Sansevieria, The Snake Plant

My Introduction

After my father's recent death to cancer, I decided I should pursue a new hobby to help myself heal. The flower arrangements left over from the funeral inspired me. People had spent up to fifty dollars for these flowers, and they were likely just going to die. I decided to pursue separating them and replanting to preserve. This action would serve as a nice memorial to my father, and function as the birth of a new hobby.

My family and I researched and prepared to replant the flowers. My grandmother was a great source of wisdom in helping me to get started. We took multiple pots and preserved the foliage plants from the arrangements to create a bevy of house plants. I don't even know the names of all of them, but will try to care for them and create more. These will serve as great gifts for family in the future.

I decided I wanted a bit more diversity, and researched hardy plants on the internet. I found just what I was looking for in Sansevieria, the Snake Plant. It's a very tough plant to kill. I was hooked on the idea.

Buying my first Snake Plant

I bought my first sansevieria on June 1, 2009 from my local kmart. I was hoping they might have one, and there it was for a mere $12. The poor thing was baking in the sun. There was visible damage on many of the leaves probably from some form of sunburn. I trolled the store and found miracle grow and a pair of extra pots with draining bowls.

When we got home, I broke the snake plant up. I really understand seeing the plant in person how much it looks like snake skin. I am very worried I could have damaged it while replanting, but I am hoping it is really as hardy as they say.

Watering Snake Plants

A mistake I made while transplanting and splitting the snake plant, was fertilizing the soil with miracle grow. I really should have allowed the plant some time to acclimate to its new environment before throwing in the minerals. Also, the potting soil I purchased was already moist, and the added water wasn't necessary. As I learned on life123, the Sansevieria also shouldn't be watered down the center of the stalks, because it can cause rot. I'll take more care in the future not to do this if the plants survive. With my skills, we'll see just how hardy these things are. I'm going to err on the side of underwatering because the snake plant likes to dry out in between watering. Using grandma's trick of sticking my finger into the soil and testing whether the bottom is wet, I'll know this and be able to prevent overwatering in the future. For now, my plants will likely not need watering for weeks.

Propagating Sansevieria (Making More Snake Plants)

I learned through my research of multiple propagation methods to grow more snake plants, and already did that to an extent by splitting the first one I purchased. The second method, which I'm trying now, is by using leaf cuttings. You can grow an entire snake plant from a single leaf cutting, about 2" long (as on ehow). I did this in a relatively small pot compared to my others, with a piece from a leaf I trimmed back. I did not allow the leaf cutting to dry out as I read in a forum, but other places say otherwise. Only time will tell if this haphazard attempt at plant propagation will produce me a new snake plant.

Growth

I hope to update this page in the future with pictures of my sansevieria. I won't bother until they've filled out a bit, but should probably take a before shot. I'll post pictures of my plants soon. This will also help show the time lapse of a snake plant growing. I haven't found much information about the growth rate of sansevieria. If you know this, or have any tips for me, use the contact page to write me. Someday I hope to answer questions about the snake plant, but only once I've proven I can do it.