You can buy minis from the fancier garden centers. Depends on where you live. A store called Orchard Supply has minis. You can go to the Flower Mart in a nearby major city. That is where the wholesale sellers go. They will usually have a section for "The public " to buy a few plants. You can go to a florist near a location where there are office buildings where people sit in tiny cubicles all day. Such florists have great demand so they stock minis. Finally, you can place an order with actual growers if minis such as Lyndon Lyon and Violet Barn in upstate New York . Their minis are more likely to grow just one plant that does not sucker. Optimara brand is more likely to sucker and grow multiple crowns because minis have trailer genes . So , if you have limited space, then buy just one or two or three minis from either Lyndon Lyon or Rob 's Violet Barn. Other high quality minis that don 't sucker were developed by Kent Stork but are harder to find. Also, George MacDonald. You can also get small standards and semi minis if you have limited space . The plants often cost the same or more as standards. If money is an issue, buy leaves and be prepared to wait. If a mini gets older and you move it to a bigger pot, it will probably grow larger leaves . If you buy minis in a local retail store, they will be Optimaras. In my experience , they eventually grow three crowns that I then have to divide. If you order on line, read the fine print to see if it says "grows symmetrically." Then it won 't sucker or spread out. More info than you wanted ... Joanne

Yup - some are duds, some are the victims of genetic drift when after so many leaf of the leaf of the leaf propagation they cloned themselves out of the original splendor to a very mediocre plant. Some just do not do that well in my house. If you want to retry - get a leaf from a different source. But we want to keep only the ones that work the best for us. To select by the wow factor. You say wow - it stays - you do not - pass it on. It will probably do well at somebody's else house. Or yur AV friend will love it for something that doesn't excite you. Not everybody likes pinks for example.

Hi, Joan, It is so interesting to read your thoughtful questions and enthusiasm! You obviously are an avid and inquisitive gardener and know what you are doing. The great responses and advice you received from Rosie are perfect. The mix you use is very good, as it seems to work. The plant you have is a classic beauty. It is most likely from Optimara. Their plants are intended for natural window-sill light. They tend to sucker, as you discovered. They are bred for "looks," to give a satisfying full head of long-lasting blooms with "stick-tite" features. (They will not fall off, you remove the spent blossom stalk from the base. As you discovered.) They are a commercial vendor that developed the features that make AVs ideal houseplants, such as slow-growing symmetrical foliage. They have extensive information on their website. Optimara.com. Their store is Selective Gardener. AVs grow leaves in a whorl of three at a time. If a leaf is removed, a new leaf will not grow in its place. But a sucker might. Your plant can stay in that 4" pot size. When repotting, it is advised to trim the bottom roots and add fresh mix. As Rosie advised. More on that below. In general, Optimara plants come packed in peat for transportation purposes. Peats tends to dry out and pull away from the sides of the pot. Many people leave the plant in peat while blooming and just make sure they water frequently. Others repot right away in their own AV potting mix, which is looser. If the mix your plant is in is caking, try to loosen it up and add fresh potting mix. After repotting, it will not need refreshing of the potting medium for about one year. Ordinarily, fertilizer is not needed when freshly repotted. The bag will tell you. When repotting, remove the plant from the pot when dry. If it looks root-bound, gently pry off or cut off the lower 1/3. Place fresh AV potting mix in the bottom. Remove any tired looking leaves. Scrape off old mix from the top and replace. It can remain in 4". The rule of thumb is the leaf span can be 3 times the diameter of the pot. So, theoretically, 12" in a 4" pot. Plastic pots are fine. The flimsy peat pots have larger holes. When selecting a new store-bought, thicker plastic pot, look for narrower drainage holes. Capillary matting is for larger collections for people who don't have time to check frequently or water lots of plants. Clay pots are fine but need more frequent watering. Ceramic glazed can be used for cache pots with the AV in a plastic pot. As Rosie said, for just a few pots you check often, wicking is not needed. But nice to have as insurance. Optimara (Selective Gardener) makes an attractive self-watering plastic pot for their size of AVs. They are good if you need to be away from watering for a few days. Some people like the self-watering ceramic pots made for AVs. However, they must be made in the U.S. or Canada and must be decalcified annually. Those made in China do not work. They lack sufficient porosity There are other potting methods that give good results but those are usually reserved for specialty plants. Optimaras are rugged and bred for average skills. No fuss, no muss. If you want to add another AV to your collection, I can recommend Simpler Times. It is an older, classic variety that will thrive for many years and can grow large. It can grow to need a larger pot size, 6" or more. The flowers are dark blue double petal "star" (round) shape. The leaves are deep green. It is available from Lyndon Lyon. Com. I If you place an order, you might as well order a few other varieties because there is a minimum shipping cost. The older varieties are stable and tested by time for longevity. Yes, AVs bloom cyclically and usually in the brighter, faster-growing times of year. Blooms typically come from beneath the top row of leaves only. As you noted, from deep beneath leaves. Avs have no center stalk, so the blooms emerge, tucked beneath. They normally last many weeks. Perhaps 3 or 4. Once the blooms are spent, you can use your foliage booster. They grow out from the crown. They won't bloom again until the crown leaves have matured. You were wise to let the foliage develop strength. Eventually, some people switch to organic fertilizers and potting mixes. As for light, some people recommend 12 hours of light, 12 hours of dark. However, your method sounds fine. Best, Joanne

Yolanda, Things got a little crazy around here in the last ten days or so, so I missed seeing your comment. You broke your hip!?? Oh for goodness sake. I hope all is well now? It's been a while. I too keep breaking things. But I find it helps if I keep more active. More frequent and longer walks, keeping the yard up even if sometimes I wonder why; less giving in to the idea "I'm old, I don't necessarily *have* to do this anymore, I can sit in my chair and read/think/write about African violets," among other things I read/think/write about. It seems to me that mostly I'm only as old as I think I am. (Well, there is that arthritis thing that's been dinging me on a regular basis for a few months, but the healthy way to think about that is, "Just another little PIA.") But I'm also trying not to be stupid and ignore stuff that's happening, just because I've never had any serious issues up till now. Stuff is starting to go to bits, and like a lot of men I know, I've pooh-poohed some issues until they got to the unfixable state, like some broken bones in my hand. And I'm a violinist who until covid was still actively performing semi-professionally, so that's not good. There's a limit to how "tough" a person ought to try to be. I'm not sure I've figured it out yet. Kenora is some cold country, to be sure, and to break your hip in January... was it ice? How is your granddaughter doing, do you get to see her and her family regularly? Maybe not, during covid. I have the huge privilege of looking after my grandson at least a couple of days per week. It's one of the things that keeps me going. Joanne, you're such a generous and encouraging soul. I can't tell you how much you help me feel less stupid. I have at least two more threads in mind. One re the apparently imminent demise of a recent acquisition (I put down a leaf today, probably should've done two, but wth, if I lose it there might be room for something different), and another celebrating the success of Opt Rebecca, which is doing amazingly well, but I wonder if the crown is tight. Well, later in the week, maybe. I need to veg out, after a day with the grandson. Thanks to everybody, Joan