I have two African violets which changed their flower composition 2 summers ago. One was a double ruffled white which started producing star like flowers, and now produces many petalled daisy like flowers. The other is a pink ruffled variety with tiny mauve spots. One plant which I have since lost, started producing flowers with a mauve stripe down the center of each petal, and no spots. Anyone know the reason for this? I have photos if needed. Thanks for any help!
I really hoped someone could shed some light on this. Any ideas where I might be able to find out what happened?
I only have 1 african violet, my sister is the violet lover of the family. I did purchase her one along the lines of what you've described...they bloom all day for her! Now they started doing the same thing. We did some research, she chalked it up to "overblooming"-so she said....but in reading ...theyre thought of as "almost hybrid" in order to accomplish the flowering/blooming you at first had. Over time the plant grows/multiplies/so on, something (chemicaly/genetic/...) within the plant changes, causing the blooms to change. Ill try to find the website we found this info and pass it along! Hope this helped a little!
African violets today are vastly removed from the original ancestors, that lived in rock cracks above water falls and lived mostly on the moisture than clung to the hairy leaves from the mist. They have been extensively selected, hybridized and bred for new shapes, colours of leaf, types of flower and growth habits. Growers start thousands of plants every year and closely search for 'sports', that is, plants showing signs of some sort of different growth or colour, which are essentially chance mutations, which are then propagated in hopes they'll be the next hot seller. It is not at all unusual for many plants to show a mutation, which can be a different shape or colour of any part of the plant. I've seen quite a few violets that changed colour or form, I've seen it in hibiscus flowers too. If you want the original flower back you'll likely have to buy a new one. If you get a 'new' plant like this and find it attractive, by all means propagate it, with leaf cuttings. No guarantee the new plantlets will exhibit the same flower, but they may, or might show something else, or look like the original flower did. One of the reasons there are so many varieties in this plant. Hope this helps you understand what happened.
In fact, part of the evolutionary process itself is the appearance of mutations, which then either succeed or fail. If they succeed, perhaps they do better than the 'parent' that produced them and will eventually replace it entirely, by outcompeting it for resources. If not for this, we would not have anywhere near the huge variety of plants we have, nor would we be able to change them with selective breeding as successfully as we do.
Thank you, Banana, and Furballs for your replies. I remember when searching for info on this, that one source said that these "mutations" would not breed true from a leaf, that plantlets would have to be taken from the stem of the plant to get the same flowers. I will try a couple of leaves, though, and see what happens. Perhaps I have a new hot seller...lol. I wish I had not lost the mauve striped one, it was quite pretty. Banana, what sort of flowers did your sister end up with? .Furballs, I still have 2 or 3 of the original plants producing the "proper" flowers.
african violets are one of my favorite plants to grow. I have spent years growing from clippings and seeds. often the nurseries will take two or 4 different leaves from hybrid plants,tie the ends loosely together,over lapping the ends. bury them in soil, and pray for a new breed or flower. with so many genes present in the mix, as the plant gets older, its possible to loose the original flower,as some dormant genes become more dominant. watering these plants from the top, will often kill them, or shock them. if done enough, this could be the reason they are changing before your eyes. NEVER top water, always water in a dish, from the bottom. i used to have mine floating atop a frog pond, on Styrofoam floats, and never had any problems. good luck with your plant(s).peace
It's true that some mutations will only propagate from stem cuttings, rather than leaf cuttings. And also true that the genetics in AVs are so complex now, almost anything could show up. If you really liked that mauve stripe, I suggest you look into the AV societies, or Gesneriad societies. As well as national groups there are tons of local clubs. They all have plant shows. Just Google, you'll find them. They'll have plants for sale, often, at shows, and also pro growers who'll have catalogues, and you might well find something just like what you lost, or even harder to resist. I once had a mini trailing one, called Confetti Trail, with gorgeous double, mauve flowers with loads of metallic looking spots and splashes of darker mauves. It was just beautiful, but I while I was away, the person watering drowned it.. there was nothing left of it when I got home, which was, I must admit, months later. Haven't seen one since, and I don't grow them just now, but I got the original at a show.
Thanks to all of you for shedding light on this. I suspected something like the mutating had occurred. Cagreene, interesting, your description of what the nurseries do trying for new plants. Maybe I will try the same out of curiosity. The plants that mutated may have been older plants, but I don't think so. I have 2 or 3 different types in one container....could that influence it? Also, though I know better, I almost always water from the top and for the most part they seem to thrive. (I thought bottom watering was to prevent drops on the leaves, and resulting brown spots). But if it results in occassional odd flowers, I may continue just to see if anything different results in the future. Furballs, unfortunately I am no where near where I could take in a show, but I will check if I ever am. Your Confetti trail sounds quite like the parent plant flower I have, were the edges frilled? Mine was not a trailer, though. It is a little like losing one of your kids to lose a favourite plant. Have any of you seen a daisy-like AV? It is not like anything I have ever seen before.
Have never seen a daisy like flower on AV. They are a completely different floral form, and I'd think they'd be unlikely to show up on AVs, though I suppose as they learn more about meddling with genetics, anything might be possible. But things are not always what they look like. Look at those blue and lilac dyed orchids they are selling now.. they don't tell you they are dyed.. just let you think they will always be that colour.. I think it's deceitful and downright sneaky. My Confetti trail did have slightly ruffled petals, but the leaves had ordinary edges, nothing fancy. It was truly beautiful, for sure, it filled a six inch basket and hung down below the bottom of it. If I ever saw another I'd not be able to resist it. Oddly, nurseries these days around here don't seem to stock much variety in AVs, just a few colours and shapes, never named varities, and the occasional tray of un named minis, also in a small array of colour and shapes. Btw, even if there are no shows near you, there are loads of mail order sources. Online sources have colour pics, it's hard not to drool on the laptop, looking at them sometimes :-). Btw, every club member and show person I've ever talked to has advised bottom watering is best for AVs, not only to avoid spotting the leaves, but also to help avoid crown rot, which can start if you get water on the crown and it sits there for awhile.It also allows filling the pot to the top, which can help stave off the ugly 'swan neck' you get with older violets that have dropped many lower leaves. For awhile, you can fill in around the bare stem and it will root into that new soil and the whole plant will look like new again. Eventually though, you have to chop off the bottom third of the rootball, repot and then fill in around the bare stem, to be able to hide it all. Just for fun, try looking at the flower pic on this page. Bet you can't look at just one :-). http://lyndonlyon.com/store/
Thanks, FB. Wow, I never realized there was such a variety of AV flowers. Now I see why some people stick to this one plant. I see several that are similar to mine but not sure which would be the actual variety. I even spotted a daisy type on p. 3, called Easter angel. I agree about the orchids. I thought for a short time that they were genuine. Thanks for the repotting info. OK, the pic attachment did work. First photo....on the right is the original flower, with the first "mutation" on the left. The second photo is as the flowers are now, (year 2) A little weedy looking, but interesting.
Who knew.. daisy type AVs ! I quite like that second pic, those are really quite interesting and pretty. Some I have seen at shows truly blew my mind, they were stunningly gorgeous and often simply huge. They even make special rings that fit onto the pots to support each layer of the rosettes of leaves, for show plants, the leaves must be perfect, and they'll wedge little sticks in to make any leaf that's not nice and symmetrical back into position. It can be a totally absorbing, time consuming hobby. But something to see, no question. Thanks for posting that, it was fun to see.
You're welcome! Thanks for your comments. We get to Vancouver occassionally, I will check for any shows.
Update re African violets...After 2 years, it has returned to it's usual flowers. I repotted separately all the violets that were in the one container. I guess that particular plant is a loner, does not like company. I will miss the daisy flowers!
