Hybrid Help! What am I Doing Wrong, and Seed Pod Questions!

11 years ago

I'm not too sure what I'm doing wrong. I'm new to African Violets but I've fallen head over heels for them! I've spent weeks researching them and have watched all the videos I can get my hands on.

I started out with one violet, and about a week later bought another from a local fruits and veggies store. I used the older plant as the paternal one to pollinate the younger plant (older and younger as in when I bought them). I put the pollen on the stigma of two blooms and waited. A month later, one of the blooms shrivels, but the seed pod is microscopic. The other blooms is okay. The seed pod didn't develop much, so I figured it's time to pollinate one more bloom. I use the pollen from the paternal plant to pollinate a bloom on the maternal plant. It looks good.

A week later, the last of the two original blooms starts to shrivel - but again, tiny seed pod.

I see now, about a week and a half later that the newly pollinated flower has a few dead petals. The seed pod is very green, but not swollen. I think it is starting to shrivel but I'm having the same problem yet again!

I've also noticed some of the other plants have huge seed pods (but in odd shapes, and a faded white-green color). I guess they some how became self pollinated?

I water whenever the soil starts to feel dry, I don't fertilize because I don't know if the soil is charged or not (I haven't repotted either plant yet, but I plan on repottting the paternal plant soon because it has lots of suckers growing off of it).

My violets are in my kitchen garden window. Not all the way in the front, but they get a good amount of sunlight. Maybe it's not humid enough? Summers here in Pennsylvania are always unbearably humid though. Granted, we have the AC running in the room next door, but the kitchen doesn't have AC.

What can I do to help increase my success in hybridizing? Is there ANY chance these tiny seed pods will have fertile seeds? Or seeds at all?

This question is unrelated, but I also have cloned three leaves from the paternal plant. I planted them about a month ago, but no signs of plants growing from them yet. The leaves feel a little limp, but look good for the most part. Is there anyway I can tell if they'll be successful?

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Comments (5)

Karin
11 years ago
If you have blossoms left, I'd say pollinate them all. And maybe bag the plant for a bit of extra humidity. If they all 'take' then remove all but about 3-5.

I understand the frustration. I'm dabbling in hybridizing myself and when the blossoms shrivel up, I get frustrated, though not nearly as much as when the seed pod dies a few months in (4 or more months may yield viable offspring, 6-9 months is mature).

I typically remove the petals before pollinating - that marks which ones are "done" and in my superstition, the blossom doesn't shrivel up and take the pod along with it.... (Careful on double blossoms - I've torn enough of them apart (including stigma) that I now just cut the petals off).

Try pollinating in reverse. Unless you're trying for variegation, it may just be that the "mother" doesn't set seed easily....

Try doming or bagging your leaf starts, and water before the soil is bone dry. Dryish is about the right time. ;-p

Good luck, and keep us posted :-)

Here's some of my seedlings:
supertinyviolet
Original Author
11 years ago
Thank you so much for your reply! I really appreciate all of the information. I didn't even think to pollinate all of them - I just did 3 because the videos I watched had only pollinated one or two and I thought that would be enough. Unfortunately, my all of my paternal plant's blooms have fallen off (too many suckers, a lot of the blooms were on their way out when I had bought them, but the plant itself looks very healthy. It's growing rapidly - I can't believe it. It's a good time to repot though, since it's not like I have to sacrifice my pretty little flowers). By the way, about how long does it take for new flowers to bloom after repotting? Once both plants are ready, I'll try again. I'm so excited!

That's a great idea as well! I had just tied strings around the ones I pollinated. I had seen a few people take off the petals of their pollinated ones, but I wasn't sure how much of a difference it'd make. And even if that is just a superstition, I wouldn't be surprised if it were true.

It may be the mother plant's fault - but I also don't know if I pollinated too late? The flowers had been quite open by the time I pollinated, and the paternal plant's pollen was also a bit old (though, I read older pollen is actually considered better in some cases).

Thank you for the suggestion, I'll give it a go! Would getting a humidifier do the same job, or would it not help as much since all of the humidity wouldn't be concentrated in one little space? (I think all the plants could use a little more humidity)

Will do :)

Wow, your seedlings look great! The leaves are very interesting - good luck with them!
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fortyseven_gw
11 years ago
The variegated seedlings are wonderful! May I ask, what are the parents, or is that classified info? Joanne
Karin
11 years ago
Joanne, they're senks snowy egret x the madam. Whatever possessed me to cross two standard trailers, I don't know ;-p

They are nice varieties though and a mix of them both should be rather interesting :-)

Karin
supertinyviolet
Original Author
11 years ago
Sounds like quite the mix. I'd love to see how the hybrids turn out.