Couple of African Violet Questions

[Mountaineer370]

I was recently given three African Violets by a friend who moved out of state and couldn't take them with her. I have never owned these particular houseplants before, so I'm trying to study up. I know there must be more than a few OB members who grow AVs in addition to orchids.

My first question concerns potting mix. I believe my plants need to be repotted soon, and I am driving myself crazy trying to decide what to use. I'm reading that the commercial mixes are not ideal. Everything I read says they like a mixture of peat/perlite/vermiculite, more or less. However, I have scared myself away from peat by reading how much fungus gnats like it. I was considering coir as a substitute. Anybody have any experience with that, pro or con?

My second question is this. I would love to find an online discussion board about African Violets, one that is as great as this board! I'm having no luck. The forums I am finding are not organized very well, no search functions, no separate categories and topics, all posts just in chronological order, so you have to scroll and scroll and scroll to find what you are looking for. There must be something out there. Anybody know of a nice AV discussion board?