African Violets?

[LeviathanGirl]

Is there anyone else on the forum here who enjoy growing African Violets as a hobby? I've been growing them for about 7 years now and have had several rare varieties over the years, including chimera violets. Loss of electricity over the winter killed hundreds of my plants and I'm now down to only a handful, but I have a few boxes of leaves and baby plants coming when the weather warms up a little bit more. This year I'm going to be hybridizing them as well as propagating them and already have seed pods maturing from a cross I did between 2 of my favorite plants. I'm very excited and cant wait to see what new varieties the seeds will produce!

I also work with several other houseplants and do some outdoor gardening. This year my fiancee and I will be building a special insulated/heated shed to grow edible mushrooms in. We plan on starting out with Shiitake, Reishi and Oyster mushrooms and then building up to several other species. It will be a new gardening venture for us and we're very excited. I'd appreciate any input anyone experienced can give me on the subject and look forward to sharing info of any kind with my fellow gardeners.

Just for fun and sharing, heres some photos I took of the 2 plants I crossed for my first hybridization project. The one on the left is a chimera violet called Yukako and the one on the right is an older variety called Rhapsody Cora.

 

[simonas]

I dont have a garden but they are lovely flowers

 

[iSnail]

I dont have a garden but they are lovely flowers

Those are small house plants in the UK, Simon. Sure you can keep a few of them

@LeviathanGirl
I used to keep a few african violets (don't know the varieties) but never really took good care of them and lost them over the years . I particularly liked the minature varieties (both single and double petalled ones). You have some lovely varieties there. Would be nice to see what comes out of the hybridization. How long does it take from seed to flower?

 

[LeviathanGirl]

They are really pretty and grow wonderfully if you know how to care for them. I havent even started on the outdoor garden yet this year, it still frosts over on clear mornings, but I do have some plants for it started in my plantroom. I've never seen a store bought violet with a variety name on it, most people in the hobby try to identify them if they buy them, but it isnt always possible. You can find a list of registered violet names on the American Violet Association website and most of them have photographs, unfortunately their redoing the site so its not all up right now. I get most my plants from other hobbyists and online dealers who specialize in them, so they keep the registered names strait.

As for the seed to bloom question, thats a good question. This is my first time growing from seed and it can take anywhere from 7-24 days for them to sprout. Some varieties grow faster than others and alot depends on care and growing conditions as to how long before you get blooms. I'm guessing I'll have them blooming within at least 6 months after they sprout, but I'm not positive. The seeds are like tiny grains of sand. They have to be spread on top of finely sifted peat (cause falling into cracks in soil can prevent growth) and kept humid to grow properly, by putting the grow container under a humidity dome or in a plastic baggy. All I can do at this point is cross my fingers and hope they grow. LOL

I cant wait to get my spring leaf and plantlet shipments. If your interested in trying them again I can point you to groups and whatnot where you can find good information on growing them. Before I started really getting into them and did some research I couldnt keep one alive to keep myself alive, but now its all so easy! I got a plant last year from a friend that hadnt bloomed in over 2 years, it had been poorly kept for a violet, I fixed her up and had her blooming in 4 months. XD

 

[iSnail]

I find they do better when there is more light. Are you into Gloxinia too since they are quite similar?