Hybridizing Hostas

A guide to hybridizing Hostas and growing Hostas from seed.

By Joshua Spece
Last revised January 22, 2008

Hybridizing Hostas can seem like a mysterious and complex process to anyone unfamiliar with basic plant reproduction. In reality, hybridizing Hostas is not difficult. With a little knowledge of basic plant anatomy and hybridizing theory, anyone can easily dive into this fascinating hobby.

This is not meant to be a definitive how-to guide on hybridizing Hostas. There may be information that others disagree with and maybe even details that are flat out wrong. There is much that we don't know about this wonderful plant, which is part of the fun. The information that follows will give you a good base to get you started creating your own Hosta hybrids.

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• Introduction to Hybridizing Hostas
• Selecting Parent Plants
  Goals, Fertility, Bloom Period
• Hosta Genetics
• The Mechanics of Hybridizing Hostas
  Flower Anatomy, Preparing & Protecting Flowers
  Collecting & Storing Pollen, Transfering Pollen, Marking Crosses, Keeping Records
• Hosta Seeds
  Harvesting, Cleaning, Storing
• Starting Hosta Seeds
  Planting Containers, Planting Medium, Moisture, Heat, Germination Time
• Growing Hosta Seedlings
  Light Type, Photoperiod, Reflecting Light, Water, Fertilizer, Re-potting
• Problems Encountered While Growing Hosta Seedlings
  Damping Off, Fungus Gnats
• Hardening Off & Moving Seedlings Outdoors
• Culling and Selecting Hosta Seedlings
• Hybridizing Resources