Hi,

those are neither species nor hybrids. All are "garden forms" of Sans. trifasciata. I am not that familiar with those cultivar names. My guess

1 Moonshine'
2 a 'Laurentii' form
3 a 'Futura Aurea' form
4-6 'Hahnii' forms, the one in the background on the last pic is the original 'Hahnii'

I agree that the last pot appears to have 2 different plants in it. I'd go along w/ the IDs you've been given.

Caution, (IME = in my experience) the short, squat Hahnii types can be much more sensitive to watering that the taller types, so I'd suggest extra caution watering them.

If they were mine, I'd get them out of that mix now before winter, just do it dry. Crumble off all the old mix w/ your fingers, examine the roots while you're there, snip off any dry, brittle, crunchy, dead bits of roots you may find. This is a good opportnity to check the roots & see how well these plants are rooted.

I'd suggest clay pots (unglazed terra cotta) & would use a cactus & succulent mix (w/out peat if you can find that) & add at least 50% perlite or pumice to that.

Then after all that, assuming they all have healthy roots you might give them some water, perhaps around the outer edge of the pot, not directly to the bottom of the plants.

I'd gradually expose them to any bright light you've got.

Nice haul you found, they look healthy -- good for you, enjoy!

Hey pirate_girl, how do you mean "before winter"? This Tuesday the temperature dipped bellow 70 at daytime. This IS our winter!!! :o).

Anyways, thanks for the advice. I'm going to follow it & transplant now. But I'm going to make a mix found on this forum: pumice,crushed clay pot & a little bit of orchid bark.
Thanks again.

Jeff

Milque, Wait until at least until April 10, make sure the early morning temps are above 55 before you transplant, just cut back on water now. Those are beautifully grown plants, clean as a whistle. When you cut back on water they may wrinkle a bit, if so then give them a warm sip of water from the bottom, do not water these from the top. Your mix sounds great, and I might even try that combination. Enjoy and may your collection grow. P.S. those are referred to as 'Sports' I also live in So. Calif. I have been growing the species since 1968. I use plastic pots, because they stay damp longer, the ID I agree are correct. You have one little S. hahnii called 'Hahnii Streaker' When the weather is safe isolate it in it's own container. Take off all reversions, Mine has never reverted. Winter has arrived in the San Fernando Valley our temps have dipped down into the low 40tys a few nights, if you live on the other side of the hill, it will not get as cold. Watch the weather reports for this information. Norma Happy Gardening.

Totally forgot to thank tf.-drone for IDing those plants. But better late than never. Thank you very much tf.-drone.

Hi Norma. It's too late now. Transplanted them yesterday morning before your post. I'm in San Diego, here it is a bit less extreme than in the Valley, but nights are getting colder. Speaking of the planting mix. I got thinking yesterday while seeing those beautiful roots growing so successfully in peat with absolutely no trace of any rot, maybe those nurserymen know something that we don't. Otherwise, why wouldn't they use crushed stone mixes which must be cheaper for them at least in our area?
Btw, the plant on the last picture to my great surprise was found to be a single plant. not two as I thought. Also there are four little baby plants growing on it which I did not see before. Probably it's a cross with bamboo :o).

Anyway, thanks for sharing your expertise.
Jeff

I am a sans newbie, drawn in by "thrives in low light" which is music to the ears of house plant lovers in the pacific northwest. I have learned a lot by reading the posts on this site and have been haunting Home Depot and Ebay in search of these gems. I found a "Moonglow" recently at Home Depot in a 6" pot. This plant has babies, children and teenagers and has cracked its pot. Since it lives indoors, should I repot it now, or wait till warmer weather arrives?

JoanP,

Norma likely knows better than I (also I can't see where you live & its weather), but it depends. I'm experienced w/ these, so I might repot it & do it dry, being careful about future waterings.

Depending on your mix (how fast draining), your level of experience w/Sans., local weather, etc.

Even tho's its cracked its pot (you didn't say if clay or plastic), what harm would it do to leave it 'til Spring? If you're new to Sans., I'd leave it 'til Spring.

Thanks, pirate girl. I'm very new to sans so I can use all the advice I can get. I live in the Puget Sound area of Washington State where it's pretty gloomy for much of the year but this plant will live inside so I'm not concerned about the outside temp and the pot is plastic. If there is no danger in leaving it in its pot, I'll take your advice and wait until spring.

Thanks again.

Joan

I've been growing Sans for five or six years and pot them regularly in a mixture of peat-based all-purpose compost, coarse sand, and expanded clay, with a slow-release fertilizer. It works fine for my plants, all of which are fairly easy types, including many S. trifasciata cultivars. Peat might be dangerous for certain varieties with very specific requirements, and may not be optimum, but many Sansevierias will live and grow in a mix with some peat in it.

Norma's advice is always well worth listening to, but I've learned to repot Sansevierias as soon as I acquire them. Yours may be fine, but sometimes you find plants that have been sitting around for a long time in a store, have exhausted their soil, and sometimes are suffering from rot. In these cases, the sooner the plant is repotted, the better. If there's rot on the rhizome, cut it away, leave the plant unpotted for a few days to let the cut area cure, then repot it.
If a Sansevieria has its roots exposed, as by a broken pot, it will be unhappy. I would repot for that reason as well, water it once and leave it in a definitely warm place until it has thoroughly dried, than be extremely sparing of water until next summer. Your plant will also look prettier in a nice new pot. Put it in a pot just large enough to hold the plant and its extended family: Sansevierias do better crowded. My own preference is for clay pots.

The variety of advice offered in this post suggests that there's more than one way to grow Sansevierias successfully. Norma knows a huge amount more about these plants than I do, but I'm saying what has worked for me.

Melissa

I have just received a gorgeous S. pinguicula with a pup. It was bare-root. I potted it up using cactus and succulent mix. I then watered the plant. My question: the cactus mix is still pretty damp after several days. It also seems to be too firm (feels packed down). Should I re-pot, adding some perlite/orchid bark to the mix? Would doing this now be too damaging to the roots? Thank you.

Sansevieria have thick, robust roots. They will not be significantly damaged by repotting. Besides, any amount of damage is better than losing the entire plant to rot. I'd repot ASAP.

As for soil mixes, everyone has their preference, but I see no good reason to use peat or any other material of such fine size. There are coarse materials to suit every need, and they will allow much more beneficial air in the soil. In addition to the bark and perlite you mentioned, Turface, pumice, and granite grit are useful ingredients as well. If you choose to use peat, or need to do so in a pinch, use it sparingly. The majority of the mix should be grit.

Also, using an appropriately sized pot is very important, and unglazed, porous clay pots can help a lot as well.

Along with the excellent advice above, might I please add DON'T WATER IT IN when you repot it again, it doesn't need it.

To settle the plant well down deep in the mix after firming it down w/ your fingers or hands, take the pot & bang it against the table a time or 2, it will settle the mix, force out air pockets w/out watering.

Then I'd wait another week or so to water, less risk of rot.

Thank you very much for the advice! I will be re-potting today, adding coarse materials and NO WATER!

I see you got those at Walter Anderson's Nursery , HAHA ... they have nice to okay looking plants but alittle pricey and the customer service is abit lacking IMO . I got a few of those 2.99 babies as well . There's another Exotic Gardens up in Mission Valley that's cool and one in Old Towne that's pretty smokin !

Yes, turtles, you are right on all counts. I bought them @ Walter Anderson's. and the nursery is not as good as it used to be 20-25yrs ago(thou it always was pricey!). Looks like the Exotic Gardens don't have a website. Next time I'm in the area I'll check them out(I'm in N.county).There never were many good nurseries in SD. WA's and the one in Solana Beach - that's all I know. Take care.