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African Violets

More questions on..accidental... Seed Pods

9 years ago

Hi All,
I went back through and re-read the posts on seed pods, but still am wondering. Went to groom some fading flowers off my Russian Mavka, only to find several fat seed pods on it. Was totally amazed, very cool! Then wondered why it is, and whether or not it somehow got pollinated by the NOID that sits next to it. Or did it self-pollinate by accident? It has over 20 large flowers on it, still in a 3-inch pot.

Then I checked the NOID, and lo and behold, there's one fat seed pod on that. Now I've had that NOID going on three years and have never seen such a thing on that one. Never suckers either.

There's no bugs that I can find, is it possible it accidentally cross-pollinated with the Mavka? Or more likely, the Mavka pollinated it?

Is this normal? Just from what I've read, one has to do this carefully...

If I leave the seed pods on there will it still continue to bloom as usual? Do I need to do something special?

Thanks for any insight!

Best,
Judy

Comment (1)

Karin
9 years ago
Hi Judy,
As I understand it, there's little to no chance plants sitting next to one another would pollinate each other. Zero if you don't have bugs.
Two causes for self pollination are 1. THRIPS, especially if you see spilled pollen anywhere. And 2. During development, the pistil tore open a pollen sac (somewhat less likely, but some varieties are supposedly prone to it).
I wouldn't suggest growing out more than a few seed pods per plant (I once pollinated some 16 blooms, they all took, but died before maturity). Also be aware that you may not have the space to grow out all the seedlings, so hoarding seed pods is not necessary.
Apparently seed pods ripened past 4 months may sprout, before that it isn't likely.
I haven't grown all that many seed pods, but as long as you keep the plant alive, it will work out ok ;-)

Good luck, and lots of patience!

Karin
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