Hi Al/plantcrazed/et. al., I thought I should come back and share some results from my "experiment" that I started at the end of April. The controls in my little trial were almost non-existent, but I think that actually makes the results more relevant to me and my growing conditions (and hopefully others will get something from this too). Back in April I got an order of leaves of 19 varieties of AVs. 14 came as pairs of leaves, so I decided to try growing them in different media. As I described in my post in mid-May, 14 leaves went in 100% vermiculite and 19 leaves in 100% turface fines (the smaller stuff left over after sifting for other mixes). The planting tray is an old kit I had leftover from years ago that has a clear cover for germinating/propagating. I had grand plans to carefully measure watering, leaf condition, first sign of roots/new leaves, etc. (like a good experimenter would), but the same day I planted the leaves my toddler ended up in the ER, kicking off several weeks of stress and doctor's visits, not to mention usual life events and adventures when working full time and caring for a small child. My plant care regimen settled in to, basically, watering when I noticed they looked dry. After the plantlets started to appear I took the covers off the trays, but otherwise I've just watered and left them under fluorescent lights and hoped for the best. Here are my results. Vermiculite 4 have plantlets, all of which seem to be growing alright 5 are mostly-dead or all-dead 1 formed a nice-looking plantlet that subsequently died, tho the leaf is still there and has roots 4 have roots but no sign of new leaves (yet?) Turface fines all 19 leaves are still alive 16 have multi-leaf plantlets 1 has a new leaf just beginning to appear 2 are strongly rooted and some gentle investigation revealed new leaves that just haven't broken the surface yet (I had just finished watering when I took this photo, which is why the turface shows wet and dry spots. This is what my usual watering of this tray looks like) A few other observations: the leaves of the new plants in the vermiculite are larger than any in the turface the leaves of the new plants in the turface are much smaller, but there are many of them, they are a strong green colour, and have a vital appearance (my experience tells me these are stronger plants than in the vermiculite) one variety was not in very good shape when it arrived. I considered complaining to the store owner about the quality, but see above re: bigger life priorities right now. That variety didn't survive more than a few days in the vermiculite. The leaf just rotted away. In the turface, it slowly rotted up the stem towards the leaf, but then rooted from the remaining piece of leaf and now has a lovely little plant growing: What these results say to me is that, for my horrible, neglectful treatment of these leaves, the turface was a better growing medium. I'm sure Al or Kevin/ewwmayo would have the correct terms for the properties of the two media, but I would say it seemed like the vermiculite contributed to a less stable environment - it went from a soggy mess when I watered to very dry, very quickly - and the turface was much more stable and allowed these poor things to survive despite my neglect. I've read some of the very lengthy threads about the properties of the various gritty mix ingredients and it makes sense to me that a plant like an AV that doesn't like to dry out but also hates being soggy would appreciate the turface's qualities of holding water but allowing for drainage and air movement through the medium. I think from now on the turface fines will be my preferred method for starting AV leaves (and likely other similar plants like episcias or begonias). I also moved two other AVs (a standard and a mini) into a modified gritty mix (1:1:1, but perlite in place of bark). So far nothing meaningful to report, though neither plant has bloomed and the mini seems to be happier than the standard. But with my neglect of the plants lately I don't think these results are meaningful, beyond saying that AVs can actually survive in the gritty mix even with an inconsistent and sub-optimal care routine. If there's anything interesting to report as these AVs continue to grow and I pot them up (likely into a gritty mix of some sort), I'll be sure to come back with an update. I would happily accept comments/questions/criticisms of my results, but please be kind in your criticisms of my care routine. I might be bad with my plants, but this little one is thriving: Thanks everyone, Melanie

Make sure that you have a clean cut with a sharp razor blade - that's important. You need to submerge the stem under water. Michael described how you do it in his first post. When it starts showing the roots - you plant it in a lose barely humid soil - and use the water you had it in - it has growth hormones now. Keep it covered for a week or 2- and off it goes. I am just plain lazy - if I put down a tray of leaves - - I do not want to go through the extra care - water - soil - move - what not. Most of the time they root - but it depends - fresh leaves from my plant always root - leaves from a mail order - that can be challenging. I got a set of leaves from a friend - and before packing she dipped the cut in Superthrive - I had first tiny leaves showing in 2 weeks. It was a record for me. I.

its so interestimg to read all these different recipes that WORK! and people say that african violets are picky?? :-P I do the exact same mix that harawlins uses.. 1 part peat, 1 part perlite, 1 part vermiculite. i used to use equal parts of peat, vermiculite, reg. soil and the violets that havent been repotted yet are doing ok, but i felt like that mix was too heavy. i like the idea of miracle grow and perlite... but that would be considerably more expensive than my big bagged bales of peat and vermiculite! :-P i rather enjoy the mixing process. i also fertilize every time i water. i use miracle grow AV fertilizer. it must be working! ;) i do not have any of the standards on wicking. i plan to have all my minis on wick watering.. but for the standards... i just dont like the way the plastic wicking stuff looks and i'm too cheap to try the expensive ceramic ones! someone mentioned lime? what would be the benefits of lime?

If you can show us a photo, it would help. Otherwise, if you suspect over-watering, pull/cut off the faded bloom-stalks ... and let the plant soil dry out. Once the soil is drier, you can add a bit of water just to moisten the soil. (Others here may suggest that you take the plant out of its pot, cut of any limp/brown (i.e. dead) roots, and then repot. They may advise bagging or doming the plant also, but I'll let them speak to that.) If you're fortunate, the plant may revive in a few weeks to a month.