This is my first year doing anything like this. I now have 4 miniature roses started from seed that are about 4"s tall. They have started flopping over so I put a toothpick in to support them. Do they get stronger? Do I need to do something I'm not doing? I'm glad you started this thread...hopefully I'll learn a lot from everyone else.
Julie (with about 100 more rose seeds and clueless)

Julie,

Are you growing them under lights? I have never had a rose seedling flop on me, tho I am sure it could happen, I am far from expert. I do not think there is enough natural light this time of year to sustain 'normal' growth, so would need to add additional lighting.

Let us know and we will see what we can do to help you out.

Gerry

I have a grow light in a 6' X 3' Portable greenhouse. I got to researching a little bit and it seems it may be what is called "damping off"...maybe. What can you tell me about that and how to take care of it. Thanks alot for your help.
Julie

For sick seedlings, see:

http://home.neo.rr.com/kuska/hydrogenperoxide.htm

Here is a link that might be useful: link for above

Harry has good advice on that link. Also, make sure the lights are right down close to the top leaves of the babies as the sprout and grow, old drinking glasses, margarine tubs, blocks of wood...anything can be used to adjust the height of individual pots. I have also heard somewhere that a layer of sand on the soil surface can help, also cuts down on fungus gnats.

Gerry

Thanks a bunch! Gerry to you for so willinly offering your help and Henry to you for sharing your knowledge. Am going to try to adjust them higher to the light and the peroxide treatment.
Thanks again
Julie

got a question.to see if your roses will grow from seed you wrap in wet paper towel first till it starts am i right?I got the -hips waited for it to turn ornage-slight change in color took hips out-I made one mistake
i didnt keep them wet...I talked to a gal who said put them in wet towels till your ready so i did.do they start to have white knodes on them when you should plant?
I also tried verculite-warm water added put in seeds cover poked holes in bottom and put them in plastic bag so they can sweat.am i doing all this right?Im new to rose hips

Rosie,

There are a few different ways, the main objective, as I understand it, is to keep them moist (not wet), and give them a cold spell. I keep mine in some damp peat moss in plastic baggies and then in the fridge for a few months, until they begin to sprout. Once the begin sprouting, I pick out the ones that are showing a bit of growth and pot them up, sticking the rest back in the fridge. With any luck about six weeks later you will have a first bloom, unless they are going to be a once bloomer, then you need to wait another year.

Does this help at all?

Gerry

Gerry
Can you describe How they look when they sprout?Is tip a white node?I have had mine in damp paper towels.And I think everyday I might see one different from the other.
I am so excited about this,cause I did get a cutting to root and knew nothing about hips.And just started this.Thanks Gerry for your wonderful help.Rosie

Rosie,

If you catch it quick, and you probably will if you are checking them often, it will be just a tiny little white point sticking from the seed. I suppose you could call it a node. I am trying to find a picture on line, but can't at present, I will post one, or a link IF I can find one shortly!

Gerry

got this i just got the info 5 mins ago gerry
http://home.neo.rr.com/kuska/roseseedstratification.htm
no pic though.Im going to post all this info so others can see .There is more on there site thanks for your help rosie

How soon do they get buds on them? I swear one of my seedlings has the start of a yellow bud on it. Tried getting a decent pic of it, but just got my camera last night and still working on figuring it out LOL
Here's a pic sort of showing it:

Julie,

Sure could be a bud, mine usually bloom in about 6 weeks, give or take. Now get to practicing on that camera, so we can see a picture of the bloom!

Gerry

Ok...played around with the camera and have decided it's way smarter than I am. LOL
BUT...I did get a better picture of the bud(?). I am going to be so thrilled if it flowers as this is my first attempt ever at growing anything inside a greenhouse. Usually throw seeds outside and say "Grow dammit GROW" lol

you girls are lucky lol
I wish i got cuttings.
I got my seeds in fridge
hopefully i will be having seedlings soon!rosie

Bojo,

Looks promesing! What was the seed parent, do you remember?

Gerry

Gerry, the seeds were bought off of ebay...cheaply and to just give them a try, since I had none. They were advertised as "Miniature Angel Rose" seeds. The pic that advertised it was pinkish colored blooms. So, to sum it up, I have no clue. LOL
Here's what the bloom likes now...a light yellow with gold stamens with single petals.

Looks like it will be pretty. One thing I found, perhaps it was just me, or maybe even something that is common, when I got them outside in the spring, the colors changed somewhat, must be something with the UV.

It really does not matter what parent the seeds came from, since they are hybrids and will produce unique plants from each seed.

Gerry

Just a check in...I potted up 3 OP 'Ramblin Red' seeds today that I got from Dave. They were each showing just the tiny little tip of root coming from the seed, seems none of the other seeds this year want to make an early apperance, must be the 'leap second' they are adding!

Hopefully will have something worth taking a picture of soon.

Gerry

Lol Gerry...I potted up 28 seeds, that I recieved from Dave, yesterday. Rambling Red, Carefree Sunshine, Alexander Mackenzie and Earthsong were the ones I had some root tips showing. Still have more of each that I hope will come thru for me. Dave's AWESOME to share so many seeds with us, here's to hoping we can give him pics of flowers that he helped us with.
Julie

Okay, I just found this thread. I am planning on trying to grow roses this winter/spring from seed just as soon as I get all of the holiday hoopla cleaned up (probably New Years Day). I need to get one thing straight, as I am a bit confused. It sounds like you all are planting the seeds in soil and then putting them in the fridge for stratification, and then they sprout while still in the fridge? Is this correct? Or do you put them in the fridge for a cold snap and then take them out after a month or so and THEN they start to sprout? Just curious. Also, is the first bloom a true indication of what they will look like for the rest of their life, or does it take several seasons to get a 'true' bloom, like daylily seedlings?

Hollywog,

how have you stored your seeds so far, in or out of the hip, moist or dry?

What I do ( and by no means is it the only way, or even the right way ) I take them out of the hips, clean them and store them in slightly moist peat moss in zipper bags in the fridge. After about three months or so they begin to sprout, sometimes I just notice the root barely breaking out, other times I do not catch them fast enough and they will be small plant babies in there. Once they start to germinate, I carefully seperate them and plant into small pots, put under lights, with the lights right down near the pots, say, maybe an inch or two above. If just the root is showing, plant it and then gently cover, if it is a little plant, carefully just plant the root.

I would guess that if you planted them in some potting mix and then put into the fridge, it should work, so long as they are kept just slightly moist, I have just never had the space to try it that way.

There was a link on here, somewhere that explained one growers experience with how they change as far as petal count and such from first bloom to mature bloom, the only thing I remember is that if they are single, 5 petals, they will always be single, there was information about higher petal counts, but the exact numbers escape me. I will post this and then try to search for that page, if I find it I will post again.

Gerry

I copied and pasted this, it was a response to a post, not a link like I had thought. George's site has alot of information.

Posted by: George_Mander 5 to 6 (My Page) on Tue, Mar 29, 05 at 17:08

I have been hybridizing roses for about 35 years.
If the seedlings first bloom has only 5 petals it will always have 5 petals.
7 to 8 petals will increase to 15 when mature.
10 may give you about 20.
15 to 18 will probably increase to 30-35.
It's not alway the same increase when mature, but this will give you an idea. Keep it anyway to learn from it !!

My 'Glowing Amber' mini had 18 petals on it's first bloom an now has 30 to 35.
Good luck
George Mander

Gerry, thanks so much for the helpful info! I recieved all of my rose seeds in trades, so some have been stored in the hips and some not. They have all been stored, up until last night, in an envelope in my seed box. I am a newbie at this, so I didn't realize they required moisture---hope I get at least a couple sprouts! Last night, I put miracle grow potting soil in a couple of 4 inch deep clear plastic donut trays with a lid, moistened the soil, and planted lots of seeds from the hips of prosperity, heritage, white carpet, an antique pink climber, love and peace, and some other unnamed ones. Then I put them out in the refridgerator in the garage. Did I ruin it by not keeping them moist from the time I recieved them? And any idea how long it will take for them to start sprouting? Oh, and how will I know when they start to sprout--will they look just like any other seedling? OK, I think that is all for now!! Hope someone can help this dumb newbie!

I think you should be ok, even if they were dried, I have never let mine dry out, so I am not sure. I would guess about 2-3 months before they begin to sprout, I would start checking them every other day around the end of February so you can get them into the light once they start. The first seed leaves will be roundish, maybe even a bit oval, and more likely than not they will look a bit like a saw blade, with little 'teeth' all around, the next leaves will look very much like rose leaves, as you can see in Julie's pictures.

Most importantly, do not feel dumb...it is all a learning experience.

Keep us posted.

Gerry

A caution about the seeds that I sent out this fall: all were soaked in dilute hydrogen peroxide to control mold and rot. A recent study reported on rosehybridizers.org reports that soaking seeds in H2O2 reduces germination to about half of the water soak control. So, if you get poor germination, this may be the cause. We will have to wait and see.

Soaking is discussed in step 54 of Judith Singer's 94 step Slide Show on Rose Hybridizing which can be seen on Henry Kuska's site http://home.neo.rr.com/kuska, or there is a link on the "Lots of Valuable Information" post above.

Speaking of waiting: I think that seeds should be kept in frig until there is definite germination (a root protruding 1/8 inch or so); this usually begins to happen around the first of Feb.

Dave Z's hydrogen perioxide comments are at the link below.

From memory, I think that he did rather long soaks (days). I do not think a short soak (minutes), would have a negative effect. I did some preliminary experiments with short soaks and found a slight increase in germination (no where as good as with enzymes).

daveinohio, How long were your soakes?

Here is a link that might be useful: link for Dave's post

I found Dave Zlesak's article. It was in the Autumn 1995 issue of the Rose Hybridizers Association Newsletter. He soaked for 24 hours. He used 35 commercial Angel Rose seeds for each batch (water control, 1 % soak and 3% soak). His results were 21 out of 35 for the water control, and 12 out of 35 for both the 1 % and the 3 % hydrogen peroxide soaks. He planted on 2/19/95 and recorded germinations on 3/12 (7,3,0), 3/14 (4,5,4), 3/17 (6,4,6), 3/21 (2,02) and 3/23 (2,0,0) for the control, 1 % soak, and 3 % soak respectively. No mention was made if there were any later long term observations to check whether the other seeds did not germinate at all or were just delayed past 3/23.

Dave, about 1/2 of the Carefree Sunshine seeds (highest rate) had a "protruding" root 3 days ago. Rambling Red had 3 seeds with a sprout (lowest rate). I don't know what the others are getting as far as roots go...and am not concerned about the other seeds and am checking them weekly as I have others to check that were refridgerated earlier. I was surprised at the amount of your seeds being ready (In my newbie, non-knowledgeable opinion)as I was prepared for Feb. or later. I guess this is a live and learn experience as now I'm concerned about the ones I did pot up. Will let everyone know what happens...if anything.
As far as the one tiny bloom I did have on the Angel seed.. it still looks good, but has faded to white.
Julie

Henry Kuska: soaks were overnight.

Julie: good to hear that you are getting germination already!

I am a murderer.
I killed all 4 seedlings. When I left for New Year's Eve to my mom's house I forgot to shut off the grow/heat lamp. I had been very diligent with timing, misting, etc. But, in the rush of gathering everything and everyone I went out the door without a thought of shutting the lamp off. I now have 4 crispy critter seedlings. I could cry.

Julie,

I am so sorry, were they crisped beyond revival?

Gerry

Those 4 were crisped beyond any hope...although I still can't bring myself to toss them. BUT, I have hope again... I now have 2 Fourth of July seedlings and 1 Graham Thomas from hips I recieved from a forumer on here and am hoping for more, as these are the seeds I planted last week. It's amazing the differences I can see from the miniature ones I murdered (that's the only way I can think of it LOL) Larger leaves, thicker stems, etc.
Now...everyone keep your fingers crossed I don't screw these up.
Julie

Julie,

I have never tried mini's so I have nothing to compare that to.

I am glad you have some replacements, I had 2 of the 4th of July sprout before I even put them in the fridge, but they have not survived, waiting on more.

I did take some pics of the 'Ramblin' Red' babies I have, but need to get them from the camera to the computer yet.

Gerry

OK, finally decided it was time to get this outta the camera and posted, these are seedlings of 'Ramblin' Red', of the 4 so far that have put out a root, only 3 have fully sprouted, the smallest one was planted on 01/03/06, the others on 12/25/05.

Gerry

I received some open pollinated Rambling Red seeds last winter. A number (more than 2) of the seedlings had nice red blooms this summer. I have high hopes for them.

Gerry. the RR seedlings look good. What do you have in the pot with them on the top of the soil? Are those from Dave? Curious minds want to know :)
Julie

Henry,

Do you have any pictures of them?

Julie,

Yep, those are the ones from Dave. I have sand on them, I figured I would try it, I heard it helps with the damping off, but if you notice I only did the three...gotta clean more.

Gerry

Here we go again...LOL
Just planted Rosa rugosa magenta, Rambling Red, 4th of July, Graham Thomas and Alexander Mackenzie seeds. I'm going to have to grow something just by sheer accident with all the seeds I have. Still have many more to go!!
Question...when I checked the seeds Dave sent there was mold in the dishes. Is it alright just to add straight hydrogen peroxide to try to control it?
Julie

A short dip in 3 % hydrogen peroxide will probably not be harmful. I would not recommend moistening the media with straight 3 % H2O2. Perhaps this link will be useful"

Here is a link that might be useful: link for above