just a quick sort of related question, how long do most of you wait to separate your seedlings typically?
Because I plant them in about six inches of soil in a large, elevated communal table, and due to the fact that my “rainy” season is the only suitable time to separate and transplant from the tables, I wait from germination (December through March) until the following late November. Attempting to separate and move them prior to that late November date is a guaranty they will not survive. IF rains occur, they will begin in late November. Even if they don’t, the temps and aridity are lower then than at any time prior to that period, so moving them is safer, but still “no cigar”.
IL72-11-04 x Double Knock Out
Seed parent is Illusion x 1-71-1
Walking on Sunshine x SC72-11-06
Pollen parent is Strawberry Cream x 1-72-1
Laflin,
Four-five true leaves but no hurry in this area. Earliest in the ground by April 5th flower unseen. From sowing Jan. 1, seedlings in the ground up to 7 inches. Good grow year, but live and learn.
Neil
Rebekah, (sp?),
You will probably get as many variations on answers to this question as you might if you asked 'What is the best way to rear children", and many of them will be right on even though they seem to vary a lot.
There is no one right way, just the way that works best for you, your schedule, and the current weather conditions. Last year I tried sowing two large batches of seed in soil just so I could pot them up later since I was quite busy in Feb/March when they were sprouting, and I had already potted most up to that point upon developing to a sprouted cotyledon stage. This worked well although the soil sown seeds came up so thickly I was constantly watering and fertilizing, and when we hit some real heat in August a few died. I was to be out of town in Nov/Dec which would have been the best time to separate and transplant so I did it in early October. We did get some heat and wind and I lost a few more to transplant shock (maybe lost a total of 7-8 out of starting with about 60 that sprouted). But their roots were mostly well developed and I dumped another 10 or more with really poorly developed roots and ended up with a total of 32 that grew on and now are just in the process of getting potted up from one quart to one gal. Right now, the late transplanted batches have almost the same well developed root but not quite the same well developed top growth as the seedlings that were transplanted at the cotyledon stage. But I am pretty sure they will catch up fast now that they are going into one gal. pots. They also did not bloom as much as the early transplants, but again they are now budding up well and almost at the same pace as the others. I think it was a little easier to cull and discard among the group that was soil sown, just because they had a little more competition and were large plants when transplanted. With tiny seedlings, it is harder to be comparitive when there is little to give that seedling any competition until the weather conditions get tough.
Thanks Kim, Jackie, Neil 
(sp is right) I hope I got yours right…
I appreciate the insight from everyone. Ive notice that sometimes the details can be the difference between success and failure, so thank you all. I have grown roses from seed years ago but I used peat plugs to start them so transferring them wasn’t a problem. This year I used leftover nursery pots and some of the seedlings are closer together than I intended so I just wanted to get a consensus of sorts…
First planned cross germination this year for me is Blueberry Hill X Prairie Princess. Might get something interesting (and pink) out of it.
Today:
Walkimg on Sunshine x Strawberry Cream
Lupo OP
A seeding of Madame Pierre Oger. Blossom on 2014.2.14.
Like it’s mother, it has moderate and sweet fragrance.
1 Like
Love the last shot of it, Ophiophagus hannah, It will be interesting to see it’s progress.
Today’s germinations:
Keith’s Delight OP - selecting for miniatures and/or rugose type leaves
Sequoia Ruby x Therese Bugnet
Lupo x Morning Magic - selecting for miniatures and since both have rugosa blood, hoping for rugose type leaves
Pink Petticoat x Splash of Color - the pollen parent is a red and white striped climbing miniature of mine. Hoping for a mini with a striped and full petaled blossom
Oso Easy Strawberry Crush x Eyeconic Pink Lemonade - Hoping for the blotch from Hulthemia persica and good health.
Just noticed I have a seedling with 4 cotyledon leaves, he looked like a tulip earlier today but now the leaves are fanning out. Just thought I mention it, he seems to be a bit of an odd ball.
Midnight Blue X Frontenac just sprouted. Can’t wait to see what comes of it. Hoping for purple but will accept anything hardy and healthy that I might be able to use with other purple colored roses in the future.
I also have a ton of OP seeds germinating. Some are interesting such as White Cap. White Cap is an extremely healthy and hardy pillar rose here but it is extremely difficult to get pollen because of all the petals and it is very picky about the pollen it accepts. I was able to collect 32 seeds this past season and at last count I have 5 germinations. I hoping to get something just as healthy from these (maybe) but with easier breeding abilities.
Today’s Sprouts: Stephen’s Big Purple X Dortmund and Blueberry Hill X Cuthbert Grant. I have no clue what to expect - just hoping for some cold hardiness and disease resistance.
I like those crosses Andre.
Today:
Raspberry Rugostar OP - RR is Flower Carpet ® White × Frau Dagmar Hastrup. Maybe a good source of rugosa blood.
Thomas Afflack X (Strawberry Cream x 1-72-1) This seedling is 1/4 Basye’s Blueberry
Toda’s germinations:
Strawberry Crush x Coffee Bean
(Strawberry Cream x 1-72-1) x Splash of Color. Hoping for some good striping here.
Thanks Rob. They are my attempt at adding cold hardiness (and maybe a bit more disease resistance) to floribundas and hybrid teas.
My crosses follow 3 basic rules, one of which is no “tender” rose can be crossed with another “tender” rose. I consider those with die back to winter covering here in zone 5b as “tender.” You will see a lot of my crosses combining HTs, Fls and Mins with roses from some Bucks or the Parkland/Explorer series. I want to get cold hardiness established first (within the first 4-5 generations) then work on adding more disease resistance, but I suspect the two will progress closely together.
Today: Cal Poly x Strawberry Cream
Hoping for stripes with color influence from CP and health.
Quite a few more germinations from planned crosses this week:
Midnight Blue X Lynnie - Please be thornless and purple
Midnight Blue X Maytime - no expectations (but it will be pink)
Carefree Beauty X Joyberry - pink shrub
Fourth of July X Cuthbert Grant - hoping for a hardier and better disease resistant FoJ
Fourth of July X Lynnie - thornless, bushier, and hardier FoJ would be very welcome
Fourth of July X Maytime - A striped and disease resistant plant would be nice
Folksinger X JACtan (Butterscotch) - imagine the colors I could get from this one if the genes would follow the rules (therefore they will be pink of course with black spots on the leaves)
Folksinger X Eternal Flame/Pink Pillar - I think there will be some interesting colors from this one too
I Imagine a color like this.