Re: Growing Roses from seeds

 


Jimgentracer;898341 Wrote:

seeds of the plants I already have in my garden

amount of growth

Forgive me if I'm asking silly questions. Why do you want to grow roses
from
seed - for fun, to produce new varieties, or just to get more
roses? If you just
want to propagate more roses, taking cuttings is
easier and quicker.

If the rose seeds you're planning to grow are from hybrid roses, or from
a
species rose growing near enough to another species rose for
pollinating insects
to visit both, then the roses you grow from seed
won't necessarily be like the
parent. But this may be what you're
after!

It certainly should be possible - dog roses, Rosa rugosa and Rosa glauca
all
self seed readily.




--
kay

 

On 24/08/2010 17:42, kay wrote:

I've grown a number of Rosa ruggosa from seed. Interestingly there is
some variation of flower form and colour - purple vs pure white. It just
adds to the interest value of growing your own from seed.

--
David in Normandy.   DavidinNormandy@yahoo.fr
   To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
   subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
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Jimgentracer;898577 Wrote:

a rose from a seed

That's a lovely reason!

I haven't deliberately grown a rose from seed. But if I were, I would
remove the
seeds from the hip, and give them a wash. This is because the
fruit is designed
so that a bird will eat it and then excrete the seeds
at a distance, and some
berries contain germination inhibitors so that
the seed doesn't try to germinate
prematurely.

Then I'd plant them straight away, with just a fine scattering of soil
on top -
the rule of thumb that you should plant  bulbs at a depth equal
to twice the
diameter of the bulb seems to work quite well for seeds
too. I'd make sure the
compost was good and moist, then I'd enclose the
pot/seed tray in a clear
plastic bag to keep the moisture in.

If nothing happened in the first 3 weeks, I'd make sure the compost was
still
moist, then put the pot/seed tray (still in its plastic bag)
somewhere safe
outside, and forget about it till next April. Some seeds
are triggered by a
period of cold - if they germinate in warm weather,
they might emerge just in
time for winter, whereas if they don't
germinate until they've had a period of
cold, they're more likely to
germinate when the weather is warming up for
spring.




--
kay

 

Kay wrote:

   <- SNIP ->

Even seeds of most rose species that have passed through the gut of
birds need a period of chilling before they will germinate, so washing
the seed will not make much difference in this respect.  However,
cleaning the seed to remove hairs and remnants of the husk will reduce
the risks to the embryo that are presented by moulds and bacteria,
which gain a foothold on decaying remnants.  Rose seeds are best
cleaned and sown immediately after harvesting and then covered with a
5mm layer of fine grit or coarse sand.  They should be placed in a
cold frame or outside where they will be exposed to several months of
cold or even frost. In spring, they can be brought into the warmth
where they will germinate within a week or two.  Watch out for mice,
they are very fond of rose 'nutlets' and will devastate pots or trays
of seed in no time at all.

This process can be accelerated with the use of a domestic fridge set
to maximum.  The cleaned seeds are mixed with barely moist sand or
grit, sealed in a plastic bag and subjected to approximately 0 to 3C
for 6 weeks.  The seeds are then sown just below the surface of
sterilised compost and maintained at 21 - 23C.  Germination usually
occurs within 7 - 10 days.  However, very poor winter light intensity
in this country means that any resultant seedlings will be weak and
etiolated so there's little or no advantage for the average gardener.
Even growing under lights results in atypical soft growth.

Most species roses will produce their first flowers in the second year
from sowing, but hybrids from 'garden roses' can produce the first
flower in as little as 3 months from seed.  However, the chances of
such plants going on to produce worthwhile flowers on a strong healthy
plant are exceptionally remote.  Even when parents are carefully
selected and cross pollinated, it's a lottery and more often than not,
the progeny of a 'good' pairing will result in duds.  There's an
entire industry devoted to this and millions of rose seedlings are
destroyed annually because the vast majority are just not worth
growing on.  That said, it's quite fun raising roses from seed
collected in the garden.  They will show  considerable variation and
none will be the same as the parent plant.  You never know what might
crop up.  It will probably be rubbish, but it will be your rubbish and
unique.