i have all these purple violets
i want to know how to make differed kind
if i get some white one or blue one can i mix and get differed kind
elle
how to combin plant
Are you wanting to breed yours with another color,or are you asking about combining them in the same container?
i want to breedwith enother color
elle
I want to know about combining them in the same container. I have 6 plants and don't want to breake off all the leaves (they are brittle and I am clumsey).
why do you want the six in one container
I want to combine them because I dont't have enough space.
ok
how about a large flower box
take the whole plant and put it in
you should be able to put 3 or 4 in one
elle
I did that recently with episcias (put 5 episcias and a couple of alsobias in a 42" window box planter), but I've never done it with AVs... I think it would be hard to keep nice symmetry on the individual plants if you potted them together... I've tried those siamese type planters (like two pots joined together side by side), and there wasn't enough room for both plants to look nice once the AVs started crowding together.
You can cross-pollinate AV blooms and then grow out the seeds to create your own hybrids. But if you're just interested in getting some different colored flowers, it's probably simpler to just buy a couple more plants with blooms that are just what you want.
i want to lean how to cross -pollinate av blooms.
That sounds really exciting Ellesgh..Well here I was all set to send you up to the sticky on the top of the av forum that says African Violets and Gesneriads: African Violet Care & Related Links Fun to Grow and Share has links for info on hybridizing av's but I don't hink they are active links anymore?
Hybridizing African Violets
[HYPERLINK@www.rosebudm.com] (LAVG site)
[HYPERLINK@www.metro-garden.com] (Metro Garden Site)
Well I guess that won't help you at all! lol..
Maybe we can find some other links somewhere else to help you.I seem to remember a few here who hybridize their own violets but can't for the life of me remember who they are right at the moment.ahhhh...I think Keyring and Snowrose were 2 who know how? I haven't seen either of them posting for quite some time now tho : (
Here's a good link from our AV sticky (check out the resource thread at the top of the forum) on growing AVs from seed: http://geocities.com/rachelsreflections/Janet.htm
It looks like the links on hybridizing AVs aren't working any longer. Anybody have a link to a good intro on how to pollinate an AV bloom? Basically, I think it's like any other bloom... touch pollen/anther from one plant to stamen on bloom on the other plant. There is one link under "hybridizing" with some information on dominant/recessive traits that should be useful... info is from the guy who writes the great AVSA magazing articles about hybridizing issues.
You generally have to grow out a LOT of AV babies to get a couple of really good new hybrids. Some will be OK, some will be duds (weak plants or unattractive blooms, may bloom very seldom, etc). I'm fairly sure that you have to know at least one (named/registered) parent in order to register a new hybrid, although I might be thinking of daylilies rather than AVs.
Getting the AVSA magazines has been the most worthwhile thing I have ever done. I still sit back and learn from old copies.................a wealth of information is in those magazines.......I covet them..........all of them..............
thank-you all for all your help
well keep you in touch
elle
So you are all saying that i can't put them i one container?
It depends on the look you want... unless you space them (standards) 12 inches apart, they're eventually going to run into each other and not be able to form nice rosettes. And if they're spaced that widely, there's probably going to be too much extra potting mix in with them... overpotted AVs tend to run into root rot problems, because the excess potting mix holds too much extra moisture. If you don't mind the foliage tangling (it's a different look, but not "wrong" unless you're being judged at an AVSA event, LOL), then give it a try. And let us know how you like it! :-)
Maureen, you are so funny! I agree with Critter about too much soil, etc...............and then watering is going to be a nightmare......(LOL)
Next week or the week after there is going to be a show in MA and I am planning to go so i can get some more info. I am no expert and you are all so informative, so I guess I 'll go to the show so they can also tell me combinging them is not a good idea (tho critterologist, you are very kind not to laugh out loud - tho gessiegail I don't mind that either). I think i'm going to just going to have to give them up - which i hate to do because they're always in bloom - but i just don't have enough room. The thought of throwing them away breaks my heart.
Maureen...........I laugh at myself for some of the things i try.......that is how we learn. Who knows? I would try that way before I threw them out for sure!
Maybe you just need to get creative in other ways to find more room for them... how about hanging baskets? Since AV's don't actually "hang" (even the trailing ones don't generally dangle that much), you could do multi-tiered ones, or even put pots into something like those multi-level mesh hanging baskets that I think might be for fruit or something...
Adding... if you have larger planters, you might be able to tuck potted African violets around the base of a larger plant... again, I'd leave them in the pot rather than putting them directly into a much larger planter because of the watering issue with a larger pot.
And I wouldn't laugh -- it's quite a reasonable question!
good idea Critter. I am going to try some of those tiered ones just to get more plants in the house! Thanks
*******Puhleeeeze, don't anyone think I am laughing at someone...........just with Maureen and I am assuming this is the Maureen I know...........am not being critical in anyway...............
This message was edited Mar 30, 2008 7:20 PM
Maureen,
I feel so badly. You are not the trading partner maureen that I know or I wouldn't have been teasing with you. Please accept my apology and do come back!
gail
I don't feel offended in ANY way. Gessiegail, I was glad you had a laugh. Thanks again Critter for another idea. You are all a big help.
Yeah! I didn't run you off afterall (LOL)
SOmeone wrote an article here recently about 'designing' or making room for more houseplants. It was posted on the homepage. It was very interesting. But unfortunately I've already done all the space-saving -layering techniques the author suggested! LOL Anyone else read that article?
A great book that has the abc's of pollinating, propagating, etc is:
African Violets, The Complete Guide by Joan Hill and Gwen Goodship.
I found it at the local library and then ordered a copy for myself through the local bookstore (this was back in Oregon).
I sacrificed a few flowers by snipping them off and ungraciously rubbing them together with a different flowers in another planter (the flowers were all fresh and the pollen soft). A couple weeks later, I could see the buldging seedheads forming. It took months for the seedheads to finish developing and then I followed the painstaking instructions in the book (used margarine bowls and plastic wrap) and the seed germinated.
This was two years ago now and the babies all have various colors and varieties of both flower and leaf (The flowers I crossed were a violet single with white trim and a small double pale purple) I wish I had a digital camera to send pictures :(
It was painstaking and nerve-wracking, but fun and satisfying as well. I hope this info helps.