The benefits of sansevieria and the basics of caring for it

Sansevieria is good for everyone: you hardly have to spend energy on caring for it, it is unusual, beautiful, useful, fits into any interior. It is almost impossible to ruin this exotic plant: it can do without the attention of a grower for up to 2 weeks. Its popularity is confirmed by numerous nicknames. The people call the flower "pike's tail", "mother-in-law's tongue", "snake skin". The plant got these names because of the peculiarities of its appearance - long hard leaves covered with stripes.

Flower varieties

There are more than 60 representatives of the genus Sansevieria, which is part of the Asparagus family. All of them are united by the absence of a stem, long life and evergreen. Wildlife is a common landscape feature in dry and rocky areas with tropical and subtropical climates. You can meet them in Africa, Madagascar, South Florida, India.

At home, the following types of sansevieria are usually bred.

• Big. In length, its leaves reach 30-60 cm, their width reaches 15 cm. They are light green, covered with transverse stripes. The edge of the leaf blade is bordered by a reddish line. There are 2-4 sheets in the outlet.
• Three-lane. Her leaves are oval, flat in section. Light stripes run across the dark green background. Some varieties are distinguished by the presence of a yellow border. The most popular in indoor floriculture is the three-lane Hani sansevieria. The color of its leaves can be pure green or with a yellowish tinge and silvery stripes, and they themselves are short and curved back. The varieties, the leaves of which curl, are very effective.
• Graceful. The second name is graceful. It has oval-shaped leathery leaves, pointed at the tips. Their main color is grayish-green, they are covered with a pattern of gray-beige transverse streaks.

Sansevieria blooms at home are rare. Even proper care does not guarantee it. Flowers, white with a greenish tint, exude a pleasant, but rather pungent aroma, similar to vanilla. They are crowned with a long (15-20 cm) arrow. In natural conditions, flowering ends with fruiting. At home, berries with seeds on the plant are not tied.

The flowering of sansevieria is surrounded by myths and beliefs. It is believed that this is how the plant gives the green light to new beginnings of its owner, prophesies to him good luck in long-planned affairs. But if the flowers bloom in winter, it is better not to count on the favor of fortune.

Lighting and temperature

Sansevieria is surprisingly unpretentious, it survives in almost any conditions. Lack of light, sudden temperature changes, prolonged drought - the plant successfully copes with all this. But you should not put a pot with it in the back of the room: it will not be able to fully show its beauty here. For the leaves of the flower to be developed and powerful, and their color is bright and shiny, sansevieria should receive a lot of sunlight. For its cultivation, window sills oriented to the east or west are ideal. On the south side of the house, in summer, the flower will have to be shaded from the scorching sun.

With strong shading, indoor sansevieria grows very slowly, and the light pattern on its leaves disappears, they turn dark green. But an excess of light leads to the same result if flower species with a bright color containing a lot of yellow are selected for breeding. Such plants are best placed near the window. They especially need protection from direct sun, in which their colored leaves burn and burn.

Sansevieria is thermophilic.In the daytime at home, the plant is most comfortable at a temperature of 21-28 ° C. At night, it is optimal to reduce it to 16-20 ° C. But it's okay if the thermometer rises higher. In winter, the air in a room with sansevieria should be warmed up to at least 15 ° C.

Watering and feeding

As a succulent, sansevieria does not tolerate waterlogging. She needs watering not abundant. Its frequency determines the drying out of the soil. Most often, it is the wrong watering that kills the plant - too abundant or frequent. A special device - a humidity indicator will help to avoid problems with sansevieria. If you buy it at a flower shop, the difficulty in determining the time for the next watering will disappear.

Cold water is contraindicated for a flower. Its optimum temperature is room temperature. It is better to use rain or melt water for irrigation of sansevieria, but settled or distilled water is also suitable. Such care is carried out carefully. If liquid gets inside the leaf outlet, it is highly likely that it will rot. When kept cool, water the plant less often and much more moderately. Do the same if the pot is in the shade.

Advice

You do not need to spray sansevieria. But a lot of dust settles on its long leaves, so they are periodically cleaned of dirt. This can be done with a damp soft cloth or sponge.

The period of active growth in sansevieria lasts from May to September. At this time, the flower is fed 2 times a month. If the plant hibernates in the cool, adding nutrients will only harm it. Under the same conditions of maintenance, care in the form of dressings during this period is carried out once a month.

You can use 2 types of fertilizers:

• intended for cacti and succulents;
• complex mineral compositions for indoor crops.

Variegated sansevieria varieties require a special approach. From an excess of nitrogen, they begin to turn green, becoming monochromatic. It is fraught with root rot, therefore, before using it, you should carefully study the composition of the fertilizer. It is better to give preference to preparations with a high content of potassium and phosphorus. The concentration of the nutrient solution is made twice (for variegated plants - three times) less than the manufacturer's recommended one.

Suitable soil and transplant

The roots of sansevieria are powerful, so it is recommended to plant it in a pot with thick walls. A plastic container may not withstand their pressure and burst; it is better to use a ceramic or clay one. The advantage of such dishes is their good stability. It is important for a flower, the beauty of which is in its developed long and heavy leaves. Transplanting sansevieria is carried out as needed, when the plant becomes cramped in the previous pot and its roots are shown from the drainage holes.

While the flower is young, the procedure is carried out every 1-1.5 years. In the future, the interval between transplants is increased to 3 years. If sansevieria grows in a large box or tub and it is difficult to transplant it, it is enough to update the top layer of the substrate.

The flower prefers light soil that does not retain moisture. There should be few nutrients in it. At home, a suitable sansevieria substrate is prepared by mixing the following components in a ratio of 2: 1: 1: 1: 1:

• sod land;
• leafy ground;
• sand;
• humus;
• peat.

You can make up the soil only from the first three components, taking them in equal volumes. Before planting a flower, such soil must be disinfected by calcining in the oven or steaming. From ready-made substrates for sansevieria, the soil for cacti and succulents is ideal. A thick drainage layer of expanded clay or polystyrene is laid at the bottom of the pot.

When choosing dishes for a plant, you should give preference to a wide and shallow container. A large volume of sansevieria soil is not needed, its roots are located almost at the surface. The new pot should not differ much from the old one in diameter.It is enough to take a container 1.5-2 cm wider than the previous one.

Breeding features

At home, vegetative propagation of sansevieria is usually used. A new flower can be grown from different fragments:

• parts of the mother bush (lateral cut);
• parts of the rhizome;
• leaf cuttings.

It is convenient to divide the bush at the moment when the spring transplant of sansevieria is carried out. The procedure will require a sharp knife and crushed charcoal to heal a fresh wound. The mother plant is connected to the lateral cut with a strong rhizome, which must be cut. After sprinkling the wound with coal, the cut is planted in a separate pot with a damp substrate. Caring for it comes down to accurate, very moderate watering. After a month, the layers begin to feed.

Well-developed rhizomes of adult flowers are suitable for division. They are cleaned of dry processes and cut so that at least 1 kidney remains on each of the parts. The wounds are disinfected with a fungicide or crushed coal, after which the cuttings are planted in separate containers.

Propagation of sansevieria by leaf cuttings is a long and troublesome process. Usually they resort to it if you need to get several young plants at once. Adult lower leaves are most often used as cuttings. They must be healthy. The optimum length of the cuttings is 5-10 cm. After cutting, they must be slightly dried. For this, parts of the sheet are kept in the air for 2 days. Root them in a moist substrate. This could be:

• sand;
• peat;
• vermiculite.

The stalk is placed in it strictly vertically, dropping it to a depth of 1.5-2 cm and slightly compacting the substrate around the leaf. It is convenient to use one container for rooting. Adjacent cuttings are placed in it at a distance of 2-4 cm from each other. They take root in the light, in warmth and in high humidity. A transparent bag is put on a container with cuttings. Caring for them includes daily ventilation, removal of condensation and periodic moistening of the soil. It is important that the cuttings are not exposed to direct sunlight.

They will release the roots in 2-3 weeks. It will take 1.5-2 months before the babies appear. After 2-3 months, the matured young sansevieria are transplanted into individual small pots. The most important thing in caring for them is not to flood the plants. If the leaves of the flower are striped, such reproduction will not work for him: daughter plants do not inherit patterned color from the mother. Variegated species of sansevieria propagate only by dividing the rhizome.

Possible difficulties

Growing sansevieria at home rarely causes problems for the grower. But gross violations of the requirements of an exotic guest will affect her health.

Causes of problems with sansevieria and their solution

Sansevieria properties

Sansevieria has many valuable qualities that make it even more attractive to grow at home.It cleans the air well from dust and other impurities, saturating it with life-giving oxygen. The leaves of the flower are rich in biologically active substances. The salons are of the greatest value. Their benefits for the human body are scientifically confirmed, but they have a healing effect only when used correctly. Salonins are a part of drugs with choleretic, anti-inflammatory, expectorant and laxative effects. But they are strictly contraindicated in pregnancy, as they can cause irreversible consequences.

The health benefits of sansevieria are reflected in folk recipes. With its help, our ancestors treated a variety of diseases:

• cystitis;
• inflammatory processes in the oral cavity;
• otitis media;
• cuts and other injuries to the skin.

Salonins are excellent foaming agents. They are added to liquid soaps and shampoos.

For a long time, sansevieria was grown for practical purposes: its hard and at the same time elastic spines were used as needles for gramophone. African peoples made strong ropes from its leaves. They also went to the manufacture of coarse fabrics.

The grace and unpretentiousness of sansevieria are worth trying to grow this flower at home. It will decorate any setting and will be equally appropriate in the study, office, hall, winter garden. It is not for nothing that designers and florists love sansevieria so much. Another argument in favor of her breeding is the presence of positive energy in her. The plant absorbs aggression, helps to smooth out conflicts, helps to focus and mobilize.