Mother-in-law’s Tongue, Snake Plant or Viper’s Bowstring Hemp, Sansevieria (Sansevieria trifasciata) seem to have become very popular plants of late.
My friend Vicki has a great big patch of Sansevieria growing near her front door. I asked her what she does to make them grow so beautifully and she told me her secret is neglect. She never waters hers and they're absolutely thriving.
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When I was heading home from her house, I helped myself to a leaf and after looking through some YouTube videos (honestly, how did we ever live without YouTube?) I grabbed my trusty garden scissors, placed them at an angle and cut up that leaf into 3 pieces.
I placed all 3 pieces, facing down with what was the lower section of the plant into a small glass jar half filled with water. I placed the cuttings on my bathroom window sill in a well lit area. As it was right near the basin, I remembered to change that water regularly. But, for weeks, nothing happened. It was quite disheartening and I wondered if I'd done some wrong.
But about a fortnight ago, I noticed the first little roots sprouting from one of the pieces. And then a couple of days later, some more from another piece of the plant.
Here it is today and I'm so pleased with it. I'm going to find a nice spot in the garden for my spider plant to grow big and beautiful, thriving on neglect.
It's a slow growing plant species, so I'll come back in about a year with an update.
Do you have any of these snake plants in your garden?
What is your secret to growing them?
I did not know the name of this one. Used to be very common in my part of the world but like lots of plants seems to be disappearing now.
ReplyDeleteI know it as 'Mother in Law's tongue' (though I'm not sure why as my MIL is lovely).
DeleteI'm sure I used to see these around gardens when I was a child. I guess it's like a lot of things that go in and out of favour.
Well done on striking the cuttings taken. I sometimes think that we definitely "over do the love" with some plants.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm quite pleased with them.
DeleteI totally hear you about "over-doing the love". I'm forever killing off strings of pearls.
I used to have so many plants in my house that I arranged my furniture to give them access to the "proper" light. That got old and I gifted all my indoor plants to people that wanted them. I recently one a blog giveaway that was this plant in a pumpkin planter. I will just let it live on the kitchen counter. Our winters in northern Indiana are too cold for it to live outside.
ReplyDeletexx, Carol
LOL I move furniture around to have plants in the best lit position around my home too. Only the best for my peace lilies. Good on you for re-gifting them and giving them new homes.
DeleteHere is a very wonderful explanation about this plant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sansevieria_trifasciata
ReplyDeleteI love Wikipedia
I do not do indoor plants anymore. My kitties nibble them, and I just do not have time. I used to like having green things to grow.... but one day I woke up and decided this was not fun anymore hahahahahaha
I was always forgetting to water them.
I think it is great to have plants around the house. They are good for health, and great fun for kiddos to learn about
Oooh thanks for the link. I'll have a look later on.
DeleteI think I'm lucky that my cat shows zero interest in my indoor plants. He's too busy sleeping the day away ;-)
A friend of mine has a bunch of them and last year they flowered... neither of us knew they did that.... a gorgeous gorgeous scent in the evening/night time....
ReplyDeleteHugz
Oh wow! I didn't know they flowered either. Definitely something to look forward to (possibly.... maybe).
DeleteThank you for this timely info on succulents and propagating mother-in-laws tongue. Lately I've been attempting to propagate Moses in the Boat and another succulents. Your articles have helped fill in some of the gaps in this learning process.
ReplyDelete