You need a very light soil for AVs. Soil purchased in the store is too heavy and keeps water on the plant making it rot.

It would be easiest for you to root your leaves in 100% vermiculite. There's no problem with too much water and it seems to drain perfectly. A good soil for AVs is 1/3 each of vermiculite, peat moss and perlite.

Or rooting in water is done by many with no problems.

Nancy

Check out Rachel's Reflections; she has all the cultural info you could want, with pix!

Good luck and have fun.

Korina

'The first time I read the dictionary, I thought it was a poem about everything.' ~Stephen Wright

Here is a link that might be useful: Rachel's Reflections

Hi dangsr2,

Along with the Nancy's vermiculite method, there are two other methods that I would recommend. The one with almost 100% success is starting them in a solo cup with a little water in the bottom. One inch is good.

I like to root my violet leaves in a potting medium, which is the second method. I use the same potting medium that I use for wick watering my violets. That is a mixture of 1:1:1 of milled spagnum (not peat mose), perlite and vermiculite. I fill a solo cup with the medium that has had holes punched out of the bottom. I wet the medium the night before. The soil does not have to be very wet. In fact, if it is to wet the leaf will rot. I wet the soil to the consistency that if I put it in my hand and squeeze it it will stay together like a snowball. If I can squeeze water out of the soil it is too wet. I then cut the leaves to about 1 in. cutting at a diagonal from front to back. I bury about half of the stem. If I need to I will prop up the leaves with toothpicks or something similar. Then I put the whole thing in a clear plastic bag, being careful that the bag does not touch the leaf. It will rot it if it does. You should see babies in a couple of months. The more vital leaf the sooner the babies will appear. I leave the bag over the leaf cutting until the babies have four leaves the size of dimes.

I hope this helps,

Larry

Larry, Thank you very much. I was doing the vermiculite method; however, I must have been two impatient. I will now wait and watch for the weeks it takes. AV are my favorites because the seem to take care of themselves.