Here in Australia, it is winter. House temps cycle 5 to 15 C( night - day ). I harvested a couple hundred OP seeds ( from well ripened hips ) to experiment with soy flour. The seeds were placed in zip lock lunch bags with a ‘premium’ potting mix and placed on an exposed shelf, for ‘warm’ stratification.
Within 3 weeks, I was getting germinations: not a few, I now have 40 seedlings in pots. From both with and without soy.
I’ve not had this happen before, usually no germinations before fridge treatment. I’m suspecting that something in the ‘premium’ potting mix is helping things.
Can anyone shed any light on what may be happening?
Rod
If not allowed to dry when extracted, HT seeds can germinate without stratification.
Lol, Rod, where does the soy flour come in? You added it to the potting mix? In what proportion?
I added the soy flour to the baggie with the seed, first. Just a small amount on the tip of a teaspoon. Aprox a quarter saltspoon.
One batch did get the soy after the potting mix was added to the baggie.
I’m continuing to pot up sprouts, without stratification, from both soy and non-soy batches.
Something new for me.
Rod
Is it possible they stratified on the bush before they were picked? Here in Tasmania any hips left on the bush at this time of year will get well an truly frosted.
Hi Simon,
I didn’t think that it had been cold enough to stratify in the hips, on the bushes. No frost here on mid-north coast of NSW. ( Yet.)
I still think that something in the stratifying medium is helping with germination. Will have to ‘experiment’ more next year.
Hi Paul,
Good to see another Aussie on here 
Not sure if you’ve heard of the Australian Rose Breeders Association, but here’s a link that you mabe interested in:
http://www.rosesocietyvic.org.au/Text/1130109487546-0512/Australian-Rose-Breeder
This thread from the archives might be of interest to you:
http://www.rosehybridizers.org/forum/message.php?topid=11187&rc=5&ui=1722319128