From what I have read, I think it can take up to six months. As far as exactly when,...I will leave that to the experts, hah.

I had the pleasure of attending a lecture by Jeff Jackson, the Canadian hybridizer of Imp's series at the Gesneriad Convention in Omaha this summer.

Yes - just as Marina said - young lady X older man. The seedpods mature in 4-9 months. Seems that semi -mini and minis mature faster.

Why 9 months - seems like too long - it is a length of the dry season in their natural habitat. So the seeds will be ripe to the beginning of the next wet season.

I didn't start Saintpaulias - but I started plenty of gesneriads. Seeds are very small, you sprinkle the on the surface of the premoistened soil do not cover them. Keep them under the light and under the dome, mist them. Fresh seeds hatch fast, if you want to hold to them - put them in a fridge - otherwise they lose viablity. When the hatchlings show up - try to repot them as soon as possible to handle them, and repot them often - at least fork them up and put them back. Tickling the roots triples the growth speed.

You probably already found this information - but Dr. Jeff Smith put a table - which treats are dominant, which are recessive. It is more complicated than plain Mendel's laws, because some treats come as a combination of genes. But - when you have your goal - lets say you want white on variegated foliage. Leaf variegation comes from a seed parent. White is very recessive treat - so if you cross white with not white - you need to cross the progeny back to white parent - or cross the first generation between themselves.

I believe you will enjoy it immensely.

Good Luck

Irina

So are you saying a female violet needs a "sugar daddy"??? OMG! Rosie

Rosie...

lets say - young ladies looking for a good guy to marry, are not interested in teenage boys with zits.

Bad,,. bad I.

I agree. Which means if YOU are Bad,,,bad then so am I !!!!! lol Rosie

Sorry, couldn't respond till now! Thanks for the tips Irina! They are much appreciated. Um, mark me down as #3 (I'm totally not a teenager myself.... shhhh). As my mom says, men aren't viable until about age 35. Broadly speaking, I believe her.

Anyway--I'll look into more specific traits n stuff, but for now I'm just gonna cross plants I like and see what happens. Since I love literally all of them, it'll be interesting, and also a jungle.

And, as you are already likely aware, don't be surprised if many to most of the progeny are "uninspiring". Obtaining truly unique, attractive progeny is not a given nor a frequent occurrence.

Welcome to the club Marina! Rosie

Much thank! yeah, I figure most will be kinda boring--but I'll love them all the same!

Good luck to you Marina! Rosie