Hi Carol, interesting question. Would be great if Roseseek or somebody else experienced with freezing pollen can answer. Just a thought - what about freezing the newer pollen in an envelope and then adding it to the canister with the older pollen when its frozen? The canister wouldn't be out long enough for condensation to form??

Sharlene

Thanks, Sharlene, but I don't freeze pollen. Your idea seems the most logical. The longer the container is out of the freezer, the greater the chances of condensation. Perhaps freezing each new batch of the same pollen seperately, then removing only the quantity you intend to use each time might work best?

A friend reported to me last year how he's held Zorina pollen on his microwave for two years. (He's single so no one "cleans it up" and throws it away for him) He uses it periodically and has written the results have continued showing Zorina traits. You have to wonder, under the right conditions, just how long DOES pollen remain viable? I'd always tried using it within forty-eight hours, thinking it would be best, the fresher it is. Since this spring, I've been using the same pollen over the course of a few months and hips/seeds have formed. Are they selfs? I dunno, they aren't planted yet, but it will be interesting to see. But, I've not actually frozen it for later use yet. Good luck!

In the mircrowave??? two years?? You mean just in a canister at room temp? I have also always tried to use pollen within a day or two otherwise I have covered it and put it in the fridge and then I make sure that I use it within a week to 10 days. How were you storing the pollen you used this spring?

I haven't frozen pollen yet either but Carol is so we are going to have to wait and see what her results are. Carol keep us posted please.

Sharlene

ON top of the microwave, not that this is the ideal place. It's simply where he put it so he would remember where it is. Yes, he says 'room temp'. I will begin a new thread to finish my answer so as not to hijack this one.

I don't mind highjacking. Doesn't bother me a bit. :)

I'm surprised about the pollen being viable at room temperature for such a long time frame.

Yes, I will keep you posted. Hopefully I will get some hips forming. But I'm not holding my breath, since I had no luck whatsoever the one year I tried hybridizing.

I think I'm just going to have many cannisters of pollen, and not worry about amalgamating them together.

Thanks everyone!

Carol

Hi Carol, are you certain the roses you pollinated will set hips? Do they set them by themselves? There must be a reason why no hips formed, and very often it turns out to be something rather simply corrected. Were the pollinations done during rainy periods when water might have prevented appropriate fertilization? Did you use enough on each one? Were the plants potted or in the ground? Water stress can prevent hip formation. I have to make sure I don't allow the potted breeders to dry out heavily while I'm working them or my efforts could easily fail.

Do you mean did I use proven fertile hip setters? No, I'm not sure that I did. I did research (September) on which of my roses are fertile for pollen and for hips. I have a lot that are sterile. So that MAY be why they didn't set. But it may also have been that our first cycle of roses comes with a huge amount of rain (floods, etc.) as you say roseseek.

Many of the roses set hips...but were they fertile??? Who knows -maybe they were sterile roses.

I also didn't notice any spurtzing of pollen when I collected the anthers and let them sit overnight. So I just placed them on the sticky female parts (sheesh - can't for the life of me remember the name - stomata????).

So I think I had a comedy of errors. :)

The plants were potted. But they certainly didn't dry out.

So what do you suggest I do for the rainy period when the roses need to be fertilized? Is it hopeless? Should I put little baggies around the petalled and the fertilized roses??

I have had success now with the stamens expressing the pollen. So at least that part should work better.

Carol

It sounds like a comedy of errors. Is there anywhere you can move the potted seed parents under cover while pollinating them? "Rain" isn't an issue here (unfortunately) during the pollinating season. We do have occasional heavy fogs/dews, but they don't seem to inhibit fertilization. You might benefit from placing covers over the fertilized flowers to prevent the pollen from being washed off the stigma until they take. You may, also, need to allow the anthers to dry longer due to differences in varieties, humidity and temperature. That's something you should experiment with while you have flowers of the potential pollen parents to get a feel for how long to possibly expect them to release enough pollen for you to work with. Nothing is hopeless. It will just take a bit more experimenting and exploring to figure out how to circumvent what prevented success the last time you attempted it. Making sure the potential seed parents will even set seed is a good place to start. Before I began pollinating anything, I allowed my roses to set whatever they wished to set so I could determine what might make decent seed parents. From those self set hips, I raised many seedlings to see which germinated easily and well. I figured it would be frustrating and a waste of time and energy trying to get seedlings from roses which refused to set seed, or would set, but refused to germinate. There are many of each of those types. It took a season to figure out which seemed the easiest to work with while I practiced, but I believe it saved me a lot of effort, time and frustration. I still encounter the occasional "mother" which hates setting seed, or which will set them, but whose seed is not easily germinated, but they are fewer and farther between as time goes on. For those, I use them as pollen parents on tried and true seed setters.

There are a number of roses which seem to be able to be pollinated with dirt....those which set seed from every flower and whose seeds germinate like weeds. Orangeade and Angel Face were extensively used, often for that very reason. My rose, Lynnie, is another. The miniature, Anytime, seems willing to accept almost any pollen and its seeds come up reliably. I'm sure there are others more suited to your climate which perform like that. Researching them on Help Me Find-Roses can help show you which may be like that and save a season of experimenting. If there are no offspring shown for the rose you are researching, that doesn't mean it won't make a good candidate. It might be too new or no one has reported using it yet. But, there are many in the database for which that kind of information is known and listed. You can also join the Rose Hybridizers Association and post questions about using particular varieties there to see if anyone has experience using them.

What were some of the seed parents you tried, but didn't have success with? Perhaps someone here might have raised seedlings from them and can offer information. Kim

I know that I tried with some that were known to be good hip setters - Charles Austin, for example. But I also am wondering if there just isn't enough time for the hips to ripen, since we have such a long rainy period. Cause I know that there were some hips that had seeds in them, but they weren't ripened enough. So if I can get the fertilization done in the rain, that might be the ticket. I can cover the fertilized roses with plastic bags or would paper bags be better? And yeah, I'm hoping that all of my roses are fertile - BUT I'm going to try at first with the known winners.

Thanks for all of your advice! I go outside every day to get roses to use as fathers. I love doing this!

Carol

It roughly requires about 110 - 120 days for seeds to ripen. There was a thread recently on the RHA about the benefits of harvesting them before they were fully ripe. Unfortunately, I didn't read it all the way though so I can't report the supposed benefits. I'd think covering with plastic might prevent rain damage, but when the rain subsides, plastic can potentially cook the ovaries, and even cause them to mold by remaining too wet. Paper is probably safer. If its not too windy, perhaps caps of wax paper held loosely in place with staples or paper clips? Water should be repelled while permitting air circulation and heat dissipation. You're welcome! I hope it all comes together and works for you! Yes ma'am, it IS fun, isn't it? Kim

Unfortunately when it rains here - it is extremely windy. Breaks off canes, etc. But, I'll try the wax paper. :)

Here's hoping!

Carol

Fingers are crossed for you! Kim

Thanks, Kim

You're welcome!

Liezel - thank you!! That is wonderfully detailed information. Love it! I am definitely going to do that in the spring. That might actually give me ripened hips - you never know!! I've never had ripened hips - just from my friends rugosas. Excellent!

Carol