Hi. I recently having high hopes on a cross between Olivia Rose Austin (father) x Oklahoma (mother), as the rose hip growing. But after around one month and a week, the hip started to rot / aborted (I found it weird because most of the hips start to abort very quickly after two weeks of pollination). Out of curiosity, I opened the hip, there is already seed forming. So I would like to ask if there is hope for this seed to germinate? Besides, are there other factors that affect the abortion / rotting of hips? (Such as weather, fertiliser?) My Oklahoma rose have formed two hips previously, they also didn’t made it to three months of hips maturity period even after forming seeds.
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Welcome, Wuen! I doubt there is a lot of hope for that seed to germinate as it is very immature. But, you should experiment and plant it anyway just to see if the “conventional wisdom” is correct. Often, it appears hips abort because the seed they contain aren’t viable. There are also bacterial and fungal infections which can cause hips to abort, as well as weather issues. Perhaps Oklahoma may not be a very good choice of seed parent. In the 62 years since its introduction, Help Me Find-Roses lists ONLY three instances of its having been successfully used as a seed parent. Perhaps your chances may improve if you reversed the cross, using Oklahoma pollen on Olivia Rose Austin for seed? It’s worth a try. Good luck!
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Thank you for your kind reply. I am very new to rose hybridize, so I was trying out all possible crossing pollinations to observe which roses are good at setting hips. My main assumption of the rose hip abort is weather issue (it has been raining heavily lately in my region), I never thought of fungal or disease could be a threat. There are new forming buds of Oklahoma Rose and Olivia Rose Austin, looking forward to give them a new try. I will continue to update if there is any new progress on this seed, and if there are new success crossings.
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Hello and welcome!
It’s worth a shot, but I definitely wouldn’t get my hopes up. I attempted a lot of very premature hips last year just from snagging them off garden center roses or at parks while still green. I had very poor (albeit greater than 0%) germination rates, although part of that was due to rookie mistakes. I would imagine coming from an abort adds further difficulty.
And I definitely agree with roseseek that Oklahoma struggles as a seed parent. I have yet to have a hip make it to full maturity even under the best circumstances after two years of trying. I’m wondering if Mister Lincoln or Papa Meilland, both roses from the exact same cross as Oklahoma, might be more agreeable parents if you have the desire and means to acquire an alternative.
I’d still give it a shot though.
Best of luck!
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The heavy rains can easily abort hips. They are fruit, just like an apple, peach, plum, etc. Too much water drowns the fruit, over fills it and it fails. Too much wet can also foster bacterial or fungal problems. Definitely try the crosses in both directions to develop a feel for what works well where you are.
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Papa Meilland is a good, but not great seed parent. I might get around 25% hips carried to term. Nothing really spectacular from any crosses (yet).
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The Advanced Search on HMF shows only three results using Papa Meilland for seed in its 62 years and a whopping 8 results using Mr. Lincoln seed. I’ve read previously how difficult Lincoln’s seed is to germinate, though I’ve never tried it. Ollie Weeks seemed to like it as three of them were his; three were J. Benjamin Williams’ and one by Ernest Schwartz (mini breeder).
Welcome, Wuen, and good luck to you!
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