Organic Gardening

Producing your own hybrids can be profitable. Your first step will be to take pollen from one flower and place it on the stigma of another. The best time is when the blossom has been expanded at least 3 days. The pollinated flower will drop off, and you will notice the formation of a half-sphere—this is the seed capsule, within the calyx. Seeds ripen in 6 to 8 weeks when the capsule splits. Clip the capsule to keep the seeds from falling onto the soil. Remove and store in a cool dry place. Vitality of seeds diminishes with age.

There are endless possibilities in gloxinia hybridization. Most of the species will cross successfully with hybrid forms. And since the species have a richness and flexibility of foliage that is lacking in modern forms, they should be good material for you to use in your hybridizing program.

Should some of your hybrids impress you and your customers as really choice, you may want to work on the strain. Do it by self-pollinating the plants or by pollinating the hybrids with one of the parents, depending on which trait you wish to encourage and enlarge upon. (more…)

Edna Roberts in Maine started her greenhouse-for-profit in a glassed-in chicken coop, but now she is the owner of a whole range of greenhouses! Since the African violets she raised in her makeshift house were good enough to win prizes, she decided to sell some of them. Now she stocks the very latest as well as “the best of the older varieties.” Florists in nearby towns use her as their source of supply. The important thing is that she first made a success of a small greenhouse, and then went on to larger and more profitable ones.

African Violets and Orchids
George Wissell of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has a 10- by 10-foot affair, built for approximately $350.00. He grows only African violets and orchids. The orchids hang from the roof to obtain more light and to help shade the African violets. Two double-shelved benches are at the sides of the house. Fluorescent lights under the first bench adequately light the plants growing on the lower bench, which is about 6 inches above the floor.

In such small quarters, Mr. Wissell does an excellent job of hybridizing and growing. All the plants, except those kept for hybridizing, are sold to local stores or hobbyists. This constant profit promotes his hybridization in a big way. (more…)