I just found several crosses germinating in the fridge:
((The Gift x unknown) x Lyda Rose) x Comtesse du Cayla
(Ebb Tide x Julia Child) x ((Magenta x Lilac Charm) x Julia Child)
(Fabulous! x (Schoener’s Nutkana x Coral Dawn)) x (Ebb Tide x Julia Child)
Apricot Twist x (Fabulous! x (Schoener’s Nutkana x Coral Dawn))
Gemini x Moondance
This is earlier than usual for me. I take crosses out of the fridge when they start to germinate. Crosses that don’t start germinating in the fridge will stay in the fridge until after the holidays.
Jim, (Ebb Tide x Julia Child) x ((Magenta x Lilac Charm) x Julia Child) this is my favourite of the one’s you listed, It will be interesting what comes from it.
Yes. I grow them indoors when they are small and don’t move them out to the greenhouse until they are established. Winters are mild here. It’s been over 15 years since we had a hard frost. I suppose if a hard frost is forecast, I’ll move the seedlings indoors overnight.
A few more crosses have begun to germinate in the fridge.
(((Magenta x Lilac Charm) x Cafe Ole) x Lilac Charm) x ((Magenta x Lilac Charm) x Apricot Twist)
Apricot Twist x (Fabulous! x Lilac Charm)
Midnight Blue x Plum Frost
Of the crosses that were already germinating, the champion is
((The Gift x unknown) x Lyda Rose) x Comtesse du Cayla
30 of the 57 seeds of that cross have germinated so far. That’s 52.6%.
Some nice crosses in there Jim, I like this one,
(((Magenta x Lilac Charm) x Cafe Ole) x Midnight Blue) x Plum Frost
it will be interesting what comes from it, any thoughts of what the color will be ? Well done Jim
I’m just wondering what you do with the seedlings that germinate in the refrigerator?
I keep mine in damp perlite, but when I transplant them I lose them. I’ve been planting them in damp seedling mix placing a small ziplock bag over them for the first few days so not to shock them and I put them in a windowsill where its a little cooler. It’s been very rainy here so there is a lot of cloud cover and the window receives light but not anything to strong. The seedlings start to green up then die off, maybe I just need to put perlite over the soil?
I would highly recommend getting a four-foot fluorescent shop light and mounting it somewhere cool in the house so that you can place the plants just inches below it. A window just doesn’t provide enough light in the winter for seedlings to thrive. The soil mix you are using should be well-drained. Consider using a ‘growing’ mix that has more aeration than seedling mixes, which are purposely fine to assist in germinating small seeds and are not meant for growing on. The baggie cover is a good idea to ease the transition to a dryer environment, but shouldn’t be so tight that there is any significant condensation in the bag.
Thanks jbergeson, I do have grow lights I just hadn’t set them up because I only had a few seedlings germinate earlier than usual so I put them in the windowsill for the first few days…oops. I have one more question regarding the soil, can one use peat moss or coconut fiber? hopefully I’m not hijacking this thread.
Peat moss and coir (coconut fiber) are both commonly used in soil mixes, but have very good moisture-holding capacity. If you were using them straight you’d have to evaluate if there was enough aeration in the soil. We use Minnesota peat mixed with parboiled rice hulls in our greenhouse mix, which is apparently unusual.
When my seedlings germinate in the fridge, I transplant them into small pots and put them in a south-facing window. I’m using Miracle-Gro Moisture Control Potting Mix this year, and it is working well. I’ve lost very few seedlings this winter, and the ones that I’ve lost have been chlorotic or had other obvious genetic problems. I’ve used fluorescent grow lights in the past, and seedlings do grow faster with them. It’s been cloudy the past few days, and I’ll probably start using the lights this week.
Several more crosses have started to germinate in the fridge:
(((Magenta x Lilac Charm) x Cafe Ole) x Lilac Charm) x Apricot Twist
(((Magenta x Lilac Charm) x Cafe Ole) x Lilac Charm) x Royal Amethyst
((Magenta x Lilac Charm) x Apricot Twist) x (((Magenta x Lilac Charm) x Cafe Ole) x Lilac Charm)
((Magenta x Lilac Charm) x Apricot Twist) x (Armada x Coral Dawn)
(Apricot Twist x Julia Child) x Scarlet Moss
Plum Frost x (Magenta x Lilac Charm)
I gotten about 70 seedlings so far. I also took a few other crosses out of the fridge today, so hopefully they will start to germinate soon.
Thanks jturner, I haven’t waited to germinate seedlings before I remove them from the fridge, I thought the transition would be more difficult but since it isn’t a problem for you then I suppose I shouldn’t be so concerned. The seedling I just lost was might have just died because I didn’t catch it in time.
I like the crosses your making, Magenta is such a lovely rose! love all the lavenders and purples! My favorite rose in the world is Twilight Zone, so it’s exciting to see you are using a bit if Ebb tide as well
