If you have taken the time to
make some crosses, hopefully some will be starting to
show signs of success. The receptacle will be swollen,
green and smooth. Signs of failure are yellowing,
shriveling stems and no apparent swelling of the
receptacle (eventually falling off). The successfully
hybridised heps will continue to develop and ripen until
the green starts to change to yellow, orange or red.
They are then ready to “harvest”. Harvesting may also
take place if the stems start to shrivel before they
have fully changed colour, as they will not ripen on the
plant any more once this occurs. Depending on when the
pollinating was done, this may be any time from April to
June.
To harvest, simply cut the
heps off the plant, open them and extract the seeds.
There will be an overage of eight to ten in each hep
(the range can be from one to about thirty). I then
place them on a piece of paper towel (kitchen paper) and
spray lightly with a fungicide like Fongarid, which I
keep in a little squirt bottle. It is essential that the
seeds do not dry out as they form hard shells if so and
the embryos find it difficult to break out of their
casing if it is too hard. I wrap the seeds in the damp
(not wet) paper and seal in a sandwich bag, which I then
store in the crisper tray in the refrigerator for six to
eight weeks or until the seeds show signs of germinating
(you will need to check periodically to see whether or
not this is happening. There will be a label written on
paper and also wrapped in the plastic (separated from
the damp paper.)
I plant my seedlings out when
they are ready because I do not have to contend with
frost here. You need to remember they are frost tender,
so if you live in an area where frosts are
likely/possible, make sure you keep you seedlings under
cover until September or when frosts are no longer very
likely. The seeds will start germinating after about two
weeks and about 25-60% will germinate (an average again
of about 35-40%) depending on the seed parent. I plant
in foam tomato boxes, with good quality potting mix in
the bottom, and a thin layer of seed-raising mix on top
of that. The seeds (up to about 400 in per box) will be
scattered and covered by about one centimetre of
seed-raising mix. Mine began flowering on
ten-centimetre-high plants during September.
The new seedlings need to be
protected from snails and slugs as well as perhaps from
mildew or damping off early in the season when they are
young and susceptible. They can also be watered with a
weak solution of Miracle-Gro or Phostrogen to help
promote growth. Start the selection process immediately
you see flowers. Weak, diseased plants, singles often or
vegetative centres are usually not worth keeping.
Promising plants may be carefully pricked out and potted
up separately. At all stages relabel and keep records.
Some without commercial potential may be kept for
breeding future purposes.
I have to point out that my
methods are not the only ones. There are many variations
and you can do what suits you. These notes merely serve
as a starting point for you. Good luck and I hope you
get a lot of satisfaction from this interesting and
challenging aspect of rose growing. Warning! Do not
start if you are impatient. You need to be prepared to
wear lots of failures and find ways to achieve success.
