Meet Ryan.... |
|  NAME: C. Ryan Ferre
STATE: Utah
AGE: 26
PROFESSION: Horticulturist, wanna be husband (waiting to find my wife)
CLUBS: Hoya-holics, African Violet Society of America
Scented Noid (maybe)
 All photos are copyright © of Ryan Ferre | |
VIOLET EXPERIENCE:
Pretty Noid
A very long time ago my grandmother gave my mother an african violet. When I was about six my mom taught me how to plant a leaf and I was hooked. I thought that was the neatest thing. I ended up with tons of the same violet everywhere. I would pull 3 leaves off at a time of every plant just to grow more. Little did I know then, that there were so many more varieties out in the market place. When I was about 13, I started to order AV catalogs. So of course, being a young plant nerd, I had nothing else to spend my money on besides waterlillies and african violets. I had several different varieties. I never really remembered their names. I then had a plague of mites that wiped most of them out besides the “originals” that my grandma had given us.
I then left on a mission for my church to
Santiago, Chile for two years and my mother began collecting NOIDS while I was gone. I came home to several new varieties. Now once again I am involved in the collecting process. I have over 60 named varieties, and my collection is growing at a rapid pace. I have now begun to slow it down because I am a hybridizer in the making. I am going to need the room for babies. Rhapsodie Rita
It might sound strange, but my favorite thing about an african violet is its ability to reproduce vegetatively. Many, many plants can reproduce this way, but the african violet can be grown in the home, and can flower in considerably little time with amazing flowers. I like any violet that has big blooms, green edges, and loves to bloom. Blooms keep me going. I love them.
Noid with Folded Leaves
I have propagated AVs in just about every way -- seeds, leaf cuttings, micropropagation, suckers, neck lopping, etc. I simply love making more plants. I love to watch the roots, the shoots, and the buds as they swell with enthusiasm and burst into bloom. I am a master propagator. I can achieve it with anything. Give me a dead flower and I will revive it. If it looks brown, it still has life—he he he! I guess I don’t give up.
GROWING CONDITIONS:
My soil recipe is taking basic houseplant soil-less mix, and adding perlite until its “fluffy”. I know, being as scientific as I am I should have a better way to determine what the ratios are. I have found that it works out best for me to repot all my violets at the same time so that the soils are all the same.
My water setup is a bit old fashioned, but I haven’t had many pests because of it. I use a watering can with a spout. Sometimes I water from above, other times from below. I have never had problems with water spots, etc. I use fertilizer every time I water, sometimes a very little, but I never overdose my little ones. I leach out my soils frequently to avoid any excess fertilizer salt damage.
Half n' Half Noid
My violets sit underneath a total of 24ft of fluorescent light bulbs. Distance of lights from the plant go anywhere from “no additional light” to 4 inches. I give higher light to my babies. They seem to like it; I use older bulbs for these guys. I have never had lighting problems as far as I can tell. I need to be a bit more proactive and rearrange things to see if I can improve upon this.
Growing temperature for my violets vary per season. In the winter they are usually growing at around 65-70 degrees F., with humidity at about a constant 45%. Conditions could be more ideal, but as long as they look good I am happy. It would take a lot to change the environment that they are in. In the summer they stay around 75 degrees F., humidity is at about 50%. They seem to do great.
As far as the time I spend on my violets --Oh man, does that include thinking about them? Probably at least 4 hours a week, but if you want to include looking at them then add about 30 minutes a day of staring. I like to watch them grow. I also like to inspect for any bugs. I have a magnifying glass that sits next to them that gets used almost daily. I can watch for thrips, tell when the pistil is ready, or get a close up look at the flowers. The biggest mistake I have ever made was to buy a violet in the store next to some cyclamens and I didn’t isolate it. OOOOPS! That is a big no no no no no! I will never do that again. I learned the hard way about “hard poisons” required to get rid of nasty spider related bad things called MITES.
Right now I am in the middle of completing several different experiments with hormones. There are lots of uses for hormones that have been used on several different crops including, grapes, strawberries, wheat, zinnias, and I am relating the information gathered from others to how it could relate to the violet. I am only interested in those hormones that are available to the home grower so if anything interesting is found it can be used by the average person. So far—results are making me smile—but these are only preliminary. Also, I would like to genetically dissect the African Violet world. It is something that I know is frustrating to many hybridizers.
As far as a favorite hybridizer goes -- this is a hard one. Since I have chatted with Janet Stromborg and she was so willing to provide assistance, I am naturally attracted to her work. I think her willingness to share, and her kindness influenced my choice. Hoya
I am really starting to fear when my house consists of the Kitchen, Bedrooms, Baths, and all the Violet Rooms. Hopefully by then, I will have a greenhouse so my other plants such as Brugmansia, Datura, Hoyas, Euphorbias galore, Echeverias, and such will have their own house. This will free up more space for those of the Saintpaulia family. And with my hybridizing work, which is taking place—I foresee great plants of my own.
Variegated Hosta
When people come into my house they often say “WOW! You have a lot of plants”. Or “Those are so pretty, what’s your trick?”—Usually the comments are all good. I feel my plants are well organized, and they look good. They aren’t haphazardly placed everywhere. Each plant has a home in the house. They make the place look comforting. The funniest violet area I ever had was while at college -- I setup my bed on top of bricks to raise it a little, then I set up a 4ft light, and voila, an instant greenhouse under my bed. I had african violets, petunias, coleus, and begonias all in bloom all the time. It was fun just to lie on the ground and stare at them. I got some weird looks for that one.
At present, I am far from the grower that I want to become. I have never grown a plant to show. I want to do this badly. I just need to get started. I have never given my violets the opportunity to achieve their full potential. This is partly due to the fact there are no clubs in Utah to do this but I have already begun the chore of getting one going. It will be fun and I believe this will help me achieve this goal.
PERSONAL:
I am very outdoorsy! About 10 minutes before my alarm goes off a timer flips lights on some violets in my room. I get to stare at the new flowers until the alarm goes off. Then off to the outdoors to look at my garden, off to work, then after work I get to read all my emails and see what else is happening in the world. I don’t go to bed until around midnight.
Ryan's Lemon Cake with Blossoms
I don’t like TV—don’t have time for it. My favorite time of day is supper. I like cooking, I like conversation, and both of these are found at supper time.
People tell me they love me because I am very outgoing! I have an attitude to achieve! I am a go-getter! Some people say that I have ADD (jokingly) because I can’t sit down; I have to be doing something. (I disagree with them because if something interests me then I can spend hours upon hours on it). I love life! And many people admire my ability to always be happy and smiling.
I am curious about other Violet Voice members. I would like to know where they get all their violets. I also like getting to know what they do for a living and I enjoy learning a little about their families and interests.
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