Sansevier is a stemless evergreen plant belonging to the Asparagus family (formerly this genus was called Agave). In vivo occurs in rocky and dry regions of the subtropics and tropics of Madagascar, Africa, Indonesia and South Florida.
The most famous type of culture often grown at home? - Sansevier three-lane, which is much better known by such names as “mother-in-law's tongue”, “snake skin” and “pike tail”. The Latin name of this genus was given in honor of the Neapolitan prince von Sansevierio, who made a great contribution to the development of the natural sciences.
It is generally accepted that Sansevier, whose photo can be seen in the records of travelers, patronizes them. Even at home, in her native walls, she recalls distant wanderings. Most often, room sanseviers in our homes are representatives of a three-lane variety. Among them there are very large plants with huge, up to 1.5 m, leaves, and miniature, with short triangular leaves, which are collected in a nice outlet.
Sansevier: plant description
Despite the fact that sansevier has many varieties, it is impossible to confuse it with another houseplant. Sansevier flower has a powerful and creeping root system. It is well developed and allows you to provide the plant with the necessary amount of moisture.
Sansevier leaf is straight and fleshy. In some varieties, the leaves reach a height of one and a half meters. They are directed up, and sometimes slightly to the sides. Extremely rare are samples in which the leaves lie almost horizontally. To the touch they are dense and smooth, in shape - lanceolate, with slightly pointed tips. In addition, some varieties of leaves grow from rosettes. There are specimens with wide and very short leaves. They can be painted in various colors and shades: dark and light green (silver), brown and yellow. Some types of sanseviera have fringed leaves.
Bloom
Not everyone is able to see a blooming sansevier. It cannot be said that it strikes with the beauty of its flower: it looks rather modest in appearance. However, flowering occurs only under the most favorable conditions and is extremely rare. Its flowers, located on straight and long peduncles, have white narrow petals with a greenish tint. Stamens gather in a cylindrical and rather dense inflorescence.
Fragrant flowers appear in late April or early May. They open in the late afternoon and fill the air in the room with a vanilla aroma.
Fruit
These are berries, inside of which there are from one to three seeds, but at home their appearance is very rare.
Types of Sansevier
The undisputed leader in popularity is the three-lane sansevier, the care of which is reduced to following simple rules. It is distinguished by longitudinal dark stripes on narrow and long dark green leaves. As a rule, there are no more than six of them in the outlet. The length of the leaves is different: from 30 cm to one and a half meters, but, regardless of size, they all narrow and sharpen towards the end. Interestingly, this species is able to do without natural light; artificial light is enough for it.
Gold flame
The name of this variety translates as "golden flame." It is explained by the presence of upper leaves of yellow color, which really resemble flames.
Cylindrical
The plant grows to 150 cm in height. It has dark green cylindrical leaves up to two centimeters in diameter. A fairly deep longitudinal groove runs along their center, and the tips of the leaves are pointed. They are decorated with stripes of silver color, a yellow border runs along the edge of the plates. The flowers of this plant are painted in a delicate cream shade with a reddish top.
One of the original varieties of the cylindrical sansevier is the Velvet touch variety with bright green leaves.
Laurenti
This variety gave rise to many varieties. Its main feature is vertically growing leaves with a yellow border, which can be either dark or light. White flowers bloom at the base of the plant and are spike-shaped panicles.
Zeylanika
This Sansevier flower is distinguished by variegated wide and long leaves of the xiphoid shape. Dark striped patterns are randomly applied on a dark green plate.
Hanni (undersized)
Very effective variety, different from many types of Sansevier with short leaves. They are curved, and the rosette of the flower thanks to this resembles a vase. Hanni today is represented by several varieties. For example, the leaves of the Golden Hanni subspecies are adorned with longitudinal yellow stripes arranged unevenly. And at Silver Hanni the leaves have a complex color: silver-gray is added to the green color. On the leaves there is a dark edging and stripes, but not too clear.
Futura
A relatively new variety. Its leaves are short and wide. The yellow stripe passing along the edge of the plate is thinner than in other species.
Moonshine
Another plant with short and wide leaves, but they are colored differently. They have a beautiful silver, gray-green hue.
Bali
A somewhat unusual sort of sansevier. Short leaves are covered with frequent irregular silver strips. The leaves themselves do not exceed 50 cm in length. They are round in shape, with conical tips. Leaves grow in compact rosettes
Sansevier: plant care
Experienced lovers of indoor plants recommend that beginners who want to try their hand at floriculture start with sansevier. Caring for these plants is simple, they are undemanding to growing conditions: they feel quite comfortable in bright light and in the shade, tolerates high and low temperatures, tolerates drought without difficulty.
But if you want to grow a really beautiful plant, you cannot do without following certain rules.
Lighting
Sanseviera loves bright lighting, but this does not mean that it can be exposed to the scorching rays of the sun. On the contrary, they can seriously harm the plant, leaving a severe burn on the leaves. It is desirable that the lighting be diffused. With its lack, the leaves will quickly lose their decorative effect, and the stripes, in general, can disappear. The plant becomes colored evenly green and does not look so impressive anymore.
In winter, when daylight is short and you notice that the flower is lacking in light, use additional illumination with fluorescent fluorescent lamps.
Air temperature
Caring for a sansevier implies compliance with the temperature regime. The optimum temperature for this plant is + 14-16 ° C. Although this hardy plant will suffer a rather noticeable cooling (up to +5 ° C), an even greater decrease in temperature for the plant can be detrimental.
Of particular note is the winter care of the sansevier. Make sure that the leaves of the plant do not touch the cold glass and the flower is not in a draft and under a stream of frosty winter air. When airing the room, rearrange it from the windowsill.
Watering
No matter how hardy a plant is to drought, it needs to be watered, however, of varying intensity. In this sense, Sansevier is no exception. Caring for it allows for regular, but moderate watering. Do not try to “water” the plant for the future: it is able to accumulate moisture in the leaves, but excessive overmoistening can provoke root decay. Long droughts, in turn, will not destroy the flower, but will significantly spoil its appearance. Therefore, try to avoid extremes, water the plant so that the soil has time to dry out and during the next watering it is evenly saturated with water.
It is important to know that the abundance of watering largely depends on the lighting and air temperature in the room: the less heat and light, the less water should be watered. To avoid waterlogging, use good drainage. A standard drainage layer will not be enough. In the soil in which the sansevier grows, drainage is added throughout the volume, and not just to the bottom of the tank. To achieve this result, coarse river sand is added to the soil - about 30% of the total mass.
Humidity
And this indicator is not significant for the plant, because it is a native of dry savannahs. But if you see that dust has accumulated on the leaves, it will not hurt to spray at room temperature with standing water or you can wipe them with a damp cloth.
Top dressing
If your plant is standing in a warm, brightly lit room, then it will require monthly top dressing during the active period. Sansevieres are suitable fertilizers for cacti because it is a succulent. The composition of fertilizing should include phosphorus and calcium, but with nitrogen, observe the measure. According to experienced gardeners, it is better to make half the portion of fertilizer recommended by the manufacturer.
If your flower grows in the shadow of top dressing, you can bring in minimal portions or refuse them altogether: an excess of fertilizers can cause rotting, the disappearance of strips, and deformation of the leaves.
Transfer
Does this procedure require a sansevier? A young plant is transplanted annually. A flower older than two years, needs a transplant no more than once every three years. The room sansevier has a well-developed root system, so pick up a pot so that the roots grow quickly and begin to destroy the capacity. The pot for this plant should not be too deep, but at the same time wide, since the roots will grow in breadth. No less important is its strength: give preference to thick-walled containers of clay.
Soil preparation
For transplantation, you will need a soil mixture consisting of four parts of sheet soil, one part of turf and one part of sand. You can add humus or peat.
Breeding
How is Sansevier propagated at home? There are two ways: rhizome division or leaf. Whatever method you prefer, you need to know that reproduction is carried out in spring or summer, in the active period. Reproduction of sansevier leaf is as follows. A healthy leaf is cut into pieces five centimeters across. Then one of the slices in each piece must be treated with a root growth stimulator. It is he who is deepened in a peat-sand mixture or in wet sand.
It is necessary to deepen the sheet cuttings by 1-2 cm, but you should not cover them with glass or film - high humidity can cause decay. Lighting should be bright, but scattered, the temperature should be maintained in the range from +20 to +25 ° C. The first shoots will appear in a half to two months.
Reproduction of the sansevier of variegated varieties is carried out only by dividing the rhizome, since plants with a uniform color, devoid of patterns, grow from leafy cuttings. Rhizomes are separated by a sharpened and thoroughly sanitized knife.
It is necessary to divide the root so that on each fragment there remains a growth point, as well as a leafy rosette. Slices are treated with activated carbon (crushed) and planted in separate pots filled with a substrate with a high content of sand. Watering at first is limited to a minimum.
Sansevier disease and possible growing problems: why leaves fade
Most likely, the reason is insufficient watering. If at the same time they also turn yellow, soften, the reason is the exact opposite: the disease causes rot caused by excessive humidity or moisture entering the outlet.
- The rotten parts of the plant are removed and treated with an antifungal agent. Then the plant must be transplanted into a new sandy soil, but before that, having dried the sansevier a little.
- If the leaves become soft, but their color does not change, it means that your flower is cold. Remove the affected areas of the leaves and sprinkle the cuts with charcoal. Rearrange the flower pot in a warmer place.
- Noticing that your sansevier has stopped growing, pay attention to the lighting: she clearly does not have enough light. Move the plant to the south or east window.
- Sometimes white or brown dry spots appear on the leaves. They talk about two probable reasons: either the flower does not have enough light, or it received a sunburn. In addition, such spots may indicate waterlogging of the soil or infection with a fungal infection. In any case, the affected leaves must be removed, and the plant rearranged to another place.
- Sansevier leaves often die due to mechanical damage to the plate. Gently cut off the dried part, leaving a thin strip.
- From scabs, spider mites, mealybugs, which are manifested by various signs: deformation of the leaves, the appearance of droplets of nectar, the leaves become smaller and as if paper, there are many effective drugs that give excellent results in the fight against these pests. For example, Fitoverm, which is bred in water according to the instructions and sprayed on the plant.
Sansevier, whose photo we posted in the article, is an unpretentious and spectacular decoration of any interior, which today is grown not only in apartments, but also in offices, official institutions. It not only pleases with its patterned-striped coloring, but also heals the air in the room.