I did that with a couple to Buford, but the rest I keep fluctuating the temp on, and have gotten more sprouts that way too. We are in trail and error stage now I believe :) I read somewhere that you can now put them in a better soil but I'm scared to burn the small roots. Rose seek if you see this can you chime in and give us some pointers on where to go from here?

It's gotten very warm here, so I'm not using the heat mat anymore.And I took the dome off. I was afraid of too much moisture. We will see what happens!

Congratulations! I fully understand the desire to use organics. I would not if you're raising them indoors for a few reasons. Organics are most beneficial with some heat, soil temps of at least 70 F where the bacteria and fungi are working to digest them, to release their nutrients more efficiently. Unless your soil is close to that threshold, you may just be adding more and more "dead fish" to it with little benefit. Also, I don't like the idea of using anything "dead animal" in my house. Due to my "pack", I can't use organics at all. "Dead animal" anything is HIGHLY attractive to dogs and four of these are retired brood mother/show dogs who LOVE "keeping their nests clean" by eating EVERYTHING possible, particularly "scat" of any kind. Fish, blood/bone meal, etc. is food to them (heck, EVERYTHING edible is food to them) so IF I want to fertilize anything, I use inorganic, water soluble in weak solutions after making sure everything is watered well. If the instructions suggest a tablespoon per gallon of water, I will use a teaspoon, or a half teaspoon per gallon. You can always add more but it's very difficult to remove any once applied. The inorganics are immediately available to the plants for use where most organics require being "digested" to release the nutritive values. Use the fish emulsion if you wish, but if you want faster, more dramatic results, pick up some all purpose water soluble and mix a weak solution of it to use on them. It doesn't attract animals and won't "rot" if it's too wet or cold for the bacteria to digest and it doesn't smell like organics do. "Infants" eat weak, small meals of easily digested food. Weak solutions of inorganics fit that description quite well. But, as I wrote, it's your choice.

One last question, can they be transferred to potting soil now, the oldest ones, or with it burn the delicate roots, or should I make a soil with no added fertilizer? and then water them with a diluted fertilizer?

Hi Alana. Just curious... why do you want to transfer them now? I have never grown roses from seed before, but I am very inspired by everyone in these forums who is!

If I was growing anything else from seed though.... they look extremely tiny and young to transfer now and I would just let them be since they seem happy enough to sprout and they're growing in what they are currently in. Just curious why you want to transfer now. Thank you for sharing all of this with us! :)

Good job! I got some from Kim, but none are doing anything yet. Not inside the fridge nor outside. Maybe there's still hope. Lisa

Hey Cori I'm transferring them now because the first one had gotten tall and could almost reach the top. I want to leave the top on for other seeds that haven't come above soil yet. I've already took the biggest one out and cut a top of out a clear bottle to accumulate it to being without it.

I've read that after sprouting, they are supposed to be moved anyways. Or maybe after first leaf, which that one had anyway..There's just so many different ways to do it and finding what works for me.

Thanks! :)

You Welcome!

Congratulations to everyone! Looks like you're all having great success at it. My seeds are in the fridge still. I didn't get to them until the first of February so they need more time to stratify. I'll probably start checking them the first of March. Here's to a wonderful year of rose growing!

I hope you have a wonderful year too Seil!

How fun, please keep us posted as they grow!

As long as the soil retains sufficient moisture and drains appropriately, it should be OK. I raise my seedlings outdoors in MG Moisture Control Potting Soil. I have never noticed any issues with root burn. If you don't want fertilizer in the potting soil, choose one without it.

That's all I needed to know Thanks so much!

Congrats and nice work! I was able to germinate some seeds from Robin Hood years ago, but all subsequent attempts have been failures. This thread re-inspired me, so over the weekend I collected more hips from my Lyda Rose and have winter-sowed them. We'll see what happens. Be sure to keep us posted as the plants progress!

-Chris

That's Great Chris! I'm planning to keep updated :)

My seedlings are progressing nicely. Many have three real rose leaves. I will probably have to move some of them soon. I took out all the seeds I had in the fridge that have been in there for more than a few weeks and planted them. I see some of them coming up. I also was able to harvest more seeds, this time from Heritage. I usually 'top off' my roses after a hard freeze, but this year I didn't get to it, so I still have hips left on many roses.

Wow, neat!!

They look so beautiful! Thanks for sharing! I'll update soon on mine! I received some wonderful news for my daughter today! Here's a picture of the letter I received. Since we live off my Disability I started a fundraiser page. Sorry for off topic, but I am so proud!

Good for her, Alana. I hope she has a great experience there.

I think she will if we can get her there, but I think we will! So excited for her :)

Here's a update on my seedlings. I had a couple get damp off? I think that is what it is called, and die. I guess natures way of taking out the weak? Anywho here is some more pictures.

Congratulations on your daughter's success! Your seedlings look great! Did you sand any of your seeds?

No I just cleaned the well in a sieve. Thank You! I'm so proud of her!

Alana, that's great news about your daughter's achievements. I hope she enjoys the program. Did you do an online fundraiser?

Congratulations,

Virginia

Yes I did a Gofundme, I'm not sure if it will get anything. It's in my name. Monday some friends are going to help me do a Krispy Kreme Fundraiser , and then depending on those results we may do a bake sale. We have to get $500 to get her spot then pay the rest by April. I don't remember the date exact. We are going to try and do this for her and I'm so excited for her and proud of her !

Just in case anyone else is interested:

https://www.gofundme.com/pathway-to-stem-for-future-leaders

Thanks Virginia! I'm not great at posting link, and Thank you for helping her!

Alana, you're very welcome. I hope you can raise the money you need. I think we need more women in STEM jobs.

Good luck,

Virginia

I agree Virginia!

I've lost a few seedlings to what I am guessing is 'damping off'. They just wilted and collapsed. I am going to transfer some of the remaining larger ones to separate pots to see if that helps. But I still have a lot of seedlings, more are coming up each day.

Buford are you using a heat mat under your tray? I've had my seeds in the fridge, and now put them out on my screen porch, thinking of planting them all soon, and I don't know if they want heat or not. Thanks!

That's what mine did Buford, I guess the weak one's are taking there selves out?

I have been using a heat mat. But I think I should have moved the larger ones out of the seed trays and into pots sooner. I think once they have 'real' leaves they are ready to move on. I can't put mine outside yet, it's too cold at night.

Best wishes to both of you on your seeding adventures

Damping Off I found this article on damping Off, it's about tomatoes, but I think the concept is the same. The mistake I made is not using sterile soil. There are some other good tips here too. I did lose some seedlings, but I have some that seem to have survived and I repotted them.

Yes I had some do the same way, but I have others that are doing great.

Hopefully they will continue to do so..I thought my soil was sterile since it came of of the bag, so maybe something else caused it too?

I did buy a bottle of organic fungicide that was recommended. I think besides using sterile soil, consistent temperature and moisture are important.

Yeah not getting them too wet helps. If you are using dome tops, crack them open a little so some air gets in. I use the heat mat under petunias and stuff, once they sprout I crack the lid, leave the heat on for another day or two and then turn it off. Keep the lights like an inch or so away from the top. The Growing From Seed forum is really helpful! I haven't planted any rose seeds yet, just been pulling the germinated ones out of the paper towels, so I haven't put them on heat, just planting them in little plastic shot glasses and stuffing them under the lights. Fun winter project for sure! All just OP seeds, nothing fancy.

Update. I have 3 strong specimens from my Wild Irish Rose, one from Queen Elizabeth and one I just put in it's own pot (really a toilet paper roll!) of Pierre Gagnaire. I still have some seedlings sprouting in the tray, but I've learned that once they get enough leaves, I remove them and put them in a pot with no cover. I am alternating the grow light between the potted roses and the tray. The smaller seedlings really do better with the tray, they need the humidity. I haven't seen any more damping off since I used the copper fungicide. I still have seeds in the fridge. Here are some pics.

Wild Irish Rose seedlings

QE Seedling. This is my strongest seedling. The stem actually has some substance to it and has turned a bit pink

This is my toilet paper roll pot! So easy to do. The seedling is Pierre Gagnaire.

The remaining seedlings in the tray. Some are almost ready to move to separate pots. Ebb Tide has a few and more WIR and Anna des Diebach.

This is the copper fungicide I've been using. It seems to have stopped the damping off.

I'm so excited that I've made plans for what crosses I want to do this year. I used HMF to find out which of my roses were used as crosses for other roses. HMF gives you the seed and the pollen and if you are a member you can get more detailed family tree. So I was able to see which of my roses made good seed parents or pollen parents. I'm going to try some interesting crosses this year. I just have to protect the hips from the critters!

In the FWIW department, a couple of years ago, I raised more than 60 seedlings from hips I rescued from a public garden (and a few other roses), and they stayed outside the whole time during a polar vortex winter (planted out after Thanksgiving 2014 with seedlings starting to show up in Jan/Feb 2015). I used my regular potting mix (compost, peat moss, plant-tone and sand), but I used extra sand (just regular all-purpose sand from Lowe's, not builder's sand, which is best for rooting cuttings). The sand promotes drainage, so no issues with damping off. No heat mats, no peroxide, no fungicides.

By mid-February I had about 40 seedlings, but others showed up later on.

My husband built what we call the squirrel cage (keeps the varmints out, not in) from hardware cloth and piping, and the seedlings stayed protected until they started to outgrow their shared pots and needed their own pots. I think the cage was covered with a tarp when we had freezes, but they didn't go inside or even onto the back porch. Once they achieved some size they were moved to a sheltered place on the ground under a large oak. Dappled shade evidently was sufficient light. More than 60 seedlings was too many, so I let most die through a tough love/attrition process, so theoretically, the surviving 15-20 roses are the toughest of the tough. Most have Noisette parents, but a few are clearly more modern. Here's my post from the propagation forum with a few photos of early blooms...

Virginia

Thanks everyone. I'm looking forward to a update on your seedlings Virginia! I'm also told vermiculite helps with the damping off too. Thanks for sharing what you've learned Buford! I'm going to have to get me some of that spray! I will take UD pics of mine soon!

Anybody have updates on their seedlings? After a last ditch, wintersowing effort, I've ended up with two seedlings from a batch of Lyda rose seeds. Not the greatest success rate, but these were taken from hips that had still been on the bush midway through the winter, so maybe not the most viable seed either. Looking forward to seeing them bloom!

I tried transitioning mine outside, I think to young and the cat's and chickens killed them. I got some more germinating and will leave these in the house longer..

I have about 6 left. The one I thought was the strongest just up and died, I have no idea why. I had one bloom, a single yellowish bloom and now two others have buds. Those were all on seedlings from My Wild Irish Rose. I have an Ebb Tide and an Ink Spots seedling. I would like to see a bloom on those.

Oh you guys have me worried now! I just re potted mine and am transitioning them outdoors. What do you think the issue was outside? I have some kind of fun blooms from OP Pam's Choice, I hope they make it.

Buford, thanks for the picture of the spray you use. I lost a couple to dampening off too. Only the ones I did indoors were affected. The ones outside had no problem with dampening off whatsoever. Better air circulation outside, perhaps?

That is so pretty, Dingo! Well done. I have some seedlings going with one just about to bloom, from Blue for You. Roseseek sent me the seeds, and I have six happy little plants in pots outside. I can't wait for that bud to open. Maybe I should check all the seeds I forgot about in the fridge, on wet paper towels! Lisa

Oh I love Blue for You! Don't give up on your seeds, they may still be sprouting. I took all mine and planted them last week finally.

One is soooo close to opening. Maybe today. Maybe for Mothers Day.