Should One Use Discard Rose Seeds That Float?
The use of a float test for rose seeds is one of those undocumented "facts" that does not appear to be supported by published controlled scientific studies.
Consider the following:
1) Many species rose seeds all float so the test definitely does not apply to them.
2) For hybrid rose seeds: In the 1937 American Rose Annual Lela V. Barton in the article "Germinating Hybrid Rose Seeds", pages 33-36, writes the following:
"Of the special lots of the 1931 crop where sinking and floating seeds were kept in separate cultures, it was shown that there was no apparent relation between the floating of a seed and its failure to germinate. The 3,760 floating seeds gave a germination of 44 per cent while 32,037 sinking seeds gave only 30 per cent."Lela V. Barton worked at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, Yonkers, New York.
The paper starts with the following Editor's Note. -- "Previous Annuals have reported both failure and success in germinating the precious seeds resulting from careful hybridization. Seemingly, the resources, skill, and care at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research afforded the best conditions, wherefore application was made to its chief, Dr. Crocker, for details, thus kindly provided through Miss Barton."