This is the worst year ever for me in germinations. I’ve had only 7 seeds before today germinate and only 2 more today. That’s like less than one percent of my seeds! All of the 7 previous ones died when planted in the starter tray. The 2 from today I planted in a different batch of starter soil in case it was that. I haven’t done anything different than in previous years so I don’t understand what’s going on. Most years I’d have dozens of seedlings and some of them setting buds already by now. I’m very disappointed, frustrated and stumped.
It’s hit and miss, Sharon. Some years, they germinate like weeds, the next, phtttth! 2010 was a weed year. Last year was about 20% rate. This year, everything is very late, but it’s been HOT compared to “normal”. Some are coming up but they’re fewer and farther between than expected. Too many variables to catch them all, but last year was a weird one, too and there is no reason not to expect that stresses on the plants can affect germination rates. Though, it has often appeared that the more stressed the plant, the more it “thinks it’s going to die”, the more seed of greater viability it sets.
[quote=seilMI]
This is the worst year ever for me in germinations. I’ve had only 7 seeds before today germinate and only 2 more today. That’s like less than one percent of my seeds! All of the 7 previous ones died when planted in the starter tray. The 2 from today I planted in a different batch of starter soil in case it was that. I haven’t done anything different than in previous years so I don’t understand what’s going on. Most years I’d have dozens of seedlings and some of them setting buds already by now. I’m very disappointed, frustrated and stumped.[/quote]
Stick them back in the fridge, Seil. They won’t do any worse there, and you won’t be expecting anything of them. About May 15 pull them out and see what happens. If they don’t germinate well then, leave them outdoors over the summer and see what happens when they get wet early in the fall. Sometimes it takes 2 years to get part of a crop. Just remember, it only takes one seedling.
Peter
Pete one year I had that problem of very uneven germination, I stuck the ones that had not germinated back in the spare fridge seedraising mix and all, was n’t that popular but got a few more up.
I haven’t done anything different than in previous years
That is understood, however are you dealing with different seed crosses this year to previous years? If so, that in itself might be another variable to partly explain this result.
I would certainly be putting them back in the fridge. If you use Bill Radler’s method, you can leave them in the fridge for one or two years, or even more if your are bothered to do so, and peck out each one as it sprouts.
Your current batches sound either to be still too dormant, and/or some may be just no good.
Putting them back in the fridge should over time help you determine which are good and which are duds.
Thanks everyone!
They were in the fridge for a good 8 weeks and since the first of the year I’ve been rotating them in and out every other week. The only thing I’ve been growing so far is mold. I re-cleaned them and put them in fresh paper towels two weeks ago because the towels were pretty bad. But in previous years the moldy toweling didn’t seem to keep them from germinating.
I have had seeds germinate up to two years after picking, Peter, so I always keep my seeds for at least three years before I figure they’re duds.
George, you are right, these are an entirely new batch of seeds. Almost all of them are seeds generously donated to me by Kim (thank you!) and are varieties I don’t have and have never worked with before. A lot of them are minis and polyanthas. I asked for those varieties in particular because I had never worked with them before. So I shouldn’t be expecting them to behave like past seeds anyway.
Maybe this lack of new babies to nurture this year will allow me the extra time to really concentrate on making some good crosses of my own! Because we were building the new bed last year I never got a chance to do any crosses. It was all I could do to keep them watered and fed all summer. I only had a handful of OP hips of my own (none of which have germinated!). Which was why I was so thrilled when Kim offered to send me some of his extras. Otherwise I wouldn’t have had anything to work with at all. So I guess I’m still ahead of the game no matter how you look at it. The 2 that germinated this week were both from the rose Kim Rupert too! I’m really hoping they like the new starter soil and GROW!
You’re welcome Seil! Don’t give up on them, they’re taking their time here, too. You’ll probably have better luck with those than I will with what I generated. My crosses are rather ‘weird’, where your selfs are closer to “sure things”.
Last year was awful. The only keepers were 1 coral pink/cream reverse climbing miniflora from Solitaire x (Livin Easy x Baby Love) and a coral red shrublet from Remembrance x Double Red Knock Out. Meh
This year: Germinations galore. I dont know where to even raise them all.
Send them to Seil! LOL!
The only keepers were 1 coral pink/cream reverse climbing miniflora from Solitaire x (Livin Easy x Baby Love) and a coral red shrublet from Remembrance x Double Red Knock Out.
…you only need one great one, these two both sound grand!
Sure, I’ll baby sit them for you, lol! Both of those crosses sound lovely! Got any pics?
When I had a zillion germinations a couple of years ago I decided I had to go UP! So I got a couple of those little free standing greenhouses (minus the covers for summer) to put them in all summer while I evaluated them. That has worked out really well for me. I can put a lot seedlings on each shelf depending on how large the cup or pot is that they’re in. By the time they’re big enough for gallon size pots I’'ve whittled out the worst of the lot anyway. And they double as winter storage (with the covers) too!
The weather here was magnificent today so I went out and raised the flaps on the greenhouses and watered the seedlings. Everything is green and growing in there! The only things I lost were 5 cuttings that I stuck in late September. No problem, I’ll just stick them again this spring.
Hi Seil,
You now mentioned poly seed…well… some here with more experience than me with poly seeds, have commented that poly seed overall germination might be maximised by use of a warm fridge (10C) for the cold stratification. I assume that means that poly seed in a much colder fridge setting risks rotting, certainly by 3 months. What approx. temp had you set your fridge at for the 3 month stratification period?
What have others here experienced in relation to poly germinations??
That’s interesting, George, because now that I think about it the few that I have had germinate did so the weeks they were out of the fridge. Maybe I need to leave them out longer to see if I get better germinations. The fridge is set at about 40 degrees I think. When I leave them out they’re in the basement which is around 60 degrees normally.
Hi Seil,
I am not sure what is best at this stage for the polyantha-type seed, I lack enough experience dealing with such seed.
My own very recent attempts at germinating poly seed resulted in confirmed rotting of something in the order of ~ 90%!! (I opened a sample of the achenes to check the seed whilst it was still cold stratifying in the fridge…I had set the fridge temp. at “medium” on the temp dial…i.e roughly 43F/6C I guess).
I guessed that this high rate of rotting might be mainly caused by the fridge temp. dial set too cold, however I cannot prove that (just a suspicion from what I later read about poly seed experiences from some others).
The next time I “cold” stratify poly seed, I will be doing it with the temp. dial on the fridge set to warmest possible on the dial (I guess that makes it 50F/10C), as per what I think some more experienced members might be doing for germinating poly seed.
Hopefully others can chime in here on poly seed stratification requirements, and their thoughts and experiences on how to optimize poly seed germinations in particular.
When I stratify, the fridge is kept in the range of 3 - 5 C (37.4 - 41 F). I think if you went below 2C or 35.6 F the embryo’s of pure Tea and China seeds may be effected. The temperature can probably be a few +/- here or there, but what is important is the time you hold them at these temps. Its sort of like apples and cherries which need more than 200 hrs of very cold conditions to stimulate flowering, the time factor is quite important. George 10 C is far to warm I feel.
Hi Warren, thanks for the reply and your thoughts. The suggestion of 10C is not actually my original thought. It has been mentioned in passing on the forum by others, so I have thought about it. I guess the implication by those folks is that perhaps poly seeds don’t like their stratification to be too cold, compared to other rose seed.
I let one or two hips set on reliable germinatores as a control. The weather last year was so bad the tomatoes plants only grew half size and the rose seedlings also suffered, though no fault of mine.
Neil
You know, Neil, now that you mention it our tomatoes did terrible last year too. Small plant and very little fruit. Although most of my hips were from Kim, the few OP ones of mine that I had haven’t given me any germinations at all. It’s only the hips from Kim that have given me the few germinations I’ve had so far. Maybe it was just a bad seed setting year?
Could very well be. Mine are coming up here and there, but nothing like two years ago, but it’s also warm, dry and SUNNY where it was long periods of rain previously.