This post is going to discuss the progress of my Snake Plant (Sansevieria Trifasciata var. Laurentii). I have two other varieties of sansevieria – the cylindrica and the hahnii which I will feature in a future post. The plant, which is also commonly referred to as ‘Mother-in-Law’s Tongue’, has a reputation as being an almost indestructible, easy to grow houseplant. Before buying, I researched a plant that would sit happily in my ‘short-of-natural light’ bathroom and opted for this …it is also is an air-purifying plant which makes it popular for this room.
It seemed to be doing ok for a few months, however after the winter I noticed that the sword-like leaves were splaying apart slightly. I took it out of the compost to inspect the roots and as I suspected, the outer three leaves were softening at the roots and needed to be removed.
I thought it would be useful to offer my advice about positioning here incase anyone else has similar trouble with their plant …It is always disconcerting when the ‘hardy houseplants’ struggle! I am pleased to report that since moving my sansevieria it’s doing much better! It now sits on my desk in my office which is a sunnier spot with a slight draught. As the photographs show, the new growth has really shot up over the last few weeks – the photograph directly below was taken on the 20th July and the one below that was taken on the 13th August.
Overall it’s a beautifully seductive sculptural plant – I often see these in hotel reception spaces (a lot of the time artificial if you look closely!) and restaurants. The fleshy straight variegated leaves make for a great addition to any home or work space.
CARE TIPS:
The sansevieria is well-known to withstand a variety of conditions but I’d like to offer care tips based on my experiences above. Firstly, the most important advice is to NOT OVERWATER IN WINTER …only water every six weeks or so, wait even as long as two months before watering if the plant does not get much warmth or light. Also, if the plant is doing ok in a shady spot, adjust the watering accordingly – that is, water less as it will take longer for the soil to dry out between waterings if it is getting minimal sun.
I water my plant every 10 days using tepid water (much better than cold water – it really does make a difference!), and feed around once a month in between april and october with Baby Bio. I keep my plant in a plastic pot within a ceramic pot so that I can take out the plastic pot and place this on a saucer to water from below, so as not to wet the heart of the plant.
In terms of position – in the winter the plant can really struggle if it gets too cold so try to move it to a warmer, brighter spot during this time. As noted above, consistently low light levels combined with high humidity levels really can damage the plant, so bear this in mind when deciding on the position.
The plant doesn’t need repotting often at all – only every few years when growth starts to put strain on the pot.
Thanks for reading!
HOUSEPLANTHOUSE 