How to Plant Rosehips
Rose hips have a tart taste and are full of vitamin C. The hips are found in the center of different rose varieties. Once the blossoms wither, the seedpods, or rose hips, are available. Rose hips are considered the fruit of rose bushes, and they contain the seeds needed for propagation. You will need to gather rose hips in the fall and stratify them so that you can grow new roses from them. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Pruning shears
- Sharp knife
- Sterile glass jar with lid
- Rainwater
- Eyedropper
- Chlorine bleach
- Mesh colander
- Paper towels
- Zipper sealed plastic bags
- Seed trays
- Soil-less seed-starting medium
- Grow light
- 4-inch pots
- Sterile potting soil
- 1-gallon nursery containers
Instructions
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1
Remove the rose hips from a rose bush with pruning shears.
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2
Cut the rose hip seedpod open with a sharp knife. Remove the seeds carefully with the tip of the knife, and place them in a clean, sterile glass jar.
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3
Pour rainwater into the jar to fill it halfway. Use an eyedropper to add 3 to 4 drops of chlorine bleach to the water. Place the lid on the jar, and shake it to mix the bleach and the water. Allow the seeds to sit in the jar for 5 minutes.
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4
Remove any rose seeds that float to the top. Strain the seeds by pouring the water through a mesh colander. Fill the jar halfway with rainwater and shake the jar. Strain the water from the jar.
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5
Place the seeds on damp paper towels. Fold the paper towels in half and put them in zipper-sealed plastic bags. Place the plastic bags in the refrigerator to encourage the seeds to sprout. Leave the seeds in the refrigerator for 4 to 6 weeks.
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6
Remove the plastic bags from the refrigerator. Place them in a warm location for 2 weeks. Check on the seeds daily to see if they need water. Moisten the paper towels when they appear to dry out.
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7
Fill seed trays with a moist soil-less seed-starting medium. Plant a rose hip seed a ¼ of an inch deep into each seed tray section. Place the plastic top on the seed-starting tray.
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8
Place the rose hip seeds under a grow light for 12 hours a day. Give the seeds 8 hours of dark.
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9
Keep the soil moist by spraying it with water. Once the seeds sprout, transplant them into 4-inch pots with a sterile potting soil until they grow one set of leaves. Continue to keep the soil moist, and place them in an area where they will receive bright, indirect sunlight for 8 hours every day.
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10
Transplant the rose hips to a 1-gallon nursery container once they reach 6 inches tall.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit dog-rose image by MoonKeeper from Fotolia.com
