If you have been away for a while, the following suggestions might help. If you read this forum in the past, you may recall, there was a separate section for traders that was more likely to be read by active traders.

Although some readers of this forum may see your request, here and if they grow minis, might send you some, there is also another place to post your request that is more active and seen by other people. It is a separate exchange and trading forum. You can find it under "Other Garden Forums" then scroll down to "Exchanges & Trades" and look for African Violets. There is a Thread called Spring 2015 Round Robin, or Spring 2015 RR, something like that. It has a lot of posts. You can post there. To get to the bottom of a thread, below the initial post is a Comment box. click on that, it will take you to the bottom. The active traders read that thread.

There is a Yahoo group called Violet Reflections you can sign up to join. They will assign a mentor to you who will send you leaves for 25 different varieties, I believe. Not sure how it works, I think they send you a few at a time to see how you do with them and coach you along.

Mini leaves are the most difficult to start. The longer they are in the mail, the more wilted they get. If you do trade or request leaves, you might want to work with someone closer to where you live so the leaves are in the mail only two days.

At this time of year, you probably know, is the time of year that African Violets Optimara brand can usually be found in stores. Getting a few of those for $3 each and getting spares to start leaves is another way to get back into the habit. The Optimara leaves are easy to start and will help you feel like a pro from the get-go. Although most big box stores that carry violets usually don't have minis, some of the garden nurseries will carry them at this time of year.

Optimara also has their own line of minis that can be bought from Selective Gardener. Probably, leaves can be purchased also.

If you have not purchased from on-line vendors in a while, two in upstate NY have excellent minis, LyndonLyon.com and the Violet Barn. The VB specializes in minis they hybridize themselves. You may have heard of Rob's minis.

Buying a few would be the fastest way to get started. Also, hopefully some minis growers here will see your request. The hardest part is getting started, however, this is the perfect time of year to start. Then once you have a small inventory built up, you could join a Round Robin Exchange and trade with others.

Some brand-new or returning growers have posted only on this forum (I believe) and found some folks who sent them leaves to get them started. But not sure about minis.

For myself, I don't raise minis, so I can't personally offer any.

Good luck,

Joanne

Violet Reflections!! That's the name of the group I used to belong to. Thank you so much, Joanne! All of your information has been incredibly helpful and valuable to me. Happy Growing!!

Oh, I am so glad! they are a more active Forum than this one when it comes to trading, especially if you have been doing this before and kind of know the ropes. If you do take advantage of their mentoring program, do let us know how it goes. Joanne