Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
padraig_1

Propagation question

padraig_1
20 years ago

I have the cylindrical variety of Sans. Last year, it did grow an additional cylinder rather rapidly. I was wondering, short of the plant duplicating itself, just how are they propagated? I read the FAQs on propagating from "leaves" but I would hardly describe these spears as leaves,or are they? Since winter seems to be lingering here, I really need some projects to keep me from pruning outside stuff before the last historic freeze date! (This is my first and only sans and I am enjoying the eclectic appearance of it.) Thanks!

Comments (7)

  • biosparite
    20 years ago

    Unless you want to practice the long and possibly futile art of getting one to bloom and then self-pollinating it, you should have no problem rooting this species from the leaves, which are rather long with respect to their diameter. Rooting Sansevieria leaves is an "activity" for only the most patient people, i.e., it seems to take an eon.
    biosparite

  • karen715
    20 years ago

    Padraig: I don't have a S.cylindrica, but I do have a S.sp. Hargesia Somalia with tubular leaves. So far I have rooted two leaves, and one of them is finally starting to grow an offset. It does take a long time; I took my first cutting in November.

    The link is to thread on my plant in the gallery section.

    Here is a link that might be useful: S. sp. Hargesia Somalia

  • elsier
    20 years ago

    My medium large Sans. cylindrica plant needs to be repotted and/or divided as the pot is being pushed out of shape by the root system.
    I have been successful getting a broken leaf to root. But I am nervous about cutting or breaking apart the mother plant so may just move it into a larger pot without dividing it.
    Does anyone hve any tips on dividing this plant? Thanks in advance.

    Elsie

  • jderosa
    20 years ago

    I like to let my plants stay intact, as I find that each new growth is larger than if I divide. I'm working towards getting the plants to full maturity (in zone 6), so I need all the leaves I can get. I've tried leaf cuttings a couple of times - I'll only do it on plants that won't look terribly disfigured if I remove a leaf or portion. I had some luck woth S. hallii, but it does take a couple of months to a year to get results. I have found that once my plants get started, they put out new growths regularly, and it is all I can do to keep them all. The only slow plants that I would like to speed up are some of the variegates - some can be agonizingly slow. I had to wait 5 years for a S. parva 'white'(!) to produce its first pup. Once it got started, I was very tempted to keep dividing to make it develop as many pups as possible. I resisted, and I now see that more pups are produced regularly. Would it produce faster if I divided? I'm not sure, but I'm happy with the plant, so I guess that's all that counts.

    It is very interesting to propagate with leaf cuttings, thoiugh, adn I suggest it to everyone here. I usually split the leaf longitudinally for 1" before planting, and I find that I get a lot more sprouts when compared to an unsplit leaf.

    Joe 'happy propagating' DeRosa

  • pirate_girl
    20 years ago

    Hey Joe,

    What an interesting idea!! Pls clarify, "for an inch before planting" how so, cut/slice from from the top or the bottom pls? I'd like to try this right away, as I have some Sans. which I can only spare 1 leaf to prop.

    Coooooool idea, more details pls???!!!

  • biosparite
    19 years ago

    Interesting idea about the stem-split to get more pups (and hi, Pirate Girl). I just wonder if the same trick would work re rooting Haworthia leaf cuttings.
    biosparite

  • jderosa
    19 years ago

    Sorry it took so long to respond. Splitting the leaf or stem is an old begonia and african violet trick. Split the stem (where it is going to be placed in the soil) before potting it. The plant will grow new plants from the calus that forms, and the bigger the calus you can get, the more plants you can get. This doesn't always work, but with most of my plants it's been a charm. I have tried two leaves at the same time - one split, one not, and I got 3 plants from teh unsplit leaf, and 11 from the split leaf. I don't claim that this is a certainty, and a lot can go wrong, but it is worth a try.

    Joe 'no claim is made that you will be successful' DeRosa