Yeah, all of my planters that have this brand of soil have that kinda thin greenish moss stuff on the surface. We have had a lot of rain, and the soil seems to stay damp pretty well, but the drainage holes seem to be functioning (it never turns into soup, even when it's raining). It is not a mix that I am impressed with. I used miracle gro soil last year, and this was a lot different. It appeared to be heavy on the wood product (almost kinda sawdusty), and when I first wet the soil, it didn't want to drink the water at all--kind of an oil and water effect. I had to stir the water into it, it was weird. Not at all like other potting mixes I have used.

Hi dangsr2, Along with the Nancy's vermiculite method, there are two other methods that I would recommend. The one with almost 100% success is starting them in a solo cup with a little water in the bottom. One inch is good. I like to root my violet leaves in a potting medium, which is the second method. I use the same potting medium that I use for wick watering my violets. That is a mixture of 1:1:1 of milled spagnum (not peat mose), perlite and vermiculite. I fill a solo cup with the medium that has had holes punched out of the bottom. I wet the medium the night before. The soil does not have to be very wet. In fact, if it is to wet the leaf will rot. I wet the soil to the consistency that if I put it in my hand and squeeze it it will stay together like a snowball. If I can squeeze water out of the soil it is too wet. I then cut the leaves to about 1 in. cutting at a diagonal from front to back. I bury about half of the stem. If I need to I will prop up the leaves with toothpicks or something similar. Then I put the whole thing in a clear plastic bag, being careful that the bag does not touch the leaf. It will rot it if it does. You should see babies in a couple of months. The more vital leaf the sooner the babies will appear. I leave the bag over the leaf cutting until the babies have four leaves the size of dimes. I hope this helps, Larry

Scrape the neck with a sharp blade or your fingernail to expose the tissue underneath. Dust the neck lightly with rooting hormone. You must now 'bury' the neck in the soil. You will probably have to cut off some (or even all) of the rootball, but don't worry. The buried and scraped portion of the neck will produce new root. Your plant now needs to spend all of its energy on new roots so remove any blossoms. To prevent the plant from wilting or going into shock from losing part of its root system, place the plant under a dome or inside a Ziploc bag to create added humidity. This acts like an ICU.

What do you have for soil there presently? You may want to match that as closely as possible. Fill dirt and "topsoil"are not the same thing and should not be used interchangeably. "Topsoil" is the top 6 to 12 inches of soil from someplace and is not a magic elixir for anything. I have posted this article many times but some never seem to learn from it. http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/the_shocking_truth_about_topsoil Below about 8 inches there is no need to put anything except some subsoil because that soil will not support much life due to lack of adequate air. You do want some clean, no debris, fill soil for that first 16 to 18 inches and the least expensive material you can get. Then look for some really good soil, something like about 45 percent sand, 25 percent silt, 25 percent clay and 5 percent organic matter for the last 6 to 8 inches. kimmq is kimmsr