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Forcing Hostas. . . . . . By Ernie Flippo The table is a good compendium of more rules of thumb. There follows a short response and a bit of discussion about inducing dormancy and artificially breaking dormancy in hostas. 1. Going into dormancy: 6 weeks of fluctuating temperatures typical of early winter(below freezing to above freezing air temperatures) will work if the hostas are kept in a shady spot but otherwise exposed to the air. The shorter four week time should work if the temperature is controlled to forty degrees F. Plants that require a dormant period, like some daylilies and all hostas, seem to need at least 600 hours of chilling, although this does not have to be completely consecutive. 2. Breaking dormancy: A two to four week period at forty to fifty degrees F is desirable for slowly thawing out hostas that have been frozen outside. After this awakening period, 70 F bottom heat is good for breaking dormancy, with lights applied as soon as leaves appear.Too warm temperatures will cause rapid floppy growth of leaves, which is not desirable. Most of this is drawn from Allen Haskell's articles in the Hosta Journals, written after he put on his tour de force at the 1982 or 1983 New England Spring Flower Show. He opened many eyes to the beauty of hostas by forcing over 600 cultivars and species for a magnificent display. He drew from his own collection and those of others such as Kurt Tramposch of Weir Meadow Nursery and Pierre Bennerup at Sunny Border. His displays of forced plant material have been a wonder to behold each spring for the past thirty or so years. I have been part of the NEHS exhibits of displays of forced material for three shows in the past four years. Here are some recommendations for forcing hostas: 1. Choose vigorous material and pot it up early in the season and give good culture to the plants. You want the roots to fill the pots. (I have successfully forced hostas dug just before and even after dormancy had already set in in the ground however). 2. I leave the pots outside in a shady northern exposure in early November, and don't come back for them until around Christmas. 3. It is good to give the potted hostas a gradual awakening. From their frozen state here in December, I bring them in to a dim area with a cool temperature, in the range of 40 to 50 degrees F. After three to four weeks at this temperature, then they go to a 70 degree area, and under lights as soon as they begin to break dormancy. Once they have been forced it is extremely important that they be protected from any freezing temperatures until warm weather arrives. Small and medium-sized leaf hostas respond better to forcing. Large leaf hostas are seriously set back by forcing and may take a year or two to recover their typical vigor. |
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AAA Ornamentals,
8S953 Jericho Road, P.O. Box 277 ~ Big Rock ~ Illinois |