Some may benefit from such treatment, Carol, but very many come up easily for me without any help like that. I've been considering trying precisely what you describe on some which don't easily germinate. Good luck! I hope it helps you get the results you're after! Kim

Oh really??? I thought they needed to be scratched up. Hmmmmm.... Good to know! Thanks for the good wishes!!

Carol :)

You're welcome! Usually, scarification is used on cuttings to expose more cambium tissue to increase rooting speed and ease. But, reducing overly thick seed coats could also help germination, if thick seed coat or particularly weak germinators may also benefit. As long as you don't crush the embryos, doing what you did should have no effect or even help. Kim

I used Miss Lowe quite a bit this year and am amazed at how huge her seeds are. Those definitely appear as if they will need some assistance.

Interesting, as Kim mentioned, I assosiate scarification with cuttings. Suppose it is sort of half way to embryo extraction which is something I have never tried. Sort of makes sense though that it would help with the thick seeds. I did my seeds on the weekend and have them in the fridge now and will probably only sow them out around Christmas. I had a couple of really huge Arthur Bell seeds. Maybe I should try and scarify them.

Carol, how many seeds did you scarify - must of taken a while.

Sharlene

I'm sure it did take a while! It would be almost like a modified embryo extraction, something I've considered playing with, but haven't done yet.

Yes, it takes forever. I started with using my bare fingers, then my thumb nail got filed down too much :) ! So I put tape on my thumb, that got filed down. I tried more tape, that got filed down. Then I had the idea of the small pieces of wood with the sticky sided sand paper. I thought the idea was to rough up the seeds like they would be in a birds stomach (rocks in there). Maybe I'll only do it on the larger seeds next year.

Carol

I was thinking of placing one piece down on a board and the second, mobile piece on a sponge so it would sort of mold itself to the seed, covering more of the surface area.

Hmmmm.... that's interesting. I'm not sure you'd get enough traction. The sponge may deform too much.

Carol

Hi y'all! I noticed some seed pods and was just wondering about trying to grow a few. Are there simple instructions you can suggest or should I just go do a search? Thanks, Judy

Hi
Judy, if you can safely plant seeds now and not have to worry about them
experiencing hard freezes, it's simple to shell the seed from the hips, plant
them in a pot of the potting soil of your choice, cover with a light mix such as
seed starter type, about a quarter of an inch under the soil and keep watered as
you would any plant. Seeds experiencing the variations of cold to warming up and
back to colder, germinate fairly well. If you have to worry about really deep
freezing weather, you may either want to hold the cleaned seed in the vegetable
crisper in zip loc bags until the chances of extreme cold are over. If you want
to germinate them indoors, there are many others who have experience with that
method. I have always germinated mine outdoors.

Depending
upon the genetics of the rose involved and your climate, you may have seedlings
popping up in a very few weeks to several months, and blooms as quickly as four
to six weeks from germination to several years. If you have squirrels or other
rodents digging in your flower beds or pots which will find your rose seeds rare
delicacies, you should probably cover the pot (or pots) with some hardware cloth
or window screen to keep the marauding critters out. Of course, there are many
other methods which work well for many other people. It can depend upon special
conditions as well as just how involved you want to make it. Good luck!
Kim

I'm a beginner, but if you want to germinate/grow in the house, because of the cold weather, I can tell you what I do.

Carol

Yes, I will be starting some in my unheated basement. Any suggestions?

Thanks so much Kim for all the great info. I think I will try some indoors and out and see how I fair. I do have squirrels that get into everything so I will def cover. Do I need to let the hips ripen some first? Judy

Yes Carol I would to try some indoors too. Any info would be great! I have an unheated garage if that will work. Judy

This is exciting to try!!!

It's generally felt that seeds are sufficiently ripe about three months after pollination. When in doubt, you can see if they fall from the canes easily with little to no help. The plant is definitely going to drop them as soon as they are viable. If you look at the peduncle, the stem between the ovary (hip) and the first joint below the hip, which is called the point of abscision, you will notice the peduncle is beginning to turn colors different from the cane beneath it. The seeds may well be completely viable before the hips can easily be removed from the canes, but if you're in doubt and want to have more of a "guaranty" of their being ripe, try what I've written above. It is absolutely necessary for them to be "perfectly" ripe? Most likely not, but germination is probably going to be better if they are more ripe than too immature. I have been harvesting my crosses after a bit shorter ripening period for several years to beat the vermin to them and lack of germination hasn't been an isse. I would say if they have colored, they should be OK, but some remain pretty green, some turn quite orange, red, yellow, even brown, like apples, to which they are related. If you can gently bend the hip back and forth and it easily snaps from the cane, it's likely just fine. Enjoy! Kim

Okay, now I'm not an expert, but here goes.

I place the picked hips in a baggied with potting soil, and leave in the fridge until whenever I want to do them.

When I'm ready, I take them out of the baggie, and cut into them, taking out the seeds. I place the seeds for about 2-5 minutes in a bowl/glass of H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) mixed with water. I can't remember how much H202 I put in the water. Maybe 1/4 H2O2, and 3/4 water. Then, I start scraping the seeds against sand paper. Don't know if this is necessary, but I do it. Then I put the seeds in the baggie of dirt, and place it in the garage. Once temperatures get below -4??? in the garage, I cover them in blankets, put them in a box, and cover that with blankets. I check once in awhile to see if the seeds have germinated. Once they have, I carefully take them out and put them in little seed trays with half perlite and half potting soil. Make sure you leave perlite on top as a covering. I water them really well. Then I put them under the gro-lights with their lid on. I want to see condensation on the lid of the seeds. So I spray the lid, can't remember how often - maybe every day?? I shut the lights off/on every day. I'm going to try, this year, leaving the seedlings in the dark for one week at the beginning, so they can focus on getting roots. I've noticed that works really well for my cuttings.

Now, YMMV, cause I'm not really sure what I'm doing. :)

Carol

Thank you so much Carol and Kim. It sounds like so much fun to try. I don't have any gro lights but may purchase some to try a few seeds. I'd love to try a few off my favorite roses. Thank y'all so much! Take care, Judy

You're welcome, Judy! As with many things, there are multiple ways to get there. It depends upon your conditions and just how involved, labor intensive and expensive you want it to be. Some people really enjoy making a production out of anything they want to try or do. Others (lazy like me!) aren't interested in the extra fanfare and just want to make it easier, cheaper and less work. Neither is good, neither is bad and they both can work. You simply choose the way that fits your desires, just like growing roses! Have fun!

Oh Kim! I would fall on the lazy side. I love playing around with things and want to take the easy route. Thanks again!

You're welcome! (we're related! LOL!)

LOL