Because this has already been a long growing season, I was having trouble keeping track of labels and crossed hips amongst the masses of new growth and OP hips. I started cutting sepals to about half their length when I pollenate. Now, if I lose a label, when I see squared-off sepals I know that I should keep that hip (and hopefully, I can recall the father). I’m a Plan B gardener.
That’s a great idea! Thank you for sharing it Kevin.
I’ve always tried to remove the sepals of pollinated blooms to make them easier to label and easier to identify as desired hips. Often, the drying sepals congest the plant sufficiently to make it more difficult to deal with the string tags, and they provide assistance in trapping debris as well as providing protection for insects.
Last week I misplaced my labels, and wrote directly on a few sepals using a fine-point sharpie. It seems to have worked.