Which traits are fairly easy to reproduce?

[kaylyred]

I noticed a local grower selling seed on eBay for wavy-edged hostas. I've never started hostas from seed (plenty of other annuals and perennials, though), so I decided to try my hand at starting a few of their open pollinated seeds to see what I get. But now I'm curious--does seed from wavy-edged hostas produce a fairly high percentage of wavy-edged seedlings, or are my results going to be pretty unpredictable?

For that matter, I'd love to know which traits in hostas tend to show up with more frequency in their offspring. Do blues produce a high percentage of blues? What about things like leaf shape or plant form (upright, mounded, etc.)? I know that variegation is rare without a streaked breeder, but what about other traits?

I realize this is a potentially big topic, so if anyone knows a great resource (rather than repeating all the information here) I'd love to be pointed in the right direction.

[viktoria]

I have observed that many seedlings, which appear to be wavy-edged, lose the waviness as they mature, so don't get too excited about those until you have grown them on for at least a couple of years.

In animals, if you breed/select for more than one characteristic at once, you make slower progress. For fastest progress, one needs to select for just one characteristic. Someone else can tell you whether this holds true for plants as well.

Viktoria

[scootersbear]

Generally expect 98% to 99% green regardless of the parents. It's that 1% to 2% that your looking for. Out of probably 1000 plus seedlings per year for over the last 10 years I've kept less than 20. Out of those approx 20 after 5 years I would consider 3 worthwhile, but I'm also picky. Don't beleive just because it grows it should be registered or put out there. Hopefully whoever sold you those specified the mother hosta or otherwise they need to make sure they put in their listing no guarantees of wavy leaves or otherwise they misrepresented their claim. I have a hosta that I developed that is blue and has wavy leaves and produces seed like no other and in the last 4 years of hybridizing it I've got 0 seedlings with any waves and 1 yellow and 0 blues and were talking about 100's of seedlings. It does however seem to produce some large seedlings which is surprising since it would be classified as a medium hosta. Just really can't predict what your going to get but thats the fun of it. The best resource out there your going to get is put them in the dirt and see what you get. Have fun and good luck

[kaylyred]

Thanks for the tips! I had kind of expected mostly green seedlings. I didn't pay much for these, and the seller did recently respond to a question I posted on eBay asking about them. He said that they've found their wavy plants produce a fair amount of wavy-edged seedlings but that there are no guarantees.

I'll give these a whirl and see what happens. Maybe there will be some pleasant surprises. I'm not really looking to bring a new hosta to market, but more to have a little fun growing them and seeing what happens. I did plant 'Christmas Tree Gala' last year, so maybe I'll try my hand at hybridizing for fun.

[GrannyNanny]

Just to add my 2 cents' worth -- You really never know what you're going to have in an adult hosta until at least the third, and more likely the fourth or fifth, year after sowing. Leaves that look wavy at first, as Viktoria has said, turn out to be not wavy, while others develop waves after a year or two. Same is true for streaking/variegation. If your streaked seedling is still streaked after five years in the ground, then it probably will remain streaked -- but even then, it can develop eyes that produce edge or center variegation, and unless you split them off, they will soon take over the plant. I got stung on a fairly pricey hosta that was supposed to be gold and white streaked -- it was for the first year, but the next it came up yellow with white edges, which was the hosta it had sported from, called Electrum Stater. It is a pretty plant, but not the one I paid $$ for! Phyllis