Monday, May 20, 2013

Horrible Decisions That Need Making

The hardest part of any hybridizer is what to do when they have 200+ seedlings and can't provide the light or space for them.  It's hard enough, but when they all bloom about the same.

I feel like a horrible mother. I did the most horrible sin.  I just murdered my children. But the trash can they had to go. (I would compost them but the apartment resident council is against the idea presently.)  I need the floor space. I need to have my sink back, my table, and my kitchen countertop.  I'm going insane without these. And I have a whole new batch of seedlings growing and other violets that need the water more.  I can only water so many plants a day. Many of my other, more spectacular violets are getting neglected, left to dry up. While these?


Please tell me I made the right decision. Tossing two bins of this:

B26 x Woodland Sprite



and saving:

E27

E29

E30 (and a few others with this leaf shape)

E58


I'll also add that about 20-100 of the seedlings were given away or sold. So not all of them went to the dumpster, but I did have to cull a lot.  I want to make way for the Ness Fantasy Gold cross and the new seedlings I'm growing out this year.


Things I won't get to know from this cross:

- If woodland Sprite carried any pink flowering gene (so far all have bloomed blue)
- if woodland sprite or B26 carried the star flower shape (so far I haven't seen any.)
- exactly how many of the close to 300 seedlings survived or would have survived
- some of B26's hidden traits. She died after the cross. i didn't save any backup leaves.

What am I to do with the remaining?

I'm thinking of crossing them with a variegated to get the woodland sprite's traits on a variegated leaf.  Anyone find that idea interesting besides me?

3 comments:

  1. I m a new grower and yes you did the right thing but I wish I had seen your blog before then cause I would have asked you to send me some of those woodland sprite . also I love varrigated anything in the av world ...I think that would be an interesting cross .

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    Replies
    1. I still have more woodland sprite crosses.

      I don't think I got to blog it yet, but I have some growing out using Butterfly Pieris Whites (B25) as the mother and Woodland Sprite as the father.

      I still had lots of rejects that I tossed/ gave away, but at least these are more interesting because roughly 50% are non droppers and bicolored.

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