Question
My violet was doing great until just recently.  I was going to add more soil and tried to get to the bottom when the stem gave way from the roots.
Now I have all the leaves, new and old, attached to just a stump.  What do I do to regrow the roots?

Answer
Linda, are there NO roots attached to the "stump"?  If there are any at all I would try to repot it.  The roots for African violets are so small and fibrous, and they grow quite fast.  You might be surprised to see it do well after all.  Just repot it gently, give it some water, (NO fertilizer for newly potted violets), and see what happens.  In the meantime, you can propagate leaves by placing them in a glass of water. Keep the leaf stem as long as possible and do not let the leaf touch water. It will honestly take up to three weeks for satisfactory roots to develop from the leaves, but when they appear fairly thick you can pot them in soil.  You only pot one leaf per pot, (use very small pots at first), and it will be a pleasure to watch one leaf grow into a small semi-circle of leaves.  It takes probably 1-2 years to get a real plant this way, but it is worth it, particularly if you have a treasured violet that is sick or dying.  Keep the repotted stump moist as you would a violet, with humidity, and keep it in filtered sunlight.  You should quickly see if this is going to work.  I hope it does.  Good luck.