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gravyboots

Rescue Sans Looks Sad

gravyboots
12 years ago

Hello Sansies, I'm popping over from the Houseplant side looking for advice about on rehabilitating a rescue Sans...

I was cruising a few other posts & saw a comment from Cena back in '03 that "As long as the leaves have no wrinkling and are standing upright on their own, all you need to do is start good care. "

So, this typical-looking Sans is in a crowded (to my eye) 1 gal plastic pot with a root or two trailing out the drain holes & wholly organic potting medium.

Some of the blades are 3' tall & standing upright, and 7 of the 11 - whats? rosettes? - have obvious new growth. But, there are blades that are wrinkled and not standing upright on their own.

Can those be saved? If so, how please? I have materials on hand to do an immediate repot into mostly inorganic potting medium & I heat a large house with wood, so there are cool, dry areas, warm dry areas, dim, bright (everywhere but warm & humid!).

Thanks a heap,

Gravyboots

Comments (10)

  • Stush2049 Pitts. PA, zone 6
    12 years ago

    Gravyboots, Welcome.
    wholly organic potting medium', There is a post about Al's gritty mix. Also Karen's pumice mix. I use 1/2 cactus mix with 1/2 pumice. You need a peatless fast draining mix. Sans like warm not hot areas and low water needs during the time spent indoors. I have seen sans on clearance tables at Wal-Marts with all dead house plants that never saw any water splitting there pots with over growth. I saw my sans during summer getting drenched with rail and no ill effects. Seems summer light, heat and water is ok but is a killer inside with lower light and cold.
    I have some sans in over crowed pots waiting for repotting this spring. I use tomato cages for support or some of my leaves would fall over. They were poorly miss cared for many years. My bad.

  • pirate_girl
    12 years ago

    Hiya Gravyboots,

    "there are blades that are wrinkled and not standing upright on their own."

    I can't quite picture this as you expressed it. Could you pls. post a pix or two focusing on the above, so I can see what we're talking about?

    You'd want a spot for them which can give them bright, indirect light, no cold & especially no cold drafts. If they're that tall, clay pots are best to handle the sometimes top-heavy Sans.

  • gravyboots
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thanks Stush & PG,

    I'll get the pot off of the floor, so it doesn't have cold feet!

    I will try to get a good pic of the "wrinkly" blades this afternoon, but the best I can describe them is they tend to be more crescent-shaped than flat, and not smooth, but with wrinkles like what you might notice on the palm-side of your fingers. They also don't have that lovely Sans gloss to them.

    There were a few obviously tired/ill blades - yellowish and diagonally pointing - which I cut off. My concern is that the healthy - plants? parts of the same plant? it's hard to tell - will start to decline in this heavy and currently quite moist soil.

    Someone over on the houseplants forum did a trick with their soggy cyclamen, pulling the pot off to let the soil dry out... should I do that with this Sans & stop worrying? I could pot up & fill the larger pot with gritty mix... I have some around... enough to do a repot if that is in order.

    GB

  • pirate_girl
    12 years ago

    GB, when you can take the pix & show us, we can offer better opinions. Put the whole thing on a pile of newspapers to allow some of the moisture to be wicked out.

    Your idea of potting up & filling a larger pot is likely to be premature (not a bad idea, but perhaps a bit early).

    Before doing that, I'd unpot it, have a close inspection of its roots (show us if you can), & clean them up first. That involved removing dead, dry, brittle roots if any & inspecting for rot.

    My point is, not to repot until one figures out what's going on w/ the 'wrinkling' etc.

    Also, pls. stop worrying, this are pretty rugged plants, used to tough, & often crappy conditions.

  • gravyboots
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    OK, some pictures of the situation, after some delay :/

    Here is the plant overall:

    From Sansevieria

    And here is a close-up of the wrinkling and you can also see the nice, rich, organic soil it's potted in:

    From Sansevieria

    SURPRISE!! it's potted in SAND!
    Which fell apart when I slid the rootball out of the pot:

    From Sansevieria

    And fell apart even more when I picked it up again:

    From Sansevieria

    So why not repot at this point?
    There were 2 rotten roots, but everything else was firm.
    This is all one plant, with runners now growing in a crescent shape:

    From Sansevieria

    And, Sansie in it's new situation:

    From Sansevieria

    Thanks for your indulgence everyone - although the Repot-or-Not issue has resolved itself, I still have a couple of questions.....

    As you can see, I cut off some of the most wrinkly & yellowed blades - how far back should I cut them, and should I remove ALL the wrinkled blades?

    This potting mix was damp when I put the Sans in, so how long should I wait to water?

    What about pruning? At some point, should I remove the blades that are droopy, or with corky spots to encourage the actively growing blades? Just leave everything alone until such time as the blades yellow?

    I am also happy to receive any additional advice -
    Thanks Everybody!!

    GB

  • Stush2049 Pitts. PA, zone 6
    12 years ago

    GB, I once gave someone a sans and when I saw it again 2 years latter, I had to ask her what plant that she had growing there. It looked a lot like yours. It never saw bright light or any care. Just water once in a while. The leaves were dark green and floppy, and soft. I didn't know it was a sans when I saw it. My guess, give that plant a lot of bright light, not direct sun. Leave all alone and very little water until summer comes.

  • pirate_girl
    12 years ago

    Hey GB,

    Good job on the repot, the mix looks much better.

    I agree w/ Stush, minimum care is best now. I wouldn't water 'til you see new growth. One can always cut down unsightly leaves in the future, they'll settle in & then you'll see better which ones need to be cut. You can cut all the way down to the soil level & use cut off, damaged leaves w/ which to propagate more!

  • gravyboots
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Stush, you're right: this Sans in impersonating a Clivia!

    OK, I'll water sparingly, especially considering the plastic pot it's in. I take the trimmed blades down to the base & take a wait & see attitude toward the other "ugly" ones.

    The plant is in a pretty bright spot (bright for PNW winter, that is!), a couple feet from a S-facing window in the same room as the stove. Warm, dry, bright: sounds like it should be a good combo!

    Lastly, what time of year is good to divide this plant?

    Thanks Stush & PG!

    GB

  • Stush2049 Pitts. PA, zone 6
    12 years ago

    GB,
    Pick a time when the weather outside is warm and bright. I would say late spring. You can leave them outside then and they should respond great. Pick a semi-shady spot.

  • norma_2006
    12 years ago

    You can repot any time if the temp are right and it has roots, use damp soil, then wait until you see new growth.