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

That is a great idea! Except it may survive pets and kids better than my husband! That man can't come around a corner without tripping on invisible lint! I have a long thin table that my plants are set on. He can't walk past the length of it without dragging something off of it! And NO their leaves don't hang over any part of the table. It is just him! I laugh every time it happens. (Then I cry as I pick up my plant) Last night he walked into the living room (the entrance is 4 ft. wide!) and cut the corner so close he almost took out my pothos growing in a 16in pot up against the wall way out of his way! Gotta love him!--Rosie

Nothing wrong with a "common" variegation. IMHO this type of variegation actually produces the most dramatic well grown plants. If you guys are interested - how this plant will score - being a judge - I can tell - this plant will lose points on amount of bloom. Doesn't have enough blossom count for full points. It has 2 gaps on 5.30 and 8, but they are not too bad, probably minus 3 on symmetry. Condition problem - one tired blossom at 10. Otherwise - clean healthy vigorous plant. May be judges will find some dust.. can be minus 1 or minus 2. Now - quantity of bloom - 25 points. The plant has 9 blossoms, in average standard has 20-25, these are large blossoms, the plant is not that huge, probably 12-15 would be OK. probably minus 5 on blossom count . No problem with the size and color of blossoms. It is a plant that will score 90-93 out of 100 depending on the judges.

Almost all plants need light (more than is typically found in the indoor setting) ... because plants use light to fuel their life processes. Finding plants which can do well with little/indoor light will be a struggle. There are a few that I know of, ... but these are/will grow larger than what you are looking for. These are Cast Iron plant, Pothos, etc.) Another idea is to supply artificial light to the planters ... perhaps from the non-lighted side. This can be done via LED bulbs in a common lamp fixture, like what's shown below ... Adequately placed fluorescent and/or LED light can substitute for direct sunlight for indoor plants. With this additional light, ... you could grow your herbs, and whatever other small indoor plants you would like. And you could make a viable place for smaller (mini, semi-mini) African Violets. Such a lighting scheme would also serve to highlight the arrangement into the night hours ...