested. Cleaning the pods will happen after frost in October.

Steve

Thanks, everyone for your help.

I think I'll package up the ones I'm sure are older than 8 weeks. I will wait until October 1 for the last few that I'm not sure of the date they set.

I haven't decided exactly what I'm going to do, as I don't have a place to set up a seed growing nursery and lights this winter. I"m sure I'll figure it out before then, though.

bk

Setting up that "place to set up a seed growing nursery and lights this winter" is easier than you might think. I have a shelf in the basement which is 4 ft long, and a shelf above it from which I hang a 4 ft long shop light. That arrangement holds two 20x10 in seedling trays. In those trays I have various pots or seedling packs which I had sterilized in a bleach bath in the kitchen sink.

Other details for growing seedlings this winter you can find in many places, for example in Josh Spece's series about growing hosta seedlings, see above link.

I had two hybridizing goals this year, a large blue streaked hosta and a large yellow one with red petioles. Per my above comment I just harvested the pods from two streakers on which I used pollen from large blue ones. The pods on a S&S with pollen from a red-petiole hosta are not ripe yet, only 4 1/2 weeks ago. I will probably have a lot more seedlings than I need in those 2 trays, even after I cull all greenies. So I have to cull strictly, I only want 50 or so seedlings in May.

I will sow those seeds at the beginning of November (streakers) and later in December (S&S). This will be an interesting winter for me.
Bernd

I have no particular goals. I probably won't do it again. I just want to see it for myself - what happens, how long does it take?... that kind of thing. Any seedling would be great. I'd love to raise a solid color - or not - whatever happens. Of course, I'll have to start a bunch to end up with that "one" that makes it. I would hope it could be my seed, but it might be smart to buy some "insurance" seeds.

bk

this is an interesting thread

2 years ago my wife give me a ration of $h!t because the deer ate the seed pods from a cool streaked lakeside mom 1 day before I was thinking of harvesting

has anyone tried to save these seed pods by planting them in sugar water, the scapes?

hh

this is an interesting thread

2 years ago my wife give me a ration of $h!t because the deer ate the seed pods from a cool streaked lakeside mom 1 day before I was thinking of harvesting

has anyone tried to save these seed pods by planting them in sugar water, the scapes?

hh

So, my 'Guardian Angel' has some big, fat seed pods. If the seeds are viable, and I save them and grow them, the overwhelming probability is I'll just get green plants with a form like GA, right? Is that how it'll generally work without a streaked parent? Please correct me if I'm wrong. I obviously know squat about hosta from seeds.

Thanks,
Don B.

Don, I am certainly not an expert, but I read somewhere that 'Guardian Angel' is considered to have some streaking, though in the list I have of streakers it is not on. I have two which are only a few years old. You will probably get a lot of green plants, some blue, a few yellow. Most of the seeds will be self pollinated. Any leaf form of GA will probably only appear lateron, not in the first months.
Bernd

b4 u throw ðallð the plain ones in the compost, read the history of 'Spilt Milk' or even 'One Man's Treasure' . . .

Also think about all the Hostas you've seen that don't show off until mature.

This assumes you have room to grow them on, and the years of patience.

Here's a few rows a'waiting:

this one is starting to show satiny

variagation happens rarely, but does:

odd color shades may become interesting...

best wishes for y'alls seedlings

Wishing I was organized like so many of you, then I'd know how old these pods are...

Here's a Dorothy Benedict OP seedling - see, good parents and perserverence prevail.

I'll probably only use one or two of those pods, so someone should remind me in about 6 weeks to offer the rest if them here, please.

*Please* set seed - getting late and not looking good.

I notice in Josh's article that he says they will continue to mature if the entire scape is cut and stood in a jar of sugar water.

It is interesting that those scapes are as tough as they are. They take the wind, they take hard rains. So I guess they provide some nourishment to the seeds as they absorb the last bit of moisture through the stems of the scapes. Next time, I'll cut the scape as long as I can. And pick up some sugar when we shop next.

Personally, I like the green ones and who know ..