Rose hips generally take about 100 days to mature.

Oh ok. Guess I'll have to wait 10 days more. :D

The general rule for hips to be fully ripe is 90 to 120 days depending on the variety. Your hip does seem to have some slight color on it so it's probably close to being ripe already.

Yes, the hip is beginning to change color a bit and will likely be rather yellow / orange in about three weeks. I have often harvested hips at the stage shown in your photo with the seeds proving to be mature and germinating well, though it doesn't hurt to wait several more weeks for the hips to more fully ripen.

Terrance

Thanks for all the information everyone. I think I'll just wait a little bit more just to see it change color. This is my first time with rose hips after all. :D

It's completely possible for the hip NOT to change color. That is a function of ripening, just as it is with apples. If the sun isn't hot or brilliant enough to trigger the genes to accomplish the color change they are programmed to accomplish, it isn't changing color until it yellows or turns brown and mushy, then falls off. Around my area, something is guaranteed to EAT it long before then. Kim

We have birds here who eat everything in their sight. (My poor Lavender seedlings...) Hopefully they don't try something funny with the roses. XD

In late summer when they start to turn I cover my hips with aluminum foil, not tightly because you don't want them to get damp and rot, but just loosely to deter critters from eating them. It keeps the squirrels away from them around here.

Birds, squirrels, rats...you name it. Rose hip pulp and seeds are STUFFED with vitamins and the vermin know it. Why do you think we have used rose hips for medicinal purposes for centuries? Kim

That's a great tip for more northern climates. Don't try it where temps are high nor closer to the Equator or you will broil them quickly. Kim

I just harvested the hip today. One of my basil seedlings and the new leaves on one of my rose bushes were taken by birds today so I took it before they can. I got these two seeds from it. It was a small hip after all. :D

So I cold stratify these right? But for how many weeks should I keep them in the fridge?

You can stratify them in the refrigerator for anywhere from a few weeks to many months...IF you want, but they usually don't require it. Neon Lights is a modern rose. Their seeds generally don't require cold stratification to germinate. I have planted many hundreds, perhaps a few thousand, modern rose seeds over the past nearly three decades without stratifying them and germination occurred. There are several methods you can use if you wish. I don't hold them in the refrigerator to induce germination but to delay it. If it is hot where you are now, holding them in the refrigerator until temperatures cool closer to the seventy degree and lower ranges will help them germinate better. Most often, rose seeds don't sprout when temperatures are high (eighties and higher). That isn't written in stone, but is most often the way it works. Good luck! Kim

Look's like I'll be planting these babies by June. Summer's just officially started here according to the news. It's gonna be hot and dry, and I doubt little rose seedlings will want to grow under those conditions.

I have still have some hips here that'll mature by the end of April. I think I'm gonna planting those seeds without cold stratification. Thanks again for the helpful info Kim! :D

Oh yeah, one more thing. I got some hips from Center Gold that got seeds outside of them. Are these seeds viable?

You're welcome! Exogenous seed, those formed outside the hip itself, stand as good a chance of being viable as those inside the hip. Often, it simply means there wasn't enough room inside for them. I'd plant them anyway. You never know what will come up. Good luck with them! Kim

This post was edited by roseseek on Thu, Mar 27, 14 at 13:17

Thanks again for the helpful information Kim! I can't wait to see my first rose seedlings. :D