Kate, how frequently do you re-pot your violets? The solution to your problem is to do it often. When you repot, you slice a small segment off the bottom of the root ball which allows you to set it back in the pot a bit lower than it was before. Voila! No more neck problem. Yes, the lower leaves are going to age and die and need to be removed. Yes, this is an ongoing thing. It's part of taking care of your violet. Besides, it will bloom so much better for you when it is in fresh soil regularly (shoot for every 6 months if it's a standard; 3-4 months if a semi or mini.)

As to pot sizes, what kind of pot are you using? The best thing is a plastic pot, believe it or not. You can always slip it inside a fancy container if you don't like the look, but plastic is what AV's do very well in. Keep the pot to about 1/3 of the overall diameter of the plant. That is, a 12" plant goes in a 4" pot. A 6" plant only needs 2"! Yes, shallow is best, but you can make up the difference by putting a layer of coarse perlite in the bottom before you add the potting mix. And keep in mind that recycled containers can work very well (for example, I save greek yogurt containers!) and all you have to do is poke some holes in the bottom for drainage.

Yes, thank you Harawlins. I forgot to mention scraping the part of the neck that will now be below soil. I'm glad you brought that up.

And one more thought: re-rooting should not "take forever." If you cut off the top of the violet, scrape the neck, put it into new slightly moist soil (not wringing wet) and bag the whole pot and plant for about 2 weeks it should take right off. After two weeks you gradually open the bag to accustom the newly rooted plant to the outside air and after a few days of that you should be good to go. Perhaps there is something you're not understanding about the process that we can help you with if you describe exactly what you do?

I used to be terrified of re-rooting crowns. When I started mixing up my own soil I found that I had no problems rooting them, and I don't even usually tent them or cover them. Maybe that's because there's a little more humidity where I am. Now it doesn't seem hard at all, and I've done 5 or 6 in the past couple of years and haven't lost a single one.

Feel free to ask questions. There are lots of knowledgeable people on this forum who would be happy to help.

I've had great success at just putting the head's neck bottom in water instead of soil. In the same time my mama leaves develop roots - about 6 weeks - those plant heads develop roots & then I put them in soil just like mama leaves. I never thought to do them any other way. I've done it that way about 6 times in a few years & never lost the top. One old plant 'Texas' that grows & blooms so frequent it necks once a year, has been cut back then water rooted 3 times to date. I've only had the undisturbed deheaded roots sprout new growth again on 2 of the six but I didn't care because I had a vibrant new plant without that neck. As always I hope my experience helps someone. Trudy

Yeah, if you see a hint of a neck - it is time to repot, remove the lower row of leaves, remove 1/2 to an inch of rootball from the bottom with the sharp knife, scrape a bit of soil on the sides and top - and add fresh soil on a bottom and on a top - and off you go. Every 6 months to a year. Then it will be permanently healthy and blooming. No palm trees.

Hi Kate! Just a word of encouragement,,,,if you think this advice sounds too easy rest assured this is NOT a hard process. Just do it the way it is written and you will have success.

Now,,,,,take a deep breath and,,,,,,,,,cut, scrape, replant aaaand done! Rosie