A couple months ago I separated a large Sansevieria plant that we had. The original plant was getting dense. Sansevieria grow new sprouts prolifically, so they must be separated every now and then.
You might recognize these hardy plants by another name. They are also called snake plants or mother-in-law’s tongue. They are on NASA’s list of purifying houseplants and are great for cleaning the air in the home.
Anyway, after splitting the original plant, I discovered at least ten new pups, which is the adorable name for Sansevieria sprouts. I ran out of flower pots and had to use ceramic bowls and glass jars at the time.
The glass jars are neat because you can see the layers of roots, dirt, and rocks, but the pups quickly outgrew them. It’s time to replant the Sansevieria before the roots get too big and the plant gets stuck in the jar forever.
Sansevieria are similar to succulents. They prefer a dry, well-draining medium. They don’t like too much water. I had success with mixing cactus soil and potting soil together in the past, so I decided to do that again. A half and half ratio.
Here are the Sansevieria in the glass jars. You can see the dense roots growing. The bright green parts buried within the soil are the pups. They sprout from underneath and then pop up beside the parent plant. Maybe this is why they are called snake plants? It kind of looks snake-ish.
By the way, here’s a close up of the jar. You can see the water pooled at the bottom. This is why I always put rocks at the bottom of my flower pots. The rocks allow more room for drainage so the roots won’t drown.
I chose a red flower pot and gathered rocks from the backyard. Rocks go in first, then the soil. I mixed the cactus soil and potting soil together in the pot.
The roots were bigger than I thought. It was a struggle wriggling the plant out of the jar without damaging the root system too much. In fact, some roots broke off.
Success! Here are the liberated plants.
The first plant is planted. It looks happy in the new home. Definitely less cramped.
And here goes the second plant. I see a pup sprouting on the side, so I gave it more room over there.
The repotted Sansevieria. So cute. It looks nice with both plants in the same pot.
I’ve been told that snake plants grow taller when planted in a compact container. Maybe that’s why these are so tall now, since they’ve been in jars for a while. Hopefully, this new home is a better fit. I expect the new sprouts to give it a more proportional look.
Here’s the plant back with its siblings. They sit by a south facing window, so they get plenty of light during the day. Can you imagine all those Sansevieria grouped together? That’s how the original plant used to be.
I need to give some away, because they’ll continue to propagate and there will be more and more later, but for now they make a cheerful jungle in the house.
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