Not as sharp as you think. (Snake Plant)

Member Name: MarianNt5

Product:	Snake Plant
Date:	29/12/02 (5196 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: easy tolerant plants

Disadvantages: none really

These are not what I would call a pretty plant, and because of their looks they are not as popular as they could perhaps be.

They are fairly tough plants and quite tolerant of neglect, all they really ask for is a drink now and then but preferably not to often and not in winter time. They should only be repotted when they burst out of their pot, yes they really do, and then only put into a pot just big enough to hold the roots as I have found that putting them into a pot that is too big for them is a sure fire recipe for disaster along the lines of root rot or leaf rot, as is overwatering. I normally water mine between the months of April and early September and feed every other watering with a weak houseplant fertiliser, either powder or liquid. I usually water every couple of weeks.

These plants vary in size and leaf colour, I have seen some with leaves of 2 to 3 feet tall these leaves being very broad or fairly thin and sword shaped.Also there are varieties which form low growing rosettes of between 9 and 18 inches ( sorry for the inches I do not do metric very well). They range in colour with some having a dark glossy green leaf with a bright yellow edge, there are others which have green mottled leaves with an edge ranging in colour from yellow to cream.

For propagating they are reasonably easy, just cut a strong healthy leaf off just below soil level, being careful not to damage any others, cut each leaf into pieces about 4 to 5 inches long remembering which is the top and which is the bottom, and insert them into a pot of well drained compost, rooting compound can be used if you prefer, but I have never found any noticeable difference. I have had nine or ten cuttings in a ten inch pot, place them in the pot about a third of their length in, water in and then wait. Only water again when the compost is dry, I usually keep them in a conservatory which is heated in winter. Do not cover with plastic as this will cause rot. You can tell w
hen they have successfully rooted by the appearance of small leaves around the base of the cutting, this can take a long time, when they are large enough to handle safely they can be removed cutting and new leaves together and potted in a small pot of well drained compost water in and again leave until they are dry before watering again. I have found that plants propagated by cuttings do not have the coloured leaf edges.

If you want you can also propagate by division. In Spring/early Summer take a healthy, strongly growing large plant, knock it out of its pot and pull apart where you can see natural divisions of the plant, cutting the roots apart is not advised and care should be taken not to damage the roots too much. Put each division into a pot just large enough for the plant in the same compost it was growing in, water and leave. You can tell if the division is successful when you see fresh growth, this can take quite a while.

These are slow growing plants fairly tolerant of neglect and lend themselves well to mixed displays where their sword shaped leaves look good when placed with lower growing plants with leaves of a contrasting shape. I have heard that they will flower when very happy and have a low growing white flower, although I have never seen one myself.

All in all a nice easy, fairly indestructable plant that likes indirect sun or quite low levels of light. And although they have sharp looking leaves they are not as sharp as some mother-in laws tongues.

Summary: