Hi All, I am new here. Located in NY, USA. I repotted a Snake Plant two weeks ago because it outgrew its old pot. This new bigger pot is deep so I added 3-4" of gravel, a layer of news paper and then potting soil. I overestimated how much water I shoudl be giving it since there was so much more dirt and the gravel. I watered it yesterday and now I have standing water on the surface. The plant sits on furniture and I do not have holes in the bottom. I do not want to put holes in the bottom either as then I will need a tray which will cover the furniture too much. However, I will do what ever it takes to not kill this plant. Lastly, I have two unusualy growths inside the plant. See attached pics. What are these?
Well, the 'new growths' are very very special - your sensevieria are about to become parents (if you're lucky...). You should be able to just tip the pot over and pour out the bulk of the excess. Not going to be pretty, but should be pretty easy. Made the same mistake of putting a Sens in a non-draining pot, and wound up with a boggy mess at the first rains... You might consider a draining pot with a saucer for this. They have heaps of new styles that can be placed in a great many different decor.
I have this same sans, as well as the variegated green/yellow one. I would suggest you start over. Un-pot the whole thing and take off all that wet soil from around the roots as well as the gravel and newspaper. Never heard of newspaper being added to a potted plant, but that's just me. The water can drain down into the stones, but there is still all that water in the pot that will keep the roots wet. If the water sits on top of the soil and all it's "amendments, it's way too heavy and roots need air to survive. I would find another slightly smaller pot (with drain holes) that's a little smaller then the one without drain holes and set the saucer and new pot down inside the one you have now you want to use, that way, you can still get the same look you want. Even if that means splitting the san in two, or taking a few leaves with roots out. Use "plenty" of Perlite mixed into the soil for better drainage.If another pot seems too short, but an upside down saucer in bottom (pot with out drain holes) for more height so the shorter pot would be easier to take out to water.Hope this makes sense! Your sans is flowering and the wonderful scent will fill a room! I might have waited to repot until after it flowered though:)
oh, lucky you!! your sanseveria is BLOOMING!! wow!! as for the repotting and the resulting soggy mess, i'm bluewing!! unpot the whole thing and start over. you do not need newspaper inside the container! no wonder the water isn't filtering down and is all on the top of the soil! you also don't need gravel in the container either. use a container that has drain holes in it and put it inside of the larger/nicer planter. basic cactus mix for the soil with some added perlite for extra drainage. use a plastic pot or an unglazed clay one...going with something that will fit inside that planter. when you water, you can dump any excess water that collects in the bottom of the planter and you won't end up with rotting roots (which is what you will get if you keep a sans in a pot with no drainage). using double containers will also protect your furniture and will still look nice.
I hope I didn't kill the babies (blooming) I found a pic of what they look like in full bloom. http://http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2545602670102634783FDqrSc Mine have since dried up. A few still have water droplets on them, but most do not. I think the bloomed as much as they were going to. I guess we should not have transplanted it, but I am not much of a green thumb. I think the post gave that away already. I drained all the water out of the pot. The whole reason I added gravel was to allow the soil to drain and not become soggy. Also to help stabilize it as this plant is getting tall. The newspaper keeps the gravel and dirt separate, but allows water to pass through. I think this is the same thing you are telling me to do with double potting it, right? But, I guess with that I can remove the inner pot and drain the excess water. Am I catching on? Since it looks like the blooms are finished, I'll re-pot it again. I had to re-pot it the first time as the roots had grown into and over the edge of the pot.
if you'd posted before you'd done the repotting, i'd have advised that you should wait until the flowers were done doing their thing. yes, adding the gravel at the bottom provides somewhere for the excess water to drain off to. thing is, with a sealed container, that water just sits there and that keeps the roots moist constantly. sanseveria are succulents and do not like having wet 'feet'. they like, and need, to dry out between waterings. the other thing with leaving water in a sealed container is that it WILL go stagnant and can still grow moldy...not conditions conducive to a healthy plant - succulent or otherwise. using two containers - one with drainage inside one without does pretty much the same thing as putting the gravel in the bottom...leaves opportunity for the excess water to drain away. and, yes, the idea is that the inner pot can be removed so that you can dispose of any excess water and then replace it in the pretty outer container. i pretty much treat all my plants like that...regardless of whether they are a regular type houseplant or a succulent type. i keep most of the succulents and the cacti in unglazed clay which is pretty darn ugly, so i hide the ugly thing in a nice planter. regular houseplants are kept in basic plastic pots that are inserted into pretty planters. it's much easier to remedy an overwatering situation (which happens to all of us at some point, no matter how careful we are!) using the two pot system...just so easy to pour off the excess by lifting the pot out and dumping the larger container! you can use some decorative sphangum moss to cover the inner pot so that it's not noticeable that you've got the two pots there.
Sansevieria are pretty easy plants as long as they aren't over watered. Think of them as cactus that don't need, or want a lot of water and your sans should be fine.
lol. I like the unglazed pots. Earthy. Focuses the eye on the plant. I have a gaudy glazed china pot with gold and ornate filigree on my desk. I often think back to the time I bought it - "WHAT WAS I THINKING?" They say variety is the spice of life.... so I stop my lamenting. It still hurts my eyes but in a fond way.
Re: Snake Plant Over watered Well I had drained the excess water out but tipping the pot over while supporting the leaves. Since some dirt came out, I had added some more potting soil. Unfortunatelly, the previous two blooms did die off prior to getting to full bloom. That was Three Weeks Ago! Today I have ANOTHER NEW Bloom!
Rehashing an old thread because my Sansevieria is blooming AGAIN! Last time was in May. I had moved the plant shortly avterwards to make room for another. Same room still and lots of sun. Here she is in full bloom again. I am so excited.
My sansevieria is blooming, too. It is in a shady spot on my back patio. First I knew of its bloom was when I stepped out the back door one afternoon last week and thought: What a great smell! Then I realized that my daughter was off at work---she is usually the origin and source of lovely perfume auras chez moi---and it dawned on me that I'd smelled that smell before. Lo! there was the flower stalk, which had chosen to come up at the back of the plant. Wonderful fragrance! Mine is the same non-yellow variety as yours, LNG. Congrats on the flowers, and on your plant husbandry. Obviously your plant is happy---and you are too! Way to go. (---and GROW!)
