Hybridizing

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Hybridizing
John Mitchie Moe Master Rosarians Pacific
Northwest District American Rose Society
Photo by Rich Baer
Seattle Sunrise
(Pristine x Selfridges) x Finest Hour
February 15, 2012
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Acknowledgements

• Photos by authors, except where credits are shown
• Excellent sources
• Rose Hybridizing for Beginners,
• Rose Hybridizers Association
• Rose Hybridizing The Next Step,
• Rose Hybridizers Association

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The Concept of Hybridizing

• Definition to produce or cause to produce
  hybrids to crossbreed
• So then to hybridize, take the pollen from the
  stamens of one flower and apply it to the pistils
  of another

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Genetics?
Photo by Jason Kottke
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How it Really Works!
Photo by Rich Baer
Credit - Photo Files
Love Peace
Blue Peter
A cross of these two.
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Produced These Seedlings
Judie
Barbara
Lynn
Seedling
Seedling
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But, Before You Start

• Stop and picture your ideal rose
• Now what characteristics should it have?
• Some possibilities include
• A particular form e.g., HT, Fl, Mini, etc.
• A specific color
• Fragrance
• Disease resistance

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Choosing a Trait of Interest

• The possibilities are endless because of DNA
• Thus focus on your interest before you begin!
• Do your research, and then select your parents

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A Good Place to Start

• Are the parents healthy roses?
• Are the parents of those parents healthy?
• Are other combinations of its parents healthy?
• You need a good reference book for parentage
  e.g., Modern Roses or Helpmefind.com
• Then plan your crosses!

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The Anatomy of a Rose
Roses are capable of self fertilization as each
has stamens (male organs), and pistils (female
organs)
Texas A M Rose Breeding Genetics Program
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Gather Your Supplies
Tweezers, camel hair brush, pollen
containers (35mm film, baby food jars,
etc), Q-tips, tags
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Selecting the bloom
Stamens should be starting to show, so anthers
are mature The more petals, the more it must be
open Timing can be critical!
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Emasculating the bloom
Remove petals to expose the stamens and pistils
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Emasculated Bloom
Petals removed Pistils surrounded by the
anthers containing pollen
Anthers
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Removing the anthers
Carefully remove anthers with tweezers or fingers
Stamens with anthers removed
Stigma
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Collecting Pollen
Let mature anthers drop to a sheet of paper for
drying to release pollen
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Drying Pollen
Most pollen will be released by the next day The
powder-like grains of pollen will be visible on
the paper
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Storing Pollen
Store pollen in a covered container away from
sunlight at room temp for 1 2 weeks, or
refrigerate up to 4 weeks Freeze for long term
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Applying Pollen
Apply generous amount of pollen by clean
fingertip, Q-tip, pipe cleaner, or camel hair
brush
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Label your Cross
Label should be weather- proof List seed parent
first followed by the pollen parent Include date!
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Hip Developing
If pollination was initially successful, the hip
will start to swell in a few weeks
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Hips Maturing
It takes 90 120 days so the seeds that are
inside are mature and ripe for harvest
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Hips can be any size!
R. acicularis
One of my crosses Gemini x Seattle Sunrise
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Hip cut opened
Dried stigma
Connected to ovary
Seeds
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Hip and seeds
Harvest the hip and cut open to remove the hard,
bony seeds Wash to remove all parts of the
fleshy hip
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Soaking seeds
Soak for 1-2 days in a mild fungicide solution to
prevent mold that can kill the embryo in storage
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Stratifying the Seeds
Store in moist Perlite for 6 weeks at room temp,
followed by 6 weeks in fridge before planting
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Sowing the Seeds
Use a 2 inch deep tray with drain holes and plant
¼ - ½ in deep in sterile potting soil
(peat/Perlite 11) or Sunshine 4 Add no
fertilizer!
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Seedling sprouting
Once sprouted, give tray 16 hours of light per
day Keep moist! Mist weekly with mild
fungicide to prevent damp-off
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Seedling after a few weeks
In 5 6 weeks you should see some buds The
waiting seems forever!
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Waiting for that first bloom
Watch growth for vigor, disease resistance, etc.
Here are a couple of nice, healthy buds!
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The first bloom!
More waiting, but a nice one! Now, wasnt the
wait worth it?
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The Next Step

• Wait for next bloom how many petals, how long
  to repeat, etc.
• If a keeper, take some cuttings to see how it
  propagates
• Plant some to check vigor, disease resistance,
  etc.
• Evaluate did it meet your goal?

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Questions?
Photo by Corinne Brown
Hot To Trot
Klima x Freisinger Morgenrote
Thank you