No rose hips on my Rosa rugosa, any ideas why?
WOO3
Posts: 14
Hello All, I bought Rosa Rugosa especially for the great big hips, I also bought another rose for its hips, and neither are giving me hips. Have no idea why. The plants are 5 yrs old, flower wonderfully, on the Rugosa the hips start to form but then go yellow and drop. I have tried watering and mulching this year, thinking it may be lacking water due to a large pine tree in the garden, but this made no difference to the hips. It flowered twice this year, once later in the year than normal, but both times shed its hips. The same with the other one bought for its hips! There are other wild roses growing in the garden, one up a tree, and all produce masses of hips. Any help would be a blessing, thank you 
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Hi WOO3, I have two white rugosas and one red. The whites do not produce hips; the red one does. I've no idea why this happens but it does!
Are they the double-flowered type? Perhaps they are genetically sterile.
If you live in Derbyshire, as I do.
Hi Pansyface,
I had thought of that, because it is double, but it does develop hips as I said, but they drop off. I bought from David Austin Roses, specifically for hips... have written to them for advice, got a reply which said that it was strange because Rugosa is normally produces gd hips, maybe it was the tree. Found that non-answer particularly unhelpful! He just repeated back to me everything I said to him!
Would a sterile rose produce hips that then fall off?
I think they may do just that Woo. Fall off
I have one that I bought in late summer, about 3 years ago. It had single flowers then.
Its habit is to have double flowers early in the season, no hips. Then single flowers very late in the season, too late to form hips even if it's capable.
Smells nice though
In the sticks near Peterborough
Hi nutcutlet, thanks for responding, but hips do form, and did this year both flowerings, then they fall off!
Hi Pansy, both my whites and the red are single. They look and smell the same, apart from in colour, of course.
I don't mind that much, since their perfume is heavenly and I know there's nothing I can do to change things!
WOO, did you try out Logan's suggestion of helping to ensure pollination? http://www.gardenersworld.com/forum/talkback/rosa-rugosa-hips-dying-before-maturity---why/754161.html
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
oh thank you Dove from above, I didn't know it was there - did you find it by doing some kind of search? THANKS SO MUCH
I had a vague memory of a similar question so I used the search facility at the top of the page and found that you'd asked it before - sometimes people can't find their old threads - if that's the problem click on your name in the top right hand corner and then click on My Posts
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.