I'm not a fan of vermiculite, as you said it retains too much moisture IMHO. I use either Miracle grow potting MIX with some extra perlite addded or peat moss and perlite. I'm not a fan of pre-packaged AV mixes either.

I agree about the vermiculite but it does have its uses. Just a little is a good thing. I do like Miracle Grow though with the extra bits I add. I have never tried pre-packaged AV mixes mainly because they are not, to my knowledge, available in my area. Rosie

I only just started using some vermiculite in my mix. Mainly because I needed to re-start a bunch of plants and the store was out of perlite. I ended up repotting everything I had started in straight vermiculite though.

Now I have a bag, I figure I may as well use it. It's not what I expected, and even saturated with water it doesn't clump or feel soggy. So I guess it should be ok to use.

My mix today was about 6 parts coarse perlite, 2 parts vermiculite, 4 parts potting soil.2 tablespoons dolomitic lime in 2 gallons of mix. We'll see how it works out, but it felt about right :-)

Karin

I use 1/2 AV soil and 1/2 perlite. It will dry out very quickly though if you're not wick or capillary watering

I've noticed the same with my potting mix--also 1/2 AV prepackaged soil and 1/2 perlite. The consistency is very grainy and dries out pretty fast, so I'm constantly watering (need to put in a wick once I find a pretty ceramic pot to put everything in!) I'm going to buy some vermiculite and mix it in next time I repot and see if the mix will retain water better without getting soggy.

Perlite is not high on my list of favorite things because it always seems to work its way up and out of the soil somehow. I always have a bag of it and as I said before I do add it to my Miracle Gro along with some vermiculite. I think the vermiculite helps it to stay in place better. I don't know. The way I am doing it now works great but I don't root anything in straight perlite. Just don't like it for that. Rosie

i root everything in my "usual mix". just when i was out that one time i experimented with straight vermiculite. got cold feet though and re-potted most of them into my mix. i left a few, just as a "test group" to see if they'd grow or rot... they look a bit pale, so they would probably need fertilizing, as opposed to my normal mix, which appears to have enough "juice" to at least get the plants started...

Karin

Perlite doesn't work it's way up to the surface. The surface stuff just floats. It's no big deal. I like it due to it's ability to aerate the soil and provide good drainage. I use lots of it for my carnivorous plants.

I have had success rooting AV cuttings in straight vermiculite, when ever I tried doing it in water, the trans-plant shock was too great and most died.

I did not have success rooting leaves in vermiculite, they drowned, so I stopped using it for rooting. I occasionally use it when repotting or transplanting a plant that already has roots. I read in the AV magazine it is recommended because it has

"nutrients." (I have forgotten what kind.) I have also read to use it as dressing on the top of

the mix when potting a plant part such as a sucker or a crown that does not have roots to help the plant stay in place until roots form. I have not tried that yet.

Joanne

I have used only vermiculite for rooting a lot of different type of cuttings. I don't have success in a community pan. Too hard to water. But if I water separate little pots from the bottom and let it soak up all the water they need and then drain I do pretty well.

Years ago I had a very "necky" plant to fix, so I cut off the neck and left it long enough to almost rest on the bottom of a 16oz. cottage cheese container. The span of leaves rested on the top of the container to support it. I gently scraped the neck, lightly dusted it with rooting powder, and set it in nothing but vermiculite, kept it barely damp and boy did it grow great roots nice and quick! Then it was potted proper.

I also did something just for grins and giggles. I left the original plant with the little bit of neck that was left on it in the pot and cared for it as though it was a regular violet and it did sprout new little suckers. I figured it would as violets will sucker but I just wanted to try myself! Rosie

Did your neck have any leaves left? I tried that once with a naked neck and it just rotted.

Melody there were no leaves on the neck and I kept it very very barely damp. It (to my way of thinking) was not actively growing so until it showed new growth it didn't need any more than the barest of dampness.

I probably just got lucky! Rosie

Karin is the expert on this. I have had mixed results. Sometimes it works if I dust the exposed places with cinnamon or rooting hormone.

Joanne

I have heard this "dusting with cinnamon" several times now. What is the reasoning or value of cinnamon? What makes it "work"? Rooting hormone I understand, but I guess I want to know what trait or ingredient cinnamon posesses that makes it work? Thanks! Rosie

cinnamon is a natural fungicide (amongst many other neat properties). most rooting hormones have some anti fungal ingredients as well. rot on leaves is typically some sort of fungal problem.

it is said you can water plants with cinnamon water to get rid of fungus gnats (because it destroys the fungus they eat). problem with that is, that if your cinnamon stick sat in the water too long, it will also burn the roots.....

as for leaving a stump to produce suckers... i've done it twice. once on a not-so-healthy plant - it died, and once on a trailer. that one did fine. i didn't water (after the first time), just kept it in a clear shoe box.

Karin

So you don't use ground cinammon? You mentioned a stick. Rosie

I personally don't use cinnamon anymore. I used to dust the powder onto mouldy spots on the soil, and kept a cinnamon stick in my watering can. Quit that when I started growing AVs. Paranoid I'd burn the roots I suppose.

I tried the cinnamon on cut leaves, but at that time I had a multitude of issues, which the cinnamon alone couldn't fix. These days, I just disinfect my knife with alcohol before cutting the petioles and things usually work out just fine.

Karin

Ok, was curious, I think, like you I will stick to what I know. Thanks!!! Rosie

I use 1 part peat, 1 part perlite, and 1 part vermiculite for my AV's that are wick watered. But I have had good results with my other violets in just a 50/50 peat/vermiculite mixture.

may I assume you fertilize it frequently in the soil-less mix?

Yes, I use an all-purpose liquid in my water and feed them each time I water.

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?

Been reading this thread and have to say, I don't use peat at all. Years ago I did but I haven't used it for Gosh, I don't know how long. Last couple times I was at Lowe's and Walmart I looked for a little bag of peat but couldn't find any. I thought I would try it. What would the benefit be exactly? I mean for the violets? Or leaf cuts? Right now, as I stated previously, I use Miracle Grow, with a handful of perlite thrown in to make it even lighter if it is a plant I am going to wick. Usually for leaf rooting also. Do I really need peat? Or is what I am using ok? Rosie

Unless you're wick-watering your violets, I would think regular soil would be fine. I used to use the run of the mill bagged soil, but when I started reading about wicking, most of the people said that they used the 1-1-1 formula (1 part peat, 1 part perlite, and 1 part vermiculite). That's the reason that I started making all of my soil myself. It's just a lighter, more quickly draining mix than most commercial mixes, which absolutely crucial for wick-watering violets.

After I started making soil for wicking, it didn't seem too much extra trouble to make up mixes for other things. I tried different combinations, and found that I preferred the 50/50 peat/vermiculite mix for my non-wicked violets. I'm still experimenting though! I've also had great results in the past using just plain old dirt. ;) Some of the things are hard to find, which can be a disadvantage. I had a hard time finding vermiculite.

Both Lowe's and Walmart carry vermiculite. I would imagine most hardware stores would carry it also. I know our ACE hardware does. Do you have a Menard's or Home Depot? Even Meijer might (but I don't know for sure). Vermiculite is kinda a staple for me. I dunno,,,I just kind of like that stuff ! I really do like Miracle Grow however. Rosie

bumped for Barb. :)