they have a requisite cold dormancy ...

you will need to research the temp and duration ...

or dig them and throw them in the fridge for said period..

or grow them as annuals ...

ken

If I remember correctly, it takes 45 days of chilling. What, exactly, "chilling" means, I'm not sure. I'm in Dallas. They work here, with our temperatures. We aren't considered semi-arid, though. They work in Colorado, with their lack of humidity. I'd guess it will work fine.

The hosta will take a lot of watering though.

bk

Nightime temperatures oscillate between 45 and 25 from November to January which would add up to enough chilling hours but what exactly is the definition of those and do the daytime temperatures affect this?

I get the same night temps and my cold temps are Dec to Mar which seems to be working for a long enough dormant period. With higher day temps watch that the roots do not dry out completely. Last year in January I had a week of over 80 degrees weather and growing in pots I had to do a SMALL amount of watering. Good luck it will be interesting to see what happens. Welcome. We enable. Paula

That's great to know! I'll make sure to post pictures of the progress soon

Ricardo,

Many, many of us are interested in how well you you will do, so please continue to talk to us !

There are already people here who are pushing the growing boundarys of this plant's known climate. Both they and me want to know more, so if you can try some things and post results here, very nice and thank you!

Your Winter temps sound just like mine in Northern California. No freezes here either. I don't like to have bare dirt in winter in my limited space, so I put all mine in pots. This has worked for me for over 10 years, only once in that time did we have a freeze that lasted for more than an hour.

Please be aware that most hostas are hybrids, and their seeds will NOT be true to form. If you bought seeds that came from, say, h. Patriot, you will not get h. Patriot, but a total surprise (usually just green).

But anyway, go for it and see how they do in your environment. If they grow well, you can get named plants shipped to you and become hopelessly addicted, as most of us here are.

Have fun!

-Babka

I thot the numbers were 50 days of 50 degrees or less ... although the 45 days would likely be close enuff.

The babies, they need to sleep, if only for a little while.

Again, this is the midwest here, and youins down south would know better from experience.

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dave

now.. to be clear...

i have never done this.. i rely on ma nature and MI ...

i am only trying to remember things i heard decades ago ...

but i always thought it meant consistent dormancy for the whole period.. no IN and OUT... at the whim of ma nature ...

i know the giant wholesalers... throw them in giant walk in coolers for months on end.. no chance of coming out of dormancy.. out of chill ...

again.. just guessing ...

ken

Consistent temps would be wonderful if that were possible here. Many of our Winter days are in the high 50's low 60's. I've had hostas growing here (in pots) since the late 1990's. I'm guessing that the pots in the shade, don't warm up sufficiently during the shorter Winter days to break dormancy. I think it takes longer than a few days to trigger that.

There have been studies show hostas to be more vigorous with a longer dormancy, and that is obvious from the photos of hosta gardens up North. But they cannot grow oranges w/o dealing with dormancy issues too. Neener neener. ;-)

-Babka

Good luck, I hope you have success. I would recommend hostas that come from the fragrant family, starting with the parent species, which is H. plantaginea. When watered very generously, they've proven to be some of the best as far as being suited for hotter environments, and possibly can better handle a shorter dormancy period than other types. That last part about a shorter dormancy is a guess, but we've seen some evidence of this from our members who grow hostas in the Southern U.S. (Mocc in Alabama and her super 'Stained Glass', if I remember correctly)? But you may just find that many others can live as perennials in your area, not just fragrant varieties.

Again, good luck, stick around, become enabled!

Cheers,
Don B.

I have good news! Out if the 10 seeds I planted 9 have sprouted and some will have cotyledons soon. Anyone have any advice on taking care and fertilizing of the seedlings? I'll post pictures soon when they're large enough to take pics of.

I have good news! Out if the 10 seeds I planted 9 have sprouted and some will have cotyledons soon. Anyone have any advice on taking care and fertilizing of the seedlings? I'll post pictures soon when they're large enough to take pics of.

Congratulations, Ricardo! Best wishes for their continued growth.

Aguascalientes = Hot Waters?

Don B.

This post was edited by Don_in_Colorado on Tue, Oct 22, 13 at 1:12

find the hosta library ...

on the home page.. is a link to the webmasters seed growing operation ..

you ought to find all kinds of good info there ... light.. fert.. media.. etc ...

babka ... you did NOT tell him.. how you maintain dormancy .. and i know for a fact.. you dont leave the pots laying around in the sun..etc ...

to repeat ... hosta need a dormancy period ... and i have called it the chill period... no in and out of dormancy .... and IF YOU HOLD THE DORMANCY ... you win ...

the problem with pots.. even in ice cold MI .. is that on a sunny winter day ... the pot can THAW .. and if we get 3 or 4 days of such .... the plant will come out of dormancy ..... and when we return to sub zero temps.. the hosta will die... it went in and out of dormancy ... it will rot ....

so for you.. you will have to hide the pots.. in winter.. no sun ... and as cold as possible ... perhaps against the north side of the house.. with the house wall.. holding the cold ...

its a grand experiment.. enjoy doing it ... dont fear failure .... you are on the cutting edge ....

ken

Ricardo- Hooray! 9 out of 10 is amazing. Be sure to check all the seed growing info at the Hosta Library as Ken suggests. Hostas around the world (northern hemisphere) are going dormant right now, but there are many people who do seed sprouting during the Winter months. They will know how to treat these babies for the first year and get them ready for dormancy next Fall. What fun! I wish I had the space to grow seeds here.

-Babka

How in the world did I miss this thread! It is so wonderful to hear of hosta en Mexico, and I am really excited about it.
Welcome Ricardo, you've found a home!

Also, if you have a chance to grow them beneath a shade cloth, that will keep the temps down for their dormancy.

Which is 40 days below 40 degrees is the absolute minimum length of time to keep them chilled. They can deal with low humidity, which will be the prevailing condition in your area, right? It is going to be an exciting experiment, and truly, a lot of folks here are interested in your challenges and results.

At what altitude are you located? Although you are closer to the equator with more direct sun than any of our gardens experience, I'd say still that MORNING sun will be your best bet. Never afternoon sun....unless you are experimenting....which is what I like to do but chicken out when the leaves begin to fry. :)

Like Don-Colorado, I too recommend the hosta descended from H. plantaginea, the "fragrant" species. It has lower dormancy requirements and seems to deal with warmer conditions better than many others. But, we'll not be able to say it all in this one thread, so I look forward to seeing your subsequent posts.

Thanks to everyone for the great feedback. I'm at 6200 ft above sea level and the weather here is as follows:
Fall : daytime 70s and 80s and nigh time 50s and 30s around November
Winter : daytime 50s 60s and the rare 70s nighttime 30s and occasional 20s
Spring : daytime 80s and sometimes 90s nighttime 60s and 70s
Summer : daytime 70s and 80s along with 3-5 heavy showers per week and nighttime 50s

That being, my main problem which I don't think might not be much of a problem will be the lack of cold weather. However in the past I've noticed some ash, jacaranda, oak and liquidambar trees go into some dormancy here. The other problem is the extremely warm and dry spring mainly April. I plan to plant the hostas late summer/early fall of 14 once they're bigger. I will plant them under a thevetia gigantea tree that gives heavy dappled shade. They sure will look if anything interesting in the same garden as bougainvillea and agaves!

Thanks to everyone for the great feedback. I'm at 6200 ft above sea level and the weather here is as follows:
Fall : daytime 70s and 80s and nigh time 50s and 30s around November
Winter : daytime 50s 60s and the rare 70s nighttime 30s and occasional 20s
Spring : daytime 80s and sometimes 90s nighttime 60s and 70s
Summer : daytime 70s and 80s along with 3-5 heavy showers per week and nighttime 50s

That being, my main problem which I don't think might not be much of a problem will be the lack of cold weather. However in the past I've noticed some ash, jacaranda, oak and liquidambar trees go into some dormancy here. The other problem is the extremely warm and dry spring mainly April. I plan to plant the hostas late summer/early fall of 14 once they're bigger. I will plant them under a thevetia gigantea tree that gives heavy dappled shade. They sure will look if anything interesting in the same garden as bougainvillea and agaves!

Actually, it doesn't seem much different than Dallas. That's what our winters sound like. We rarely have temps below 25. The hosta don't grow as large as they do in colder climes, but they are just as pretty. I only grow in pots, but others here grow in the ground.

Don't worry about it. Just grow them. I think it will work.

bk

Hi BKay. How did that 'Stained Glass' I swapped you for 'Sugar AND Cream' do...? Hopefully, you got good growth with a promise of more good growing next spring...Just wondering.

Cheers,
Don

P.S, Ricardo, this is a great experiment, I wish you great success with it....GOOD LUCK!!

Ricardo sounds like my temps here in Florida and I am pulling it off. I looked your area up on Google Earth. I can see where you will get the rain in the summer. Most of the hurricanes that turned westward in the Gulf to avoid me and/or Mocc headed your way. I do not get 40 days continues cold. I just hope what I do get is enough and it seems to have been so far. Good luck. Paula

My hostas butt right up to my cactus here and live under a palm tree for shade.