Success from Seed -- At last!

11 years ago

Hi, everyone. This forum has been so helpful in the past with AV questions. I don't grow many violets, but have always been interested in cross pollinating them to grow new ones from seed, but without success. A few times the crosses took, but the seed did not grow. One time, I got excited when green spots began to show up on the seed starting medium, only to discover about two weeks later (with help from this forum) that I had successfully sprouted liverwort, not AV's. lol

Well, one of the cross pollinations I tried recently produced a seed pod -- Firebird (Strain I) x Blue Mist. The pod shriveled after just three months, so I was not too hopeful that the seed would be viable. But, I sowed about half of it anyway (saving the rest).... set it under the lights, went out of town, and when I came home 10 days later, discovered sprouts. They did not look like the liverwort that had sprouted that one time, and looking under a magnifying glass confirmed that they were baby AV's.(The tiny hairs on the leaves tipped me off.) :-)

Just thought I'd post here, since the members of this forum provided such helpful info during previous attempts. Thanks to all the kind people on this forum!

Firebird

Blue Mist (The color in this photo is not accurate. It is more of a violet blue than shows in the photo)

Seedlings (about 2-3 weeks old)

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Comments (11)

parr
11 years ago
Oh their so cute.Keep showing us pics as they grow
suecirish
11 years ago
Congratulations! Agree with parr - keep us up to date on the progress.
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taxonomist3
11 years ago
Congrats! I used to grow firebird for many years, and i can attest that she is a stubborn bird when it comes to crossing and getting viable seeds! Very well done!

What was your goal with this cross? My guess is that you'll be having a some single/semi-double/double blue flowers with a wide geneva band on the outer rim of the petals.
nyxx
11 years ago
Amazing! Well done. I can't wait to see what they look like grown and in bloom.
jonmcdade
11 years ago
Well done!!

This is very exciting and I hope you will keep everyone up to date with your progress.
Big Congrats
Greg
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks for all the kind responses and encouragement. Can't wait to see the blooms, and will be sure to post pictures when the days of first blooms arrive... and they cannot arrive soon enough! :-)

Taxonomist, my goal at this point was just to get a cross to take and seeds to sprout! lol I've tried some other crosses involving Lyon's Midnight Sun, Aca's Summer Parfait, and another pink with huge blooms (Kathryn something or other? Bloomlovers website seems to be down. That's where I got the leaf). Really, Firebird is the heaviest blooming violet I've ever had. It is never not loaded with blooms, so that is one quality I was hoping to pass on, along with the frilly and full nature of Blue Mist's blooms. Both plants have nice foliage that grows very symmetrically, so am hoping that quality will pass down, too. As far as color... no specific goal, just curiosity. Ideally, if I could get a plant with Firebird's magenta color and bloom production, with Blue Mist's full double form and wider white edge, I would be thrilled. We'll see!

Thanks again to all for your responses. :-)
aharriedmom
11 years ago
Congratulations, that's terrific. I haven't yet gotten enough knowledge to try crossing my plants. One day I bet I will!
gojillian
11 years ago
Check out this hybridizing website page,

http://www.violetpatchofsouthflorida.com/hybridizing.html
There is a how to video on hybridizing and if you click on the hybridizing photos they enlarge.
aharriedmom
11 years ago
I'll clip that post so I can find it later! I'm not sure I'll be doing much more propagating until spring - I just started class today and I've got a full load (13 hours) on top of working and my family. I might not be doing too much more than watering my plants for the next who-knows-how-long. :D

(and the occasional forum break for mental health)
Greg
Original Author
11 years ago
Wow, aharriedmom, that is what you call "a full plate"!!! Good luck with the new semester! :-)
perle_de_or
11 years ago
This is wonderful. Sounds like I will have to acquire Firebird! Can't wait to see the blooms.