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Do crosses between chimera African violets produce viable seed? This has been the point of a little discussion in Dr. Jeff Smiths column in African Violet Magazine. Frankly I was a little surprised that the question actually came up.
If I was asked that question I would unequivocally say of course! The seeds are viable based on years of my own experience doing such crosses, all be it undocumented so I cannot statistically demonstrate the point. But it just so happened I crossed Humako Monique as the pollen plant (To the left) to Rob’s Miriwinni (to the right of Humako Monique) last fall. After a bit of a delay, planted the seed. I did only one cross and it developed a nice seed pod and subsequently, the seeds sprouted. All the seeds were started in a 6 oz cup. I will be transplanting the plants into containers so that they can grow out and flower. And although I did not count the seeds produced as compared to those that germinated I have a nice yield and about as many plants as I would expect from any standard African violet cross. As the seedlings flower out I will post the pictures. I will also start documenting some of my crosses with the number of seeds produced per pod and the number that germinate. I have a strong suspicion that chimera African violets follow the same fertility and subsequent seed viability seen in any other African violet. But we shall see.
