Food-Gardening Lessons From A Wartime Victory Garden

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Tag: Cultivation

I Bought Rose Seeds Online. Are They Good?

“I purchased rose seeds on [online] and didn’t know they were from China till they shipped (rose image above). I’d love it if you could tell me if they are or are not rose seeds. I’m new to roses, and knowing if these are or are not rose seeds will be very helpful. Thank you so much! :)” Question from Bradley of Cleves, Ohio

Answer: You can plant your rose seed, but they will not mature, as shown in the picture. Many misleading plants and seeds are sold online, and this is one of them. The rose shown in the advertisement is a rambling hybrid climber with beautiful double red roses. It is not seed-grown. All hybrid roses available today are specially bred varieties grown from rooted cuttings or cuttings grafted onto a rootstock (probably a bit too much technical information). To put it plainly, rose cuttings are snipped off stem tips taken from hybrid roses. These are then dipped in a hormone that helps them root, and placed in lightly moist soil until they root and can be potted up and eventually planted into the ground.

Growing roses from seed is rare unless you are a rose breeder. Seed-grown plants will be variable in appearance and take a long time to grow. There are a few reliable seed vendors that sell rose seed, such those of  ‘Angel Wings’ miniature roses from Renee’s Garden Seeds, but these sources are not common. Buy full-grown plants instead. They may be a bit more expensive but well worth the investment.

Choose Reputable Companies

Buying from a trusted seed or plant source means everything. Here are my four favorite rose growers proven to provide healthy, beautiful plants.

1. David Austin Roses – This English rose company is famous for selling some of the most beautiful, vigorous, disease-resistant roses. (They are the best!!!)

2. Star Roses – If you want attractive, highly disease-resistant shrub roses, this is the go-to source.

3. Weeks Roses – Weeks is a famous American rose company with excellent varieties. You can’t go wrong with their selection and quality.

4. Jackson & Perkins – This old-American rose company has lots of wonderful varieties.

For a little extra information about choosing roses and growing them organically, watch the video below.

Starting Roses from Seed

If you want to try starting your rose seeds, they need to be chilled to enable them to sprout. Plant them in pots or a small tray of vermiculite that is just moist, not wet. Place the pots or vermiculite in a plastic bag and then chill them in the refrigerator fr 10-12 weeks. Then remove them and place them under grow lights or in a sunny window. Keep the vermiculite just moist. Ambient room temperature is ideal. They may take several weeks to sprout. Placing them on a heat mat can encourage faster germination.

Happy rose growing!

Jessie Keith

Black Gold Horticulturist

Unproductive Pumpkins

“I’d like some info on why my pumpkin seeds didn’t produce pumpkins. There were lots of leaves and flowers, but no pumpkins. I planted them plenty early enough, and there wasn’t any frost. The leaves just started dying out by mid-September.” Question from Kimberly of Vancouver, Washington

Answer: Sorry to hear your pumpkin vines did not produce pumpkins! First, make sure that all of their growing requirements are met. Pumpkins need to be planted in spring, after the threat of frost has passed, for fall harvest. Full sun, summer warmth, and space (a 12’ x 12′ to 15 x 15’ patch) are essential for vining varieties. It pays to plant them on berms (click here to read all about berming) amended with lots of organic matter. Feed them with a fertilizer formulated for vegetables, and be sure they get plenty of moisture (probably not a problem in Vancouver).

If all their growing requirements were met, there are four more possible reasons why your pumpkins did not develop.

1. Lack of pollinators

Pumpkins have two flower types, male and female, and these are bee-pollinated. The male flowers are produced first, followed by the female blooms, which have small, underdeveloped pumpkins at the base of each flower. If you see female blooms on your plants, and no bees, this could be the problem. Without pollination, the developing fruits just shrivel and drop. If you think this is the cause of your troubles, try a hand-pollination method. Simply use a small brush to move pollen from a newly opened male flower to a newly opened female flower. It’s fast, easy, and will yield pumpkins!

2. Time

Lots of pumpkin varieties require good growing conditions for more than 100 days to produce. Early pumpkins are a good choice for those living further north. The varieties ‘Flatso‘ (85 days to harvest), ‘Chucky‘ (85 days to harvest), and ‘Cinnamon Girl‘ (85 days to harvest) are all early to produce.

3. Disease

Some fungal diseases and disorders will cause the fruit to shrivel up at various stages of development if you don’t think pollinators are your problem. (Click here to read a great article from Purdue University about pumpkin diseases and solutions.)

4. Squash Vine Borers

These pests bore into the stems of pumpkins and other squash and cause whole vines to die back because they are cut off their water. Usually, with vining pumpkins, some of the vines survive because they root along the ground and survive, so this is often less of a problem. Nonetheless, click here to read a great Q&A about squash vine borers to determine if this is your problem.

Better luck with your pumpkins next year!

Jessie Keith

Black Gold Horticulturist