Sansevieria: a mother-in-law’s tongue for every home
Sansevieria is a genus of perennial succulent plants in the asparagus family. They come from Africa, and the first recognized specimens were also found in Madagascar, South Asia, India and Sri Lanka. Its hard-to-pronounce botanical name (but don’t be afraid of it, just say it clearly: SAN-SE-VI-E-RIA) is said to honor the Italian nobleman Raimondo di Sangro, Prince of Sansevero, who lived in the 18th century. Besides his passion for growing houseplants and greenhouse plants, he is known as an inventor, writer, soldier and alchemist.
In Czech, these plants are sometimes called tenura or, colloquially, tchynin jazyk, meaning mother-in-law’s tongue (most likely because it is indestructible: once you get one, you will never get rid of it). In English, it is called snake plant (because of the pattern on its leaves), snake tongue or mother-in-law’s tongue.
Today, the genus Sansevieria includes around 80 species. That is why many houseplant lovers are happy to collect only these diverse species. You can also find some of them at our store in Prague 8. The individual species differ in size, shape and color. But they have one thing in common. They look grand, dramatic and perfectly minimalist at the same time. Perhaps that is also why they have been so hugely popular for several centuries. They make a great decoration in modern minimalist interiors, but they really fit in anywhere. You’ll be hard-pressed to find another plant this low-maintenance that is also good for your health.
The most popular houseplant?
Ask anyone, and we bet they all know what a snake plant is. Because they are so low-maintenance, they are popular with beginners and experienced growers alike.
Remember school hallways? Doctor’s waiting rooms? Government offices? You must have spotted typical sansevierias in all of them. Does that say something about this plant? Yes. It really can adapt to almost any environment, survives even in poor conditions, does not suffer from pests and, what’s more, still looks good. In fact, it will even be happy if you almost forget about it and water it roughly once a month.
Some people dislike it precisely because these “mother-in-law’s tongues” were everywhere and nobody looked after them in shared spaces: they had not been repotted for years, so their long leaves could not stand upright, and they were covered in dust… Please don’t let it go that far at home; these rewarding beauties deserve at least minimal care.
How to care for it
Light conditions
Sansevierias are often described as plants for dark rooms with minimal light. They have a special gift for surviving in these conditions and still looking good. It won’t bother them much. But that doesn’t mean you have to grow them this way at all costs. If they could choose for themselves, they would definitely go for medium-bright to bright spaces. They will even be happy on a windowsill in direct sunlight. It is also true that the more light they get, the faster they grow.
Watering
With sansevierias, one key rule applies: whenever you want to water them, put the watering can down, take a deep breath, resist the urge to care for the plant and wait a few more days. After about a week, look at the plant again, try sticking a finger into the potting mix, and if it is not completely dry, wait again. Very few things kill these plants (or parts of them) as reliably as overwatering and the root and leaf rot that follows.
They store water in their leaves, so you really don’t need to water them often. They like dry soil, and you can wait several weeks before watering: water thoroughly, let the potting mix soak it up and then leave them alone for another 3 to 4 weeks. We have found this to be the best way to keep them happy. Here we would recommend growing sansevierias in terracotta planters. They are porous and “breathe.” The potting mix in them dries out faster, and the plant rarely rots.
Be even more careful about overwatering in winter and in places where they get little sunlight.
During the growing season (spring to fall), you can occasionally add fertilizer to their water.
Suitable potting mix
We have already mentioned that sansevierias like a drier potting mix, but we will repeat it here because it really matters to them. If you want your plant to be happy, plant it in a well-draining potting mix. You can achieve this by adding a large share of perlite or pine bark, which aerate the potting mix. You can also use a special succulent potting mix, but in that case you will have to water a little more often than mentioned above, because water runs through this mix very quickly and very little of it is retained. Or add some peat or coconut fiber to this mix, as they can hold water. If you plant a sansevieria in a light mix such as succulent potting mix without the additives mentioned above, it may not be anchored well and may wobble. These are long-lived plants that can grow up to two meters tall. Don’t forget good drainage made of expanded clay.
Repotting and propagation
These plants grow fairly slowly, so they don’t need repotting very often. They will grow faster if they have enough light and you repot them more often, each time into a slightly larger planter. But then they may also get unnecessarily leggy, and their leaves may flop over. So there is no need to fuss: feel free to leave them in one planter for several years and wait until the roots start growing through the drainage holes.
If you want to propagate your sansevieria, the easiest way to do it is to divide its clumps. Don’t be afraid, just go for it. Really pull the individual clumps apart and plant them separately. It tolerates this kind of propagation very well.
Another way to propagate it is to let cut leaves root in water. It will take a while for them to put out roots, but a few of these upright, sword-shaped leaves in a vase of water look very decorative. Whenever you remember, change their water, even several times a week. The whole process speeds up if you add a drop of lignohumate to the water, because it stimulates root growth. However, this process is not always 100% successful. Unfortunately, sometimes not all the leaves take root, even when they get the same care. It can sometimes help to cut an upside-down V-shaped notch into the leaves, so that there are two longer parts at the bottom. This increases the area where roots should form. This method is also recommended for more colorful species, for example Sansevieria laurentii with its yellow-edged leaves, because it increases the chance that the new shoots will have the same color as the mother plant.
Sansevierias can also be propagated from leaf cuttings in soil (in water, in perlite). Cut off one leaf and slice it into sections 3 to 10 cm long. Be careful, though, to keep track of the direction of growth: which end was closer to the roots and which was closer to the leaf tip. Then insert these sections into a mix of peat and sand (before that, you can dip the lower end, the one that was closer to the roots, in rooting hormone) and water them. Cover the tray or planter you planted them in with plastic wrap so that the potting mix stays slightly moist. Put this propagation station in a bright, warm enough spot, try to uncover the plastic every day to “air out” the plants, and keep the potting mix from drying out. This method works somewhat less well with colorful species, for example Sansevieria laurentii, which you should really propagate by dividing the clumps, ideally in spring. That is because new plants may not keep the coloring of the mother plant and stay just green with a pattern.
Cleaning
Many houseplants welcome a shower now and then to freshen them up and wash off the dust. You can give your sansevieria a shower once a year too, but given their love of dry conditions, these plants prefer a wipe with a damp cloth. Do not use leaf shine; they don’t like it much, and the interesting pattern on their leaves is beautiful without it.
Flowering
They say that if you care for your “mother-in-law’s tongue” with love, it will reward you with a flower. Here, that is only half true. It flowers unpredictably, but mostly in summer. The flowers are very decorative, with an intoxicating sweet scent. The flower starts as a small, light green stalk with lots of stamens that later unfold, curl up and show off several light green to yellow anthers. Unfortunately, this beautiful sight, often accompanied by sweet nectar dripping from the flowers, lasts only a few days, and once the flower has dried up completely, you can cut it off. Hopefully another leaf rosette will bloom soon.
Diseases and pests
These plants also do really well when it comes to disease. They rarely suffer from diseases, and pests tend to avoid them too. At most, you may come across brown, dry spots on the edges or in the middle of the leaves, which are a sign of overwatering. When you see a leaf damaged like this, cut it off without mercy and get rid of it so that the rot or fungal disease does not spread to other leaves. Rotting at the base of the leaves or of the whole leaf rosette is also a clear sign of too much water. Cut back watering to a minimum or try repotting into dry potting mix.
The plant may sometimes also suffer from a lack of light, which shows as pale, poorly colored and generally less vigorous leaves. So move it to a better spot and give it enough time to recover.
Is it really that perfect?
Yes, and it even has a few more great abilities. According to NASA, which studied air-purifying plants, sansevierias are great helpers in environments polluted by chemicals. They can remove a large share of formaldehyde, benzene, trichloroethylene, xylene and toluene from the air. Formaldehyde is highly toxic and carcinogenic, yet it is one of the most common poisons in our homes. It is released from the adhesives in carpets and plywood and from foam insulation, and it is also used to preserve wood.
On top of that, they can even produce oxygen not only during the day like most plants, but at night too. That makes them an ideal plant for the bedroom, where they also help break down carbon dioxide and so filter the air through the night. The amount of carbon dioxide has a big impact on sleep quality: the lower the concentration of CO2, the better the sleep. If something as simple as buying a sansevieria can help us sleep better, it’s easy to give it a try, don’t you think?
But so that we’re not just singing its praises, there is one thing that is not quite so positive. It contains certain chemical compounds, which can irritate the digestive tract if swallowed. So to be safe, keep it out of reach of pets and try to explain to your little ones that there are better things to nibble on than beautiful sansevieria leaves.
Beyond everything sansevierias do for our health, they are also a beautiful aesthetic addition. Judge for yourself. Besides the common, relatively well-known species such as Sansevieria trifasciata or Sansevieria laurentii you can also get rare species such as the gorgeous Sansevieria trifasciata Grey stripe and the delicately colored Sansevieria moonshine. This genus also includes the interesting Sansevieria cylindrica, which has cylindrical leaves, and Sansevieria masoniana, which is grown as a single planted leaf, so you can find it under the names whale fin plant or shark fin plant.
Even my very first plant was a Sansevieria trifasciata. In first grade (at 6 years old), in our crafts class, we were given the task of cutting up one of its stems, letting the pieces root and growing a new plant. My “tongue,” as I lovingly call the plant, thrived: it flowered several times during my childhood and produced countless “babies.” And a fun fact to finish: I still grow its offspring at home (even after more than 25 years), I have given some to my sister and my mom, and they still look great. A big hello to my teacher, Mr. Glajc, who sparked my love of plants.
Bětka Lacinová