That is right useful information, Norma.

You can also root them easily in some water. keep the water fresh and watch for roots, then shoots to develop.

Warm water eventually turns into cold water (no idea where she is going with this). Instead of soil use straight pumice or perlite and get fast results and when roots and plantlets appear, plant this into your standard potting mix.

Rainforest Guy, I start my cuts in Rose pots or 3" size pots, water drain down and out. I don't want young new roots getting cold water, in July -August the water doesn't get that cold that fast that it will cause damage, in the Winter, water still drain down and away from the roots, and they should be on bottom heat in the place you start them is that cold. I've started over 100 flat of rose pots 49 per flat for the Huntington I've had a lot of experience for the past 20 years, I was trained by a botanist. I am giving instructions for the beginners. I have never been able to start San. in water, so I can't suggest it. The soil we use is the same for all of our plants, and they do just fine. I have 200 baby plants starting right now in my green house. Perhaps your growing mix is different then mine and your are more experienced then I am. But this is how I do it, and it works for me. I started this discussiion, and lets keep it that was a discussion on how to start Sansevieria cuttings. Perhaps you would offer what is a cutting and where to take it what is best, and other ways to start Sansevieria. Any suggestion would be helpful to this group. We have found going from water or straight pumice into a mix shocks the plant. There must be a reason an International Garden one of the top three in the world uses this method. Norma

Oddly I would never trust a botanist for cultural advice like I would not trust a pizza delivery guy what temperature would you cook a pizza.
Horticulturalists have a better clue on what the nature of a plant's physiological composition is capable of doing. Botanists usually just rely on plant identification and nomenclature.
Sansevieria responds to a great many kind of conditions. Growing plants in moist media at room temperature is the same as you would for a hot watered media mix. They eventually become the same temperature and the plants don't grow at such fast rates that it would really make a difference. But if you were to use hot water as a shock or immediate uptake of rooting hormones, then this would seem like a logical idea. I have received wilted very soft sansevieria plants in transit and if you were to soak this in a bucket of warm water with superthrive, this really helps the plant pick up and begin the acclimatizing process. Placing this revived plant in any media at any temperature will work just fine.

To all beginners, sansevieria has no preferential for warm soil or cold soil, they just grow. If you are transferring a rooted cutting, leaf or what ever from a water base to a soil base, just enclose the potted plant in a plastic baggie to retain humidity until new roots have formed and the plant can stand on its own. But seriously, the plant may be limp but it doesn't hurt or stunt the plant. The new roots respond favorably to nutrients in the media and begin growing roots for support and water-nutrient absorption right away.

Well this horticulturist is one of the best in the world, and I trust him, he doesn't tell me information that he is not sure of, if water was a better method he would have told me. We would also use it. He uses what best for him, and the safest for his purpose. His is also propagator and a hybridizer, and not arrogant that he can't say he doesn't know, which he often tells me, he also had me experiment what method to use, three different ways with a control batch. What have you done, you seem very experienced, and I am impressed with your information. I hope you keep it coming because I am looking forward learning from you, I need to know the best way for 1000 plants at a time. I need to know how to tissue culture of Sansevieria and where to look for this information in English. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Water is not an option I can't change the water every day.

Hi Norma,

I recently started my third Sans. in water, works well for me, I just haven't had a chance to post more pix of my new youngster Sans. I don't know what you're trying to do, but if you'd like to try it, pls. DO NOT CHANGE THE WATER, just add to it.

Some folks said that plants rooting in water put out a hormone which is helpful in rooting, so I never discard the water, I just add to it & I keep some bits of charcoal in the water to prevent algae. I use aquarium grade charcoal from the pet store. It's said to the same rooting hormone found in willow bark which is used by some for the same purpose.

Best to you,

Karen

That makes good sense Karen, I will not be using the water method, but for my cuttings I will use soft water. The Huntington Gardens uses well water. or only a few cuttings it probably your method works well, You should all do what works, if its not broken don't fix it. Norma

Hello!

Just thought I'd add that the growth hormone in Willow is Auxin.
Starting cuttings in water is probably best if you plan to grow them in water (hydro, semi-hydro).
The roots that develop in water are of a differentiated tissue in order to take in oxygen.
Water-roots, as they're often called, are more brittle than their soil counterparts and they
are less efficient at oxygen and nutrient uptake. When potting a cutting with water-roots,
the brittle roots will often break or else dry out in the soil mix. In the end, this amounts
to rooting a cutting twice.

A free-draining mix, watered often, will typically yield the best results.

Josh