It's easy once you apply science and physics, per Al's articles and medium recipes. Key, I think, is getting past the old wive's tales and understanding that growing in the ground is very different than container growing, and that a 'green thumb' is nothing more than applied knowledge... it has nothing to do with luck or being fortunate... it's what we know about the plants and their needs, and adjusting the environment to suit them better, artificially or not. I struggled along until I read Al's article on container growing and moisture retention, and then it all clicked. Imagine that... I went through a good portion of life not really understanding the physics of it all, as simple as it is to grasp... or, as simple as Al made it to grasp! Add in the fact that the gardening industry is like any other, existing to make profit... and it all makes sense. It makes more sense to create my own medium for containers, to dive a little into educating myself on the plants I've chosen, etc... and to forget about the fallacies of yore, if you catch my drift. Now, I know what I need to do... and I can see the results! :-)

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

Plant care is a rather holistic adventure. There are more things to affect the plant than soil choice, but it makes absolutely no sense to put a plant in a medium we know is going to limit the plant and then expect optimal results. Why fight the soil for control of the plants vitality for as long as the plant is in that soil? Soils that hold little or no water between soil particles are almost always (99%+) going to offer you and the plant more opportunity to realize the potential the plant is genetically encoded with. If you do your part, anything you might want to grow will do very well in the gritty mix. I've only found one plant that likes the 5:1:1 mix better than the gritty mix, but I don't have a clue as to why that is. It's known by a number of names - Ledebouria socialis, Scilla violacea, South African squill, leopard lily, leopard squill, or silver squill. Al

Haha Ben, I never really relied on the customer resolution center. I tried calling once, it's basically an outsourced center in Asia, and half their advice given to me, all could be done directly to the seller through ebay messages. But you got a point though regarding reviews, some sellers really do value their profile reviews, the higher the rating # the more reliable the chances you get a refund or replacement. Then again, there is not harm taking more pictures. Hellkitchenguy - The farmer's market is at Union Square. Every Mon-Wed-Fri-Sat during the summer, and I think Wed - Sat during the winter. Try exploring out of the flower district, sometimes they can get quite pricey. When you get a chance, you should check out westelm, they have very nice succulents all imported from San Fran, and there is even a nice florist selling succulents by the trays right across the street from the West Elm at 18th st. My last bet would be Lowe's in Brooklyn, if you are there at the right time when they just restocked, you might find a bucket load of goodies and VERY affordable prices. Check out my linkhere