Four months of hip development are up, actually 5 months on the 16th, but it is still attached quite firmly. Due to its enormous size, 5 3/8" (13.5cm), would it need more time or is it safe to raid?
Smooth Splendour x Fragrant Cloud
thornless, climbing x fragrant, orange-ish…
[Writing from the southern hemisphere, of my beginner season of crossings]
By color alone, that hip is very ready for harvest (irrespective of impressive Barbie-esque measurements). Be sure to clean the achenes well of any orange pulp, which contains germination inhibitors–they should break down during long, refrigerated stratification, but it’s best to scrape them off as thoroughly as possible, lest your stratification protocol fail to fully decompose the flesh.
Stefan
Usually, they’re sufficiently mature after 110-120 days so you should be fine.
Oooo… Goody! (Will post its contents.)
51! (21 floaters, they will filed for test purposes)
Lots of not unpleasant tasting (surprisingly sweet-ish), carrot coloured flesh (for those into that sort of thing)
Imperial to metric conversions notwithstanding, those are quite impressive measurements!
I must report…After a couple of hours soaking, I discovered every seed floating!
Perhaps Barbie is barren.
I suspect that isn’t the case. Sometimes the sealed aril layer on the seed prevents it from sinking and from properly imbibing water (the latter at least when the achenes are dried). I would try scraping the juicy aril off (as much as you can) with a fingernail or similar, and then soaking again, to see if that makes any difference.
Ok, thank you. Still, a trifle deflated.
All Barbie’s duds have taken their position in the fridge.
Here’s hoping the SS x glauca and previously shed SS x Fragrant Cloud,
which I had not float tested (and were nowhere near the dimensions of Barbie - 2 and 3 seeds respectively), perform their breeding potential.
No worries–just stay hopeful! Some of my crosses from 2023 didn’t start germinating until what should have been the germination season for 2024 crosses (had I sown them at a “normal” time); some are still germinating as of today. Some of these seedlings have been very interesting, so the concept that late germinators are less valuable seems not to always hold water.