Beginner here - I gathered dropped OP hips from climbers in a public garden with permission (mostly compassion, fourth of july) in early October, removed the seeds from hips, soaked in a little peroxide with a lot of water, wrapped in damp papertowels and stuck in the fridge.
In the last two weeks I have been taking the seeds, rinsing them for a few minutes with a little hydrogen peroxide and a lot of water, transferring the seeds to peat pots filled with Miracle gro seed starter. I bottom sunk the filled peat pot in the water/hydrogen mix.
They are then put in a “jiffy” tray (black plastic tray with a clear plastic cover) by a window to allow light.
The jiffy tray top had condensation. I do not see any germination but do see little dots of mold on the surface of the soil.
I think in general research shows that peat moss, either milled sphagnum or the usual dark brown stuff from Michigan or Canada, is best for stratification. Somehow it is better than apper towels. Perhaps they ahve an inhibitor in them, perhaps the epat leaches the inhibitor from tehseeds. Not clear which way round it works but it is documented, by Anderson and Byrne at Texas A&M a few years back. My summary will appear in the next RHA newsletter.
I would not take the seeds out until they sprout while still cool. They will do so if they are going to germinate at all, almost for sure. You probably didn’t have a long enough cool stratification for the CVs you are trying.
Also they may well be too wet. I never cover the tray but be sure to keep the medium underneath moist. Of course having already sprouted gives seedlings a big headstart against nasty stuff in the soil.
Compassion ops can produce some nice, healthy seedlings.
Miracle Gro seed starter has not worked well for me: too wet. Try mixing it with an equal volume of perlite. You must have good drainage for germination.
I would not take the seeds out until they sprout while still cool. They will do so if they are going to germinate at all, almost for sure. You probably didn’t have a long enough cool stratification for the CVs you are trying.
I agree with Larry about this. Also, limit the moisture in the paper towels, damp but not wet. Change the paper towels if they start to get moldy. Use 1000 ppm hydrogen peroxide solution to moisten the towels rather than plain water (2 ml of 3% peroxide to 60 ml water).
I used regular white coffee filters soaked in a hydrogen peroxide solution and have had much better results than paper towels. Less mold and the filters stay together much better than paper towels and the rootlets from the germinating seeds come out much easier with less incidence of root damage and cleaner as well.
I am experimenting with using damp coconut coir in a ziplock bag with the seeds on top of the coir so I can see them when they start to germinate. So far after two full months no mold whatsoever but no germinations yet. Should be very easy to remove germinated seedlings when they appear I think.
But mold also forms on dead particles on the seed coat, not specifically or always the seed itself. We should have an article on proper seed hygiene, lol.