I put mine right on top and just let them settle. I got pretty good germination but had trouble with them depending on the soil and drainage in the cup. The ones with drainage did fine the others died off pretty quick. You also need to be careful about keeping them in the shade. I'm doing loads more this year but tried about six or seven types last year with pretty good success. The real trick will be which ones get past the slugs and manage to come back.

Thanks floodthelast.Do you mean to put them in shade after I get sprouts?

Yup, after sprouted. So really they can stay in partial shade the whole time till planted out.

I sowed tons and got only a few sprouts too. I think it has a lot to do with the seed themselves rather than the method. They do need some cold, and can take a long time to germinate. I think I got about a dozen plants from several hundred seeds.

my experience- hosta seeds do germinate fine at room temperature as well as WS. You might want to check if all your seeds are viable as hosta will give a lot of shell, viable seeds will be firm elongated fat ones. Place them in, slightly cover with vermiculite and wait. 2-4 weeks at warm. You do know they do not come true to seed but it is always fun to see what happens. If you need any more info Hosta forum people will have tons of it.