I am sure it will work just fine, but usually adding some perlite to a store bought soil is to advantage. They always add dolomite lime to the soil - because the main componenet - peat - is quite acid. Dolomite corrects the pH.

I would hesitate to use anything with peat moss in it. But that is just me. I have good luck with 50/50 MG/Perlite. And I am generous with the perlite. I wick water also. I use the same thing for rooting leaves. Rosie

Hmmm- and what do you think MG is made of? 95% peat.

I still buy from violetshowcase.com. Doug closed the store in town - the owners of the building wanted to rent the space to a marijuana dispensary... didn't happen though - but he sells supplies online. He mixes his soil from scratch - old style way - with horticultural charcoal to sweeten the soil - peat, vermiculite, perlite, dolomite lime, microelements. I add some perlite to his mix - because his is formulated for bottom watering - and I use wicking. So far - much better than anything else.

Irina, I will check to see if I have a bag (I pour it into the plastic cat litter large containers) so I can see what it is made up of. All I know is I used to always buy a bag of peat moss and it was always hard to get damp. Then if it got too wet, well lets just say it was like the stuff Optimara violets are in! I just have great luck with MG! But I will check next time I find a bag. Oh and what I buy is MG Potting Soil. Do they actually have a MG African Violet mix? Never bought that. hmmmm,,,,gotta be more aware. Rosie

Lets say - the peat is the cheapest component - here we go. Same is about MG AV mix and MG AV fertilizer - the cheapest components - MG AV fertilizer has nitrogen in a form of urea... and plants cannot absorb urea directly, they need soil bacteria to convert it into something more plant friendly. So - works outside, but not that well in a soilless mix.

Cornell mix has 1:1:1 peat -perlite - vermiculite - and vermiculite holds a lot of water - so it prevents peat to go bone dry for quite a while. Commercial mixes have wetting agent added - translate- some type of soap - it helps to rewet the soil without problems. But it also comes at a cost. Wetting agent can make a soil way too absorbent, heavy and soggy. Plus - wetting agent with time desintegrates and the result is not really plant friendly. A friend of mine bought Promix BX at the clearance - and her AVs went to pot. The Premier agent - the company that produces Promix soil mixes - said - buy only a fresh soil - less than a year old. And they sent her a new bale.

Challenge on the top of challenge...

Irina, I think I would be happy with the AV Potting Medium from violetshowcase. The 1-3 qt bags are too small and not going to take me very far so I'm looking at the larger amounts.

It says this mixture IS formulated for wick watering, and it looks to me like it's brown not black, which I read is good. It also says that the SunGro Black Gold they sell is NOT for wick watering, so that answers that. Here's where the description and ingredients are listed found: http://violetshowcase.com/sup16web.pdf There's a lot of supplies but whether I can order, depends on total shipping costs from CO.

Rosie, about that MG AV mix -- here's the Amazon page with several brands on it: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=african+violet+potting+mix Though soiless mixtures are better than potting soil for AVs, I don't want the fertilizer in it so MG AV mix is not an option for me.

What I do not need in my soil mix - are wood chips. Composted or not. They rot, absorb nitrogen and grow mushrooms.

Otherwise - the difference between a wick mix and a bottom watering soil mix - is in amount of perlite added. Preferably medium grade - #2-#3, not small to dust. It is possible to rinse the store bought small perlite in a wire colander or a sieve reducing the useless dust - outside only - you do not need it going down the drain.

So - it is doable.

Regarding the preloaded fertiizer- water your plants without fertilizer added for a month and half - and then resume your regular fertilizing.

So - with some tweaking you can adjust the store bought mix to a very usable one.

I.

What soil mix has wood chips?! I want to stay away from that too. Mushrooms not welcome around my AVs.

I hear urea is not good for AVs, so I think I'll pass on the MG AV mix.