Each african violet blossom contains the necessary male and female elements to make a cross,and these are easily seen by the naked eye.The two small yellow sacs that contain the dust-like pollen.The small spike that projects from the flowers center is the pistil. The slightly enlarged tip of the pistil is the stigma.At the other end of the pistil,and beneath the flower is the ovary which will become the seed capsule. To cross two flowers you must transfer the pollen from the anther of one to the stigma of another. A small artist's paint brush also can be used to transfer the pollen to a stigma.Another way is to take an anther from a flower one that has just fallen off slit open the pollen sac with neddle, then gently pinch the sac to open it wider and apply the opening to the sticky stigma of the seed parent. After you make a cross you may want to attach a small tag noting the name of each parent to the stem below the pollenated flower. Usually the seed parent is listed first followed by an X and the name of the pollent parent. If the cross is successful within a week you will see the seed capsule starting to grow. Tomorrow I will post how to plant the seeds. thanks for reading Mr Klonizakis
Thanks for the information mr Klonizakis. I'm going to give pollination a go as I have friends who would like African violets like mine. It will save me having to remove leaves, potting them up and waiting for them to root.
