Growing Snake Plants Indoors – FineGardening

Snake vegetation (Dracaena spp. and cvs., syn. Sansevieria spp. and cvs., Zones 9–11) are normally discounted within the houseplant world as dependable and reliably boring. However these often-maligned vegetation so generally seen within the background of malls and places of work can shine because the focal point. Snake vegetation are way more various than the ever present variegated snake plant (D. trifasciata ‘Laurentii’, Zones 9–11) would have you ever consider. There are some, like fowl’s nest snake plant (D. trifasciata ‘Hahnii’, Zones 9–11), that keep round 6 inches tall, whereas elephant tusks plant (D. stuckyi, Zones 9–11) and others can attain 8 ft tall. Snake vegetation take many varieties, from grassy clumps to architectural spears, and their foliage is available in many colours. Though they’re comparatively straightforward to take care of, you continue to want to supply them with the correct circumstances and upkeep to make sure high efficiency.

Present direct or oblique mild

Snake vegetation can tolerate virtually any mild situation, however they thrive with a minimum of some average direct or oblique mild. Many are full-sun vegetation of their native climates, however they’ll tolerate much less mild with grace. The much less mild they get, the slower their already sluggish progress fee can be. Whereas many snake vegetation can take direct solar, most variegated varieties desire filtered mild, as they burn extra simply than their nonvariegated counterparts.

Be stingy with water and fertilizer

Snake vegetation are succulents, they usually desire to be left unwatered and untouched for weeks at a time. They are going to be regular companions through the years with little consideration and even repotting. Not a lot shakes snake vegetation, however they profit from a good hand. Make a behavior of checking in in your vegetation each week. Water each two weeks throughout summer season, and fertilize about as soon as a month. In winter, cease fertilizing them altogether, and water as soon as each three to 4 weeks. Watering ought to barely enhance with how a lot solar and warmth your vegetation are uncovered to and reduce incrementally as you progress them to cooler and shadier places. These are drought-tolerant vegetation that don’t prefer to be overwatered; ensure that the soil has dried fully earlier than watering once more. A pot with a gap and saucer will assist guarantee correct drainage.

Keep away from these frequent downfalls

Spraying down your snake vegetation within the bathe infrequently (tipping them to the facet in order to not go away water sitting within the crux of the leaves) may also help eliminate the rare pests they might undergo from; alternatively, you may wipe down the leaves. An excessive amount of water or inconsistent watering could cause edema, a situation that happens when vegetation take up numerous water instantly. It causes a corky, bumpy discoloration of the foliage. An excessive amount of fertilizer, an excessive amount of water, and an excessive amount of abrupt motion from one place to a different are the primary culprits of ugly foliage or useless leaf ideas. Acclimate your vegetation slowly to a brand new lighting state of affairs in order to not burn them. And in case you are snug, your snake vegetation ought to be too; they need to by no means be in conditions which might be colder than 50°F.

Find out how to Propagate Snake Vegetation

Many indoor gardeners like rooting snake-plant leaf cuttings in water, leaving them in a transparent vessel someplace mild and heat till roots kind. I desire sticking cuttings in soil with rooting hormone as a result of it’s much less possible that your cuttings will rot. I then go away them dry for a minimum of a few weeks to callus and to start forming roots earlier than I start watering with warning and infrequency, ensuring to maintain them in a heat place. Nonetheless, it is a time-consuming methodology that doesn’t guarantee a clone of the mom plant. To get new vegetation that retain the elegant variegation of a spread akin to ‘Bantel’s Sensation’, I anticipate the mom plant to naturally kind pups. I then divide the pups from the mom plant and replant.

Three Distinctive Varieties for Simple-Care Aptitude

From classics to new introductions, these cultivars present simply among the unbelievable variety of snake vegetation.

‘Cleopatra’ attracts the attention with colourful distinction

D. pethera ‘Cleopatra’ syn. Sansevieria kirkii ‘Cleopatra’, Zones 9–11

‘Cleopatra’ is a low-growing, rosette-forming snake plant with a blue hue to its foliage. It options enticing striations with a redbrown edge across the leaves. This creates a distinction that solely accentuates the blue tone of the foliage.

‘Starfish’ is beloved for its uncommon kind

D. angolensis ‘Starfish’ syn. Sansevieria cylindrica ‘Starfish’, Zones 9–11

This selection grows in a fan of thick sausage-like leaves that may attain no taller than 1 foot. Its distinctive architectural form is putting. ‘Starfish’ will slowly kind offsets of extra followers, making for a formidable mature specimen.

‘Bantel’s Sensation’ options gorgeous variegation

D. trifasciata ‘Bantel’s Sensation’, Zones 9–11

Additionally referred to as white snake plant, it is a stiffly erect, extremely variegated selection that reaches 2 to three ft tall. It’s sluggish to offset and has grow to be well-liked for its arrow-straight, slender leaves.

Elizabeth Werlebird has been rising houseplants for nearly twenty years. She’s at present an assistant grower at Shakespeare’s Backyard, a nursery in Brookfield, Connecticut.

Illustrations: Savannah Gallagher