How To Grow Roses From Seeds (2024)

A garden isn’t complete without a rosebed growing in a corner, lighting up your day. Roses are sweet-smelling and beautiful to look at, but growing them isn’t for the faint of heart. This is true if you intend to get your rose seeds for planting and start your rose bush from seed.

The easiest and quickest method is to use a cutting tool and propagating roses, yet you may fancy the challenge of growing your own new roses. There is more to it, yet with some guidance, it isn’t too much of a challenge to have homegrown roses. You have two ways to do this; you can use store-bought seeds, where the seed collection delivers certain strains.

Second, you can gather your own seed pod and start from scratch. In our guide, you can learn all you need about growing roses. The steps are nearly the same once you get to the germination process; it takes a few weeks longer when harvesting your own seeds. (Read Do Roses Need Full Sun)

By the end, you’ll know how to take your rose bush seeds, and grow a garden full of beautiful roses.

How Long Does It Take To Grow Rose Seeds?

Growing roses from seeds aren’t the fastest way but offer benefits.

Roses from seeds take longer but produce new types. Professional hybridizers propagate an easy-to-grow, disease-resistant rose.

Each seedling’s bloom will surprise you. It’s like opening a childhood birthday present.

There are various steps to growing roses from seeds. Professionals start by monitoring flowering and pollination in the garden to choose their favorite types. But, first, we’ll collect seeds.

1. Seed Collection

Rose hips need four months to ripen on the plant. In October, chop off the ripened rose hip using the correct garden tool.

1. Ripe rose hips are cut in half to remove seeds before placing the seeds in a clean jar.
2. Add some diluted bleach to destroy bacteria and fungus spores. Two tablespoons of bleach in water are enough.
3. Mix the seeds, and then rinse with bottled water to rinse off all the bleach. Next, add hydrogen peroxide to the seeds to clean and disinfect them further.
4. You can soak your seeds for 24 hours before rinsing to remove traces of hydrogen peroxide.

This is the best time to conduct a water float test. Remove all seeds that float as these won’t be viable.

2. Starting Rose Seeds

Rose seeds must be stratified before planting. Cold, moist storage helps seeds germinate.

Stratified seeds germinate quicker when chilled for six to ten weeks. However, they can germinate inside your fridgeif kept cold for too long.

1. Place your seeds on a paper towel and then moisten them.
2. Use half purified water and half peroxide to prevent mold.
3. Place them in a plastic zippered bag, identify the date and variety, and store them in a 1 to 3 degrees C refrigerator. You can also use clear plastic film canisters rather than plastic bags with the towel in the bottom.

The towel should remain moist throughout, yet sometimes you can re-moisten it.

The seeds can also be planted in a potting mix and refrigerated for weeks. A plastic bag keeps the tray moist.

3. Planting Seeds

1. Remove the bag from the refrigerator when your seeds are ready to sow after 6-10 weeks.
2. Plant your seeds in shallow trays or small pots.
3. Different rose hip kinds require distinct trays. Harvesting, treatment, and planting must all follow labels. On trays or pots, write the rose bush name and planting date.
4. Fill trays or pots with potting soil. You can use 50 percent sterile potting soil and 50 percent vermiculite, or half peat and half perlite.
5. Take your seeds from the paper towel as your potting mix is ready in your trays and pots.
6. Remember to remove seeds from the plastic bag and lightly dust them only when ready to plant.
7. Plant seeds 1/4 inch deep and dust again to prevent damping off illness.
8. Water, and place in direct sunlight.

Place your seeds under a tree or in a protected patio area to protect your seeds from frost.

Keep the soil moist, but don’t soak them. If they dry out, your seeds may not germinate. (Read Powdery Mildew On Roses – What to Do)

4. Monitor Germination

First, two seed leaves emerge after six weeks, then true leaves.

Before transplanting, seedlings need three to four true leaves.

They’re ready to be transplanted once the seedlings reach a few inches tall with at least three true leaves.

As seedlings grow in new pots, color, form, bush size, branching, and disease resistance must be monitored.

You could remove Roses with weak, diseased, or unattractive flowers.

New seedlings take at least three years to mature into a large rose bush, but the first flowers appear after one or two years.

What Is The Easiest Way To Grow Roses From Seed?

Grow roses from seeds to create a masterpiece. Save rose seeds and seedlings, and you can save money.

Growing roses from seeds are key to a flourishing rose garden that doesn’t offer the same flower propagation would do.

What You Need:

• Rose seeds
• Hydrogen peroxide
• Sharp knife
• Garden tools
• Strainer
• Pure water (for germination)
• Paper towels
• Seedling trays
• Potting mix

1. Collect and Save Rose Seeds

The bulge – an ovary known as the rose hips — is seen behind a rose bloom. The rose seeds are found within the rose hips. (Learn How To Treat Blackspot On Roses)

Once the rose hips have ripened, and the blossoms have faded, the first step is to remove them from the plant and cut them open carefully.

After cutting it open, you’ll notice that the bulge is densely filled with seeds.

Using the tip of your knife or garden tool, collect the seeds.

2. Clean Your Rose Seeds

1. The next step is to clean the seeds to remove any leftover pulp after harvesting the seeds from the rose hips.
2. Placing the seeds in a mesh or strainer and running them under running water is a quick and easy way to clean them.

This step is critical because leftover pulps may hinder the seeds from germinating.

3. Germinate Seeds

To germinate rose seeds, soak the rose seeds in a diluted hydrogen peroxide combination. This step is optional, but it helps prevent mold from growing on the seeds.

1. Mix 1 cup water + 1.5 teaspoons 3 percent hydrogen peroxide.
2. Soak the rose seeds for one hour in this solution.
3. If hydrogen peroxide isn’t readily available in your home, you can use an anti-fungal powder for plants instead. Lightly dust the seeds with the powder.
4. The cool temperature is ideal for sprouting rose seeds. As a result, you’ll need to sandwich them between gently dampened paper towels or in a slightly damp salt-free sand, vermiculite, or peat moss container.
5. The next step is to place the paper towel containing the rose seeds in a seedling tray or reusable plastic bag and place it in the refrigerator for about six weeks.

Stratification is the name given to this process. If you’re using store-bought seeds with a label that says they’ve already been stratified, you can skip this step and go straight to planting.

4. Remove Seeds From Fridge

Depending on the rose variety, seeds might take anywhere from 4 to 16 weeks to germinate.

1. Around 70% of the time, they won’t sprout at all.
2. Make sure the temperature outside is around 70° Fahrenheit before taking the seeds from the fridge.
3. Set the seeds aside and get them ready to plant.

5. Plant the Rose Seeds

As soon as the rose seeds sprout, plant them.

1. To give each seed adequate space to grow, sow the sprouted seeds in seedling trays at 1/4 inch and 2 inches apart.
2. Use a moist but not soggy soil combination.
3. The sprouted seeds usually take one week to grow and become a rose seedling.

6. Transplant Seedlings

After the last frost has passed, it is the optimum time to transplant your rose seedlings.

Rose seedlings should also be transplanted to a larger pot or planter for 1 or 2 years before being transplanted outside with the other plants.

Adding fertilizer to the rose plant throughout the warmer months can help it grow bigger and add more blooms. (Learn How Many Types Of Roses Are There)

Are Roses Easy To Grow From Seed?

Growing roses from seed can be difficult because most of the seeds you harvest will not germinate. Most rose plants, fortunately, develop many seeds inside their rose hips.

Please keep in mind that the seeds you collect may grow into a plant with unique characteristics. For example, this can happen if a hybrid rose variety is harvested or if the rose has been pollinated by pollen from another neighboring rose variety.

• Once the rose hips are ripe, remove them. Rose hips grow small and green, then start crimson, orange, brown, or purple as they mature.
• Each rose hip contains a different quantity of seeds, depending on the rose variety. Therefore, there could be a few or many dozen per rose hip.
• Soak the seeds in hydrogen peroxide that has been diluted. Mold growth on seeds may be inhibited by a solution of water and hydrogen peroxide.
• Although some studies suggest that a small amount of mold growth helps the casing’s breakdown covering the seed, this treatment is suggested to prevent mold growth in larger quantities.
• This step can be replaced with a little sprinkle of anti-fungal powder for plants.
• In a wet medium, place the seeds. Rose seeds will not sprout unless kept in a cold, moist climate, similar to that of a winter garden.
• Refrigerate the seeds for at least a week. Then, place the seeds and moist material in a plastic bag or seedling trays and store them in a refrigerator’s cold section, such as an otherwise empty crisper drawer.
• Keep slight dampness in the seed media. When the paper towels dry out, add a few drops of water to each one.
• Remove the seeds out of the fridge. Try to do this in the early spring, around the time when the seeds would typically germinate.
• Because this is the root, the plant with the sprout pointing downward cover them lightly with soil.
• Within a week, sprouted seeds should emerge as seedlings. However, store-bought seeds that don’t need to be stratified at home can take several weeks to germinate.
• It may take two or three years for seeds that have not been stratified using the germination process outlined above to emerge.
• Keep warm, moist soil for the seedlings. Keep a moist but not saturated soil.
• For most rose varieties, a 60–70°F (16–21°C) temperature is appropriate.
• The seedlings need at least six hours of direct sunlight per day to survive, but you should research the parent rose variety to understand better what your roses prefer.
• The “cotyledons,” or seed leaves, are usually the first two leaves visible.
• Once the seedling gets several “true leaves,” it is likely to survive transplantation.
• Wait until after the last frost to transplant it outside. Then, when the transplanted seedling appears healthy, you can start routine watering.

Following the fertilizer instructions. You can usefew times inthe warm growing season. It couldhelp your plant grow and bloom. Remember,certain rose varieties will not bloom duringtheir first year.

Is Growing Roses From Seed Hard?

Rose hips contain the rose seed, which can be planted to produce fresh young rose seedlings.

Roses of a particular species are known as wild roses. Self-fertile, they reproduce swiftly by putting down seeds. As a result, wild rose seedlings will resemble the parent plant in appearance. As a result, growing wild rose hip seeds will yield comparable plants.

Hybrid roses do not produce true seedlings. By germinating seeds from hybrid roses, you will create a new hybrid. It’s exciting since you never know what you’re going to get!

The fresh rose seedlings will take some time to grow. Your first flowers could take up to three years to appear. Growing roses from seed are pretty simple if they are properly prepared beforehand.

This process includes stratification, or a period of cold, moist cooling.

The most challenging component of growing roses from seed is the waiting period. First, you must wait for your seeds to mature before you can harvest them.

When Do I Pick Rose Hips?

It’s critical to harvest rose hips as they mature on the plant before harvesting them for seed gathering.

Allow at least twelve to sixteen weeks for rose hips to grow on the rose shrub.

What Do Rose Seeds Look Like?

To reveal the seeds inside a mature rose hip, gently crack it open. Hairs and flesh surround the seeds, the flesh of which is the rose’s fruit. A solitary seed is included in each luscious fruit.

You can also use a moist paper towel, though this is not our preferred method. Tiny roots can weave into the paper towel if the seeds sprout in the fridge, making it difficult to remove them.

How To Plant Rose Seeds?

There are two types of seeds extracted from wild rose hips.

Some people may have gone through a natural period of stratification because of being outside in subzero temperatures all winter.

Plant half the seeds in a cell tray and planting rose seeds in vermiculite after a thirty-day chill in the refrigerator; cover both options of successful to grow roses from seed.

Rose Seed Germination

The tray of seeds can be placed on a heat mat to help the seeds germinate. If all goes well, the rose seeds should germinate in six weeks. It takes time for different types and varieties of rose bushes to germinate varies. (Learn How to Prune a Rose Bush)

How to grow roses from seed isn’t too challenging besides waiting for your rose bushes to show their full potential.