it should work..

sterilize EVERYTHING ... with 10% bleach or heat ... including the media

the plants need to be about 2 inches from a standard fluorescent light.. no fancy ones needed ..

air movement is key ... and that might be a problem later as they grow.. in an enclosed area ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: no one enjoys fungus gnats in the hosue in winter ...

after reading the info on seed planting on Hosta Library I understand the advantages of the sterile growing medium...

But, there is a part of me that laughs at the idea of having clean dirt ;)

How did mother nature manage with all that filthy dirt in the old days..

Some good info on that link, can't say it all stuck in my head the first read. I will have to go back and get a second taste.

here are some truisms to wrap your brain around:

mother earth provides us and plants with SOIL ...

outdoors, plants grow in SOIL ..

soil rarely works .. successfully in pots.. nor in the house ...

in pots we use POTTING MEDIA .... it is engineered for holding and shedding water.. and can be manipulated for either of those variables.. among others ...

POTTING MEDIA can easily be sterilized with heat.. as per the link i provided ... and will not stink up the house ...

DIRT.. is what is all over your hands, clothes and the house .. after you play in the media or in soil ...

once you begin to contemplate the differences between soil, media and dirt ... many of the things that cause you to fail in pots.. will become very apparent ...

ken

If your experiments work I can envision all sorts of possibilities. My mind brings back pictures I have seen in Japan of Hosta growing profusely along small cascading shaded brooks where the humidity has to be very high.

Used fish tanks are very inexpensive and I visualize a 30g breeder with the bottom drilled for a standpipe that also goes through a flat plastic bowl (simulating a pond). It spills into a 10g tank and is then pumped back up to the top of a small rockpile placed in the plastic "pond". Around this tiny pond is sterile potting mix with your Hosta seedlings planted there. I would think humidity could be controlled by how tightly covered the aquarium is kept and the water temperature controlled by an aquarium heater in the 10g tank.

Let the creative juices flow - what is there to loose? It sounds like a fun project to me for cold winter days.

Les

Why bother with an aquarium? Seems like a lot of unnecessary work to me. Ken summed it up well. You want sterile media to keep out all the nasties that cause your seedlings to suffer/die.

Although many companies call it Potting Soil.

Someone once posted photos of plants started in those clear plastic bakery containers that act as a mini greenhouses. Once the plants are up they need air moving around them. Also, somewhere there is a pic of the styrofoam/plastic cups with holes punched in the bottom for drainage. I do NOT recommend using those peat pellets.

-Babka

It isn't about practicality Babka. If it were, why even germinate seedlings when the odds are so great against getting anything but boring green plants (as ken so often asks)? Why do Japanese people grow orange trees a foot tall? Why do people keep nano-aquariums that are only 12" square. And why do people have terrariums? Why not a small, picturesque terrarium in a fish tank of hosta in our family room in late winter when we are itching to see our big plants breaking ground outdoors? If it tickles ones fancy lets not deny one of that joy but see if it has a reason to nurture it?

Les

Les- Huh? I'm not denying anyone of doing whatever they want to do. Where did you get that idea?

Leafwatcher is wondering if using an old aquarium might be an EASY way to make a little greenhouse for growing some hosta seeds. My thought is that you can have all the joy and wonder of watching seedlings sprout w/o all the extra messing around with an aquarium.

Sprouting seeds in the dead of Winter was the only thing that kept me going when I lived in Chicago, so I want Leafwatcher to have good results.

Did you know, Les, that you can bring a hosta inside the house in January and force it to break dormancy? They do that for the early Garden Shows, when they need fully leafed out hostas in March.

-Babka

No offense taken or intended Babka. From previous posts I know that Leafwatcher is a "think outside the box" person who enjoys trying things even if they seem "far out".

I haven't had a feeling of need to bring any of my hostas into the house for early dormancy breaking so I never thought of it. Makes sense though. To me spring in a hosta garden is like fishing; you never know what is nibbling on your bait. I weirdly enjoy crawling around my hosta gardens in very early spring gently pushing aside the mulch in anticipation of seeing the little green or purple eyes staring back at me.

My fish tanks are all aquascaped to represent the African Rift Lakes where my cichlids originated and I find them very pacifying in the middle of winter. Why not a hostascape also? (I am kind of an artsy person)

Les

The thing is,outside,the fungus gnats have enemies that want to eat them,and inside,they can fly all over the place,with no enemies,unles you want to spray them! All you need is some pots and a potting medium,and some sort of light(a cheap flourescent above). That's AFTER they sprout. Before that they can sit on top of the fridge. I have succesfully planted fertile seeds outside,in pots in the spring,also. Phil

I got rid of my smaller tanks years ago when I stopped breeding fish. My last tank is a 55 gal one which is the home of my grandson's 7 goldfish over winter. There is a couch in front of it with us watching them swim around while snow will never stop outside.
Bernd

Sweet, Bernd! I have a 55g, 40gbr,30g, 29g,15g and a 5g isolation tank scattered around my house. The only time they don't bring me peace in the winter is when I loose power for more than 6 hours: then I start getting really nervous. Hosta in a tank would just ride the waves.

Les

Les,
I used a small tank to breed shell dwellers, forgot the name.
That's the advantage of goldfish. They do not need heat, no filtration with 7 in a 55 gal tank, only partial water exchange every 4 weeks - over winter. They also look good, there are a lot of varieties. My 55 gal tank is 38 years old, no crack yet, must be a good silicon seal...
Bernd

Well I did some scouting around at Earle May today.. looked at the different soils and such.

I did have an idea on the bug elimination thing..If I added a tree frog or two to my ENVIRONMENT..possibly? ;)

Also here is my list of seeds still in pods drying in envelopes...

Touch of class
Guacamole
Halycon
June...yes! this type is a must for the attempt.
A.Drinking Gourd
A.Blue Krinkles
Fragrant Bouquet
Reptilian

I only have one of these plants in any location..so who knows what has been crossed?

I only have one or two pods for some of those listed above.
I also have some unidentified types which are more typical,1 is a large puckered yellow green, another probably Francis Williams (or similar type).

One real drawback on my setup is we keep the house pretty cool all winter to save energy/cash hahahahha, and I have almost no southern windows that are useable..the best is the sink, and thats a problem.

Hi there. I just read your post and remembered seeing Doug Green use an old aquarium for geranium cuttings. Looks pretty simple if you already own an old aquarium.

If you don't know who Doug is, he's been doing gardening for over 30 years and has a couple web sites and has published books.

Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Doug Green - Aquarium propogation

How is the setup coming along?

Well i haven't really done much other than collect some shallow planting pans that were my pops. I figured if I need to plant around Christmas I shouldn't get going to soon !

Maybe I should buy my medium though.

In my mind I am still debating weather to put the plants down in the bottom of the aquarium, and hang lights down low inside..or lift the plants up close to where the lights would normally be with an aquarium. Or even try the incandescent bulb used in the Doug green video.

I laughed when I watched the video, I am only 20 miles from the Ames College, and a buddies wife took Horticulture there. I was surprised to get info from so close by.

Still kicking around the idea of running a small water fall filter in a container inside the aquarium to keep the humidity up.

Picked up some good ideas from watching Dougs video where he sealed the tank up tight with a plastic sheet to keep it warm and humid,

I keep fighting between the urges to do it the way I should, or the way that looks best, or easiest ! hahahah
Thankfully I won't need a successful crop to eat next year.

Oh, by the way I am thinking of using a 125 gallon aquarium I have sitting empty ;)

Some of the places have a heat mat beneath the seeds. Not much, just a little. I have a terrarium with some leafy plants in it, which of course creates its own moisture.

Would a fresh damp sponge work mounted on the lid of your aquarium to keep the place moist enough?

With a 125 gallon tank, you better put it where you want it the first time. That is a nice size for growing!