Frozen rose hips: Is seed viable?

Are seeds from frozen rose hips viable?

I harvested some rose hips from which I was going to try some winter sowing. Winter is close to over here in MN. Is it worth planting them, or am I wasting my time?

Could anyone explain the term "double-dormant"? How does it relate to planting rose seed?

This message was edited Mar 23, 2005 3:01 PM

If you go to the garden terms tab at the top of the page and look up dormancy, this is one of the choices, you may also want to check out some others: http://davesgarden.com/terms/go/1663.html

I have started several varieties of roses from hips, and not had a problem with double dormancy, even in dried seeds received in trades.

However, I still plan to collect and plant some in my yard. This is my theory, why take them in, clean and dry them, and then go through the trouble of stratifying them, when you can leave them in their own moist enviornment, and let mother nature stratify them?? Of course you cannot trade them in this state, and you still must clean them, and they may get eaten before you collect them, but there is always plenty here.

I use this same theory with crab apple seeds also with much success.

If you think of the seeds as being "naturally stratified" ( a good thing) instead of "frozen" (seemingly a bad thing), you will see the process in a different light!! I'm a dedicated winter sower, so that is my perspective! Hope I helped! Legit

Legit,

Thanks a bunch. It helped a great deal. I had double-dormancy confused with two periods of cold (double stratification?). The explanation of "chemical and physical" was the missing link I needed in the information.

I've grown stuff under lights for years, but I'm a WS (winter sowing) newbie. The process fascinates me. However, I'm a bit nervous as a first-timer. My main motivation for winter sowing is that my planting habit has just outgrown the space available. It also seems that I just can't get some areas cool enough to germinate well. That should be no problem outdoors in March in MN.

So my rose hips are naturally stratified. Now I'm going to plant them in moist medium and place them outside using the WS methods I've learned from you folks.

Also thanks for sharing the info at this link: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/404757. Your comments gave me the "guts" to try WS.

Jefe

Final report on WS of roses: Complete failure. I must be missing something. Not even one came up. However, other winter seeding projects we a huge success. Win some. Lose some. Learn some more. Take another run at it next year.

The other thing you might consider is that the hip may have contained chemical inhibitors and so the seeds may need an additional period of cold AFTER they have been removed from the hip and washed.

I harvested the hip directly from the rose plant.

Any step-by-step instructions from any of you folks would be appreciated. I certainly haven't given up. However, I'd like to know more about how to increase my chances.

When I winter sow the rose hips I clean all of the pulp from the seeds. They are arranged much like apple seeds, and then plant them. The few I planted this year has not shown yet, but have had multiple successes in the past with several varieties. If there is one thing I have learned winter sowing, don't give up too soon, I have left opened winter sown "blanks" sit over the summer, and gotten germination in fall, when I took the seedlings inside, or even the following spring! Legit

I think the point is that if you sow them outdoors in the winter, the rain washes off the chemical inhibitors in any pulp that adheres to the seed.
Also you should be prepared to be patient... don't expect and roses for a good few years...
Mike

Ahaaa! Maybe I should have been a bit more patient.

Legit,
Do you keep your WS packs in the shade?

cinemike,
I was just hoping for sprouts. I'll wait next time.

No actually I had them in the full sun, the problem is that they would probably have yielded even more surprises for me if they had been kept uniformly moist, then again, they could have rotted, who knows, these are the tricks mother nature has for us to figure out!!!

The clematis that surprised me in the fall was tucked under the leaves of a large hosta, so that may have helped it!! The others were discovered the following spring when it was still moist, and it was cleanup time. The rest got tossed then.

And BTW, I had a tiny pink rose bloom the FIRST year, amazing, now I know better than to expect that to happen again!! Legit

Wow... annual roses... that's really something (LOL)...

Blooms the first year? Now I'm green with envy. Not really...I'll share your joy and wait till next year.

I can tell you all think I must be talking about something other than a regular rose bush.........here is a link to a picture! The Japanese Maples did not survive this last winter, but the Bonica Rose is back, not much larger than before, I will be watching for blooms again this year!

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/461387/

legit

No. I believed you. I should have wrote - Blooms the first year!!!

LOL!! Well, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would have been skeptical for sure. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I spotted that in the GH!! Legit

I am impressed! Of the ones I propagated last summer, the one that gave to friend has 6 buds. None of the ones I kept have any buds at all! Told her to take pics for me! ~ Suzi :)