First- Take a deep breath and RELAX!!! Growing AV's is supposed to be fun! The first thing you should do is re-pot. Since you dropped your violet, (and we've all done that), the pot is too big. Use a pot that is 1/3 the size of your plant which will probably be tiny. Most of us use solo bathroom cups for our babies. I have also used medicine cups. Use a light soil; most AV's come in a soil that is too heavy because they ship better in a heavy soil. Good for shipping, not good for violets. After you have re-potted, put your violet in a spot with good light and practice patience. The flowers died off because that's what they do. Flowers bloom, hang around for a while hoping for a pollinator and then die off. The plant goes into resting mode and then will bloom again if grown properly. And- the water on the leaves issue---I wish that would die a quick death because it is not true. Those who show plants or are avid, experienced growers routinely wash their violets. The trick is not to use cold water. Plants have pores (stomata) on their leaves with which they perform a gas exchange. If the leaves are dirty, the plant can't breathe. I washed my violets a few nights ago. If you need more help, come back here and I can go into more detail when it's not so late in the day! Happy growing, Linda P.S. Did you put the broken leaves down to root? Here is a link that might be useful: Washing African Violets

Hi Judy, From Lyndon Lyon's, or LLG, I get consistently large plants, often in bloom, in 2 1/2 in square pots in a good potting mix that does not have to be changed for at least six months. They come with plastic stakes that have the plant name printed on them so I can move them when I repot. The plants grow rapidly and do not sucker. The company has excellent customer service and ships promptly. For me, it is worth it to pay slightly more to get consistently larger, premium quality plants. For all the trouble of ordering live plant material across country, I want to get the best I can for my money. They have good quality control and accurately label the plants. They are my first choice. I only go elsewhere if there is something I want that they don't carry. They also keep their web catalogue updated, so if they are out of stock, they won't list the item. So, no surprises and no substitutions. They usually have enough of a particular type to choose from. For example, they will offer five different reds or five different whites or more. Their own hybrids are exceptional, vigorous and strong. I primarily raise Lyon 's own hybrids. They also have a wide selection of many other hybridizers. They are a large enough company to be able to introduce new hybridizers. They first opened up the Russian market and offer a wide range. They seem to pick the best choices of other hybridizers, so if they offer a plant , I feel it has been preselected for good performance. If something is new in the plant world, chances are they developed it. They are consistent in what they offer, it is usually possible to find the same plant year after year, plus new ones. I like to be a loyal customer and give them my business. They have been at this for sixty years, I appreciate they are still in this business. I feel they are excellent, so why not do business with them? When I place an order with them, I already know what to expect, so I can safely order a dozen. But they will accept an order of any size. When I want to try out a new grower, I place a small order. Usually, about four. Joanne This post was edited by fortyseven on Tue, Aug 12, 14 at 10:56

1. Choose a healthy leaf from the second or third row of your African violet plant. 2. Cut stem at a 45-degree angle and place in damp potting soil. Leaves placed in water or vermiculite will make water roots or vermiculite roots and will take longer to adjust to soil. 3. Cut off top third of the leaf. Place with name tag if available. Put plastic sack over pot for a week or so. 4. Place pot in indirect light from a window or under florescent lights. 5. Babies should start growing within 4-6 weeks. When babies are about two inches tall, or have at least four leaves per plantlet, separate and put each into individual pots. Place plastic on these for about a week. Join us on the African Violets forum.

Checking in here too.. so curious to see if there was any interest in a swap. I've been super busy combined- with unpredictable weather, it's dropping in the 30's again tonight- May 4th! Most of you are from the facebook RR- anyway. :) So, I'll see you over there... If things lighten up for me, I'll do a RR in the Fall. I'm kind of overloaded right now with boxes/trades, running swaps. You have to plan the swap according to the weather, and if you start too soon your going to be replacing boxes/mushy leaves. Which isn't fun. I've already done so- twice. And replacing the box contents (usually 25) to start- is a lot when you do a lot of trades. Sometimes by the end of Fall, I have new leaves down with babies, but my collection of parent/original plants looks awful from being plucked too much/trading too much! People don't realize that- with 2 boxes, that's 50 leaves/50 varieties.. Still, doing postage for boxes of violets is the best way to trade. Ebay is also good if your trying to expand your collection quick. I've ordered MANY times leaves from there, just remember to isolate. Isolate- the stuff from boxes too, as a precaution. ANYTHING new.. Bagging new stuff too helps isolate if your growing area isn't huge. Just open the bag if you see moisture buildup. See you in the Fall, if things settle down for me. I still love this forum too. It's sad to see it- not the way it once was. I hope violets keep going- and the forum picks up with RR's/trades again. If someone else wants to start a RR- I'll join. Just right now- I can't spare the 25 leaves. I have too many already promised- for the swap boxes.