Hi, If you can find the search feature, there is a wealth of info on this forum. The Houzz managers can be reached by email. They can help.

For small collections, I buy potting mix directly from LLG as it works well in my environment. Joanne

Hi Tsippi,

If your still searching for some general info about African Violet soil/fertilizer, please do visit Baby Violets blog, its a great place for beginners.

https://www.babyviolets.com/how-to-prepare-african-violet-potting-mix-soil/

https://www.babyviolets.com/fertilizer-for-african-violet-plants/

Hope you enjoy your journey back to African Violets!

Cooks.

Hi Tsippi, and welcome to the forum. I have been using Optimara's potting mix and fertilizer with great success (though I only use the fertilizer at half the strength they recommend). You can order that at the Selective Gardener website. I'm sure Lyndon Lyons' would be fine, as Joanne has mentioned, and also the Violet Barn's. If you choose to use Miracle Grow, as many people do, you should cut it with quite a bit of perlite, maybe even 50%. Good luck.

Welcome! Welcome!! I am Rosie. I wick my violets, and use Miracle Gro. I do use about 60% perlite to 40% MG mix. I hope you enjoy our company here! You will eventually find your way around the site! Again,,,Welcome!!! Rosie

I also wick my AV's, streps and other gesneriads so I use roughly a 2/3 potting soil mix (like Miracle Grow) and about 1/3 perlite for my AV's and about half and half for my streps. But as Rosie said you can use more perlite - avoid vermiculite if you are wicking as it'll stay too wet. Wick size also matters. If I find things are staying too damp I pull them off wicks until I can swap it for a thinner one (I use acrylic yarn and I can unravel it for thinner pieces).

As for feeding, there's fertilizer in MG that gives an initial boost. Longer term I use Dyna Grow with a touch of Super Thrive. I recently went back to using Super Thrive and I'm glad I did! It has at least tripled the amount of flowers I am getting this year !!! and even some things that are usually a bit difficult to flower are blooming their brains out as if they were on plant crack. Hello, yes I mean you DS Africa!