Germination

Does anyone have germination ?

I checked my fridge an hour ago but no sprouting…

Yes, I’ve been potting up some polyantha seedlings and also have some shrub seedlings germinating (descendants of Buck roses, they seem to have less dormancy requirements).

I have alot of OP seed from Bonica and some other shrub roses I do not have the name of. I also got a handful of R. woodsii seed that I got from a ski resort this summer. These plants still had snow covering the bottom portions in early July. The ski resort is called Monarch and it is pretty close to the continental divide. So they have been chilled for a while. I want to compare these to the ones that grow around here naturally and see if there is any natural cline that can be seen. I also got another batch that same week from crested butte colorado but they have not started growing.

I had about 20 germinations of op r. Roxburghii seeds on Dec 5th, that were processed in early August. They started germinating about a week after they were taken out of the fridge. The rest are back in the fridge & are continuing to germinate bit by bit in the cold. I also had a mass germination from seeds from one op hip of a White Nights x Chianti seedling from 2006. Also a fair amount of sprouts from a no name rugosa from seeds processed in September. None of my named rugosas is sprouting yet.

I’ve had close to 140 germinations so far, from a variety of crosses. Most of these are from this year’s seeds, with only about half a dozen from the seeds that didn’t want to germinate last year. About half of the new ones are from seeds that have had no chilling or minimal chilling, and others had been in the fridge for 4-8 weeks. Now that the garage is cool, I have set them out there. The present germination rate is about 4 per day. Some day this week or next, I hope to finish shucking the seeds I harvested this year.

Last year’s seed crop still baffles me. I don’t recall ever having an entire crop that germinated so poorly. I thought that maybe the medium wasn’t good (it was pure vermiculite, which had worked before), so I went to the trouble of reprocessing the seeds, putting them in a sphagnum-based mix. I hoped that the more acidic medium would get the seeds going. So far it has not. I’ll wait to make a judgment on the problem, but I’m leaning toward the view that last year’s seeds, for whatever reason, were not viable. Did any of you have a similar problem last year?

Peter

I’ve been getting germinations for a couple of months now. I’m getting at least a few per day.

I was scared I let my seed get too cold as some of the seed was frozen when I retrieved it. My fears seem to be unfounded so far.

I’ve +/- 1000 rugosa OP seeds in the fridge for 5 months now but none is germinated so far. Next week i’ll put them in the ground in front of a window on the south side. Maybe they need a little warming up. :slight_smile:

I just finished planting my seeds about a week ago. I have not had any action, yet. The waiting is the hardest part.

Liz

Germinating your seeds so early tells me that many of you are growing your seedlings under lights, is that correct? Does this really offer an advantage over germinating them when Spring weather would normally trigger it? I’m wondering if by extending the first growing season by several months that you may confuse the plant’s internal clock resulting in negative side effects. Roses, for the most part, expect to grow for several months followed by a dormancy period in order to grow properly. I have observed miniature varieties, when grown indoors under lights for the Winter, do not have much vigor the following Summer when compared to plants (of the same variety) which were allowed to go completely dormant. Thoughts?

Paul

Mine seedlings aren’t under lights. I’ve been Fall sowing for some time now. It works great for me but my conditions are different than most. Winter IS our growing season.

I’m up to about 50 germinations so far. They’re looking very healthy. Only one germination from my cross of Louise Estes x Marilyn Monroe (only one hip) but she’s looking very good. Lots of open pollinated Dr. John Dickmans.

i put a handful out in my rosebed also did it last year and they came up with no problems. they were op and did’nt do to well they all got powdery mildew!.

at least i know they will germinate.

None yet. Mine are 100% outdoors, and it has been freezing this week. I predict heavy germination in March :slight_smile:

If I had a place outdoors or in a coldhouse for seeds to germinate and seedlings to grow safely, I would probably not grow them under the lights. Probably. But maybe I would. It’s really nice to have roses growing and blooming in the winter, and it gives me a chance to evaluate a cross before the next pollination season.

But I don’t have a safe place for seedlings, so it’s better for me to get a chance to see them in bloom under the lights (if they’re willing–not all seedlings bloom under the lights). I’ve never noticed any ill effects such as reduced vigor. If the plant gets root-bound indoors, it might take a while longer to get going outdoors, but I’ve never had that happen. Perhaps others who grow seedlings have seen the reduced-vigor problem, but I have not.

Peter

None yet in Denmark, but I have also harvest the last hips about a month ago. From January I expect the first ones will germinate. They did that last year.

I for one want my seedlings to have as much growth on them as possiable before my hot dry summers take into effect. It is hard for me to keep things alive past late june. I got to first deal with the summer heat and then secoundly with the fact that most of my plants have to be grown in pots on sunny concreate. So I do not think they would survive if I planted them in spring. I do think it would be alot simpler if I could plant them directly out in some way.

Well things started popping up today. Luis Desamero x John Cabot, Everest Double Fragrance x Home Run, and an OP of Simon Fraser. Hopefully things keep moving along.

Paul, I’m not sure if it is a bad thing in the Guelph environment to take advantage of getting a head start on the season. So far, and I have to admit that this is limited experience, the seedlings by the time Oct/Nov rolls around are fairly robust plants and seem to be able to make it throught the winter without any problems (knock on wood). Also it starts to feel like spring around the house with rose seeds germinating - good for the spirits I guess.

Liz

Hi Peter. Im starting to do it all outdoors due to cost. Lighting/Electricity is expensive, and I also want to be as “ecofriendly” as possible. I made a huge seedling bed from brick, mortar and seedling mix. I have a net covering it now, and I will remove it when it starts to warm up. The only real threat seems to be Starlings and Scrub Jays (the latter like to bury/steal things).

Jadae, here in West Virginia we have what are called 4-legged slugs (kin of Bambi), and we have rabbits, and the slimy slugs, and a variety of other things that eat and dig (raccoons, voles, crows, chipmunks, possums, and other wild and wonderful creatures. In 2001, with the help of a friend and former student, I built a raised bed for seedlings, about 4’ x 20’, and filled it with soil containing a very high proportion of organic things. I made the mistake of not surrounding it with a high fence (deer netting wasn’t good enough), and another mistake of not putting in a deep concrete foundation. I have pictures of deer bedding down in the raised bed (well, after all, it is a bed…), and this psst spring the clay under the outer edge (just above a slope) slipped, and half the outer wall slid down the slope. With the investment already in materials and the fossil energy and labor used to make them and put them in place, I could have paid the electricity bill for this house for about 2 years. So I’m glad you can do it the green way. I wish I could, but the terrain and animals are not all my friends, as much as I love them and as beautiful as they are. My attempt so far has been a net loss of energy and materials and seedlings. :frowning:

Peter