Seed pod stem getting mushy

21 years ago

Hi Everybody. Long time, no chat. Well, I pollinated my Pink Champagne with a sport (?) of Rebel's Splatterkake. I only put a question mark after sport because people say fantasies often don't bloom true the first bloom around. It's about to bloom again, so I'll know for sure soon. But I don't have much hope since it was very different, just like Rebel's Night Breezes as far as I can tell.

So, I pollinated Pink Champagne, which I think is a semi-mini trailer, with this standard back in May. I was trying to wait as long as possible for the seed pod to ripen, it's been about 3 1/2 months now, but the stalk the pod is on has started to turn brown and mushy, and I'm afraid that the rot will spread up to the pod. I'm hoping its close to ripeness, if only because the mother is a semi-mini and they are supposed to have shorter pregnancies.

So the question is, do you think I should remove the pod? I'm worried about rotting. And just set it in a dry warm place for another month or so? The seed pod itself is still green.

Thanks all. --nikki

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Comments (4)

lainielady
21 years ago
Hi Nikki,

If your stem is rotting I would think the pod should be removed.There was a recent post suggesting the seed pod should be allowed to fully dry before removing the seed from the pod. The poster(who is very knowledgable) said some viable seed should be produced after sbout 4 months, which might be your situation, although it usually takes much longer. I'm sorry but I can't remember which post addressed this matter. If it comes to me(sometimes I think the memory is going) I'll be sure to provide the link. Good luck!

Elaine
User
Original Author
21 years ago
Thanks Elaine. Yeah, everything I've heard says the seed pod should dry and you should let it dry on the stem, but if it falls off too early, to put it in a dry place in a paper towel and let it dry. It didn't fall off, but it was looking mushy and I was getting scared, so I've taken it off.

One of my books on african violets, the one coauthored by Gwen Goodship (can't remember the other person) says minis may complete their pregnancy in 3-4 months, while standards ususally take at least 6. So I'm hoping that, because Champagne Pink is a semi-mini, mine is close to being done. I'll let you guys know in a few weeks how the pod looks.
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akheadbanger
21 years ago
How do you get the AV's to Seed? Ive tried for the past month... or two with my AV's i only have 2 and 2 AV cuttings that one i found at lowes that was all hey im fallen off. and then the other is one taht fell off of an AV. Is it this dificult to get a AV to pollonate? i know the Yellow things are the male part the long thing is the female... but it seems like they dont want to polinate! The leaves start to wilt inward then the stem mulsh away... What a pain!

cheers
User
Original Author
21 years ago
Hey. You have to pollinate both with ripe pollen and when the stigma is receptive (man, i hope i got those terms right). The pollen should be like dust, not sticky at all, and the stigma (??), the long thing with the white tip, that tip should be kinda moist. Use single big flowers the first time to help.

So the seed pod started to go brown very quickly after I took it off the stem. I took some seed from it a few days later and sowed it. I also stored some of that seed. Additionally, I let some stay in the seed pod and maybe I can use that later, too. We'll see.