Growing Roses From Seed

!±8± Growing Roses From Seed

Congratulations! This is an admirable way of growing roses. Although being able to grow roses from seed can be tricky and requires more patience than most areas of gardening, you can't beat the feeling of seeing something mature successfully from a tiny seed.

The Seed

There are packet varieties and seeds from rosehips, the fruit of the rose plant. If you're going to go down the growing from seed route why not go as natural as possible and use rosehips from a friend's rose or a wild one as you're walking along somewhere, you may be surprised at how many you find. Look for them after blooms have fallen and pick the, 'rosehips', when they look their ripest. Once they start to wrinkle they're beginning to dry out and not at their best. Please be careful as these rosehips itch, treat them like chillies.

Preparation

There are different methods but I've had the most success by using a combination of methods and that's what I'll share with you. Split the rosehips to expose the, 'seeds', they're creamy white and not actually the seed, they're inside but for what we need we will treat them as seeds. Clean these seeds thoroughly removing all the flesh.

Now place them about an inch apart on a damp towel, leaving plenty of towel around the edge of the seeds to be able to fold over without disturbing them. Place this folded damp towel in a sealable plastic bag and place in your fridge. This is the stratification process and is used the trick the seed in sprouting, leave for five or six weeks and check for any root tips that might be emerging. Leave for longer if they're not and check weekly for any changes.

Transfer

Once you have some that have sprouting roots transfer them to a pot or container. This can be real tricky so tweezers may help, damp the towel if you're struggling and that will free them off nicely. The seeds need good drainage, moisture and warmth so black plastic containers are best. Transfer these little sprouting seeds to the soil in your container making sure to leave a space of an inch all around them and about a quarter of an inch deep. Make sure that whatever potting soil you're using that it's sterile before you expose the seeds to it. Water well making sure they drain adequately also. When the seedlings are a few inches high you can transfer them to their own individual pot, they can take a few years to reach maturity by then becoming a big bush but they will flower before then.