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nanw_4wi

Blooms = death?

nanw_4wi
19 years ago

OK...I've been neglecting my Sans. studies lately.

I know I could research, but it's much easier to ask here.

So I have a stupid question.

One of my little Sans. (can't recall the name offhand - will get it tonite) has a bloom-stalk.

After this plant blooms, will it die?

It is quite a small plant and has no offsets.

Comments (11)

  • biwako_of_abi
    19 years ago

    I'm still new at sans, but I recall being told that they don't die. However, I also seem to recall reading that once a plant has bloomed, it doesn't grow anymore. I have two plants that bloomed recently, so I hope someone who knows more will post about this. Will sans that have bloomed still make offsets, even though their leaves do not grow anymore, or do they become completely arrested and just vegetate?

  • birdsnestsoup
    19 years ago

    Cause for celebration. Double celebration. First celebrate a spectacular & fragrant flowering. Then after the flower stalk has died down there will be life going on under the compost. The plant is making an offset (or even morethan one) & within a few months you'll have more cause for celebration as out pops an even bigger, better & more beautiful offset.

    Life goes on. The Old one doesn't die right away & will take many years to die.

  • nanw_4wi
    Original Author
    19 years ago

    Thank you!! Whew!

    Yes, I have been celebrating the bloom stalk....and watching it daily, patiently .....!!

    The plant is Sp. Lavranos & Bleck.

    I'll take a photo when it blooms!

  • emilio
    19 years ago

    I can only add here that like some other plants a Sansevieria will not grow anymore after blooming, even dy. Buth after you got the new affsets it is still possible to take parts of the old plant to make leafcuttings for propagation. Hope to see your photos of the flowers soon.
    Here you will see one of a flowering stuckyi

    Here is a link that might be useful: Sansevieria stuckyi inwith flowers. Photo taken by Herman in his own collection in Tenerife

  • Cena
    19 years ago

    Nan, I never paid that much attention to the part that was blooming. I do know that I never saw die off after blooms! Yikes, but who marks out which growth head is blooming and keeps track in an 18 inch pot how that particular growth is doing???

    Well, the obvious answer is Not Me! I still have yet to see die back just from blooming.

    There are plants that are labled Terminal from blooming, but mostly all I remember are Aeoniums... Geez, I better get a notebook and Pay More Attention!!!

    Nan, I don't think you have anything to worry about.

    The cissus' are doing marvelously! The ceropegia didn't like me, and Thank You for being such a good friend. See Cissuseseses for pic of recent Cissus growth, you know where.

  • pirate_girl
    19 years ago

    Dear Emilio,

    Pls note that the link you've attached is not working. It says "the file you're looking for is inaccessible".

  • jon_d
    19 years ago

    Plants that stop growing or die after blooming have their bloom stalks arrise from the center of the plant. That is to say, they bloom from their terminal bud or growth tip. We see this in lots of plants. Aeoniums and many sedums will bolt into flower as their terminal bud grows quickly from a flat rosette to a candelabra of flower buds. Bromeliads also flower from their terminal buds, thus the flowers are always from the center of the cup. If I remember correctly the succulent broms like dyckias and puyas also flower from their terminal buds. So, these plants will split into multiple offsets after flowering. This can be unfortunate in a beautiful specimen of Dyckia platyphylla with a single large symetrical rosette of glossy bronzy succulent leaves. After it flowers it will divide into several main heads while it also offsets around the base, eventually making a tightly compacted thicket of offsets.

    Plants that flower from their terminal buds but do not offset will die. Examples of this are certain aeoniums like A. nobilis, A. tabulaeforme, Agave victoria-regina, some large rosulate tillandsias, navelworts, etc. In the example of agaves one often finds offsetting and non-offsetting forms in the same species. So, nowadays, most of the Agave victoria-reginas that we see are offsetting clones. But, when I first started growing succulents the only plants of this species that I saw were non-offsetting plants that were grown from seed. When a plant flowers without offsetting as in these examples they are called "monocarpic". Many plants that flower from terminal buds will persist for many years, gradually going down hill.

    In sansevierias we see this in mature growths that flower, stop growing and then just sit. They can look very good for quite a few years but eventually start to slowly die, usually with the outer leaves dying first. With trifasciata I like to cut out the old growths at their base, to improve the look of the plants and open them up so that the newer growths have room to grow. I often do this with broms as well. But, if I have something I want to propagate I sometimes remove the new growths as they mature and keep the ugly old growths to offset again. I have some Aechmea orlandiana 'Ensign' plants that got really ratty but put up beautiful new growths every year. I have also done this with Sans. 'Moonshine' and 'Laurentii Aurea'.

    Jon

  • kniphofia
    19 years ago

    One of my hallii plants is flowering now and although this leaf cluster will not grow any more leaves, look what's going on beneath the soil!

    {{gwi:1256333}}

    {{gwi:1256334}}

  • russ_fla
    19 years ago

    Nan, is that one of my plants that's blooming, sp. Lav &
    Bleck 4/81 Maktau, Kenya??
    Just curious. Getting cold up there yet?
    Russ

  • nanw_4wi
    Original Author
    19 years ago

    Yep, it's yours, Russ! (Well...it *was* yours, lol!) You're my Sans. mentor, dontcha know!! And it does look like a 'terminal' bloom stalk to me, so Russ, maybe you're the perfect person to answer this one....will this little guy die after blooming?

    Yes, the nights have been quite cold...warmer recently, but we had a few 32 degrees or less a few weeks ago.
    I brought the plant indoors before the cold set in....but it was on my porch before that....it is losing some buds....like 'bud blast'.....so I hope I'm still able to 'experience' the blooms!

    Cena, glad to hear you had good luck with the Cissisuses, lol!! I did see the lovely photos!
    If you'd like to try the ceropegia again, just holleR!!
    (And, you *know* you're quite welcome!)

  • nanw_4wi
    Original Author
    19 years ago

    Well, the bloomstalk completely blasted and withered away....so I wasn't even able to enjoy the blooms!!

    I must have left it on the porch too long, and therefore it must have been too cold. Can't think of any other reason this would have happened.

    Russ...do you know what the minimum tolerable temps for this one are? (I should have asked that question a long time ago!)

    The good news is.....it has produced an offset! Yay!!