Nice Sans. jungle there (^_^)"

You can also use some different type, such as miniature species or pendant stem
to make variation in your garden.

Some more Ex.

Bri, I'm relatively new here, but I LOVE it! The layout is great and it looks very artsy! I have a few questions...what kind of lights and substrate are you using and how do you water the plants?

Nancy

Looks fantastic Bri and Im sure is even more impressive in person. Great pics and great Sans as always Stephania. In fact I think I'll have to sacrifice a few of my meagre collection for cuttings so I can build the numbers up and try and creating something as nice as these.

thanks for sharing
Kristan

The plant that we exchanged. 'Mein Liebling' ex Manny Singer, I don't know if he named the plant or got it fron someone else with that name, I'll try to check it out. I received it with the wrong name of 'Austrian Black' mine grows very dark. 'Austrian Black' is now called 'Black Sword' Thanks Brian, I am reading instructions over all the way to the bottom and now it makes some sense to me. I'm going to try it again tomorrow, after I eat breakfast, I'm am not good until I eat in the morning, that is why I am so dense. Low sugar, Thanks again, Norma

Hi Nancy and Kristan,

Thanks for the comments!

regarding your questions, Nancy:
the soil is a mixture of 50/50 pumice/coir topped with small wood bark. i have a small fountain in there to increase the humidity. and there is no drainage, which leads to your other question; i don't really water them at all. i mist them every other week. so far MOST of them seem to be doing fine. one cutting rotted so far. like i said, it's an experiment. hopefully they flourish in there. oh, and the lighting is the same bulbs as the aquarium lights. they were very expensive lights that came with really specific bulbs and ballasts. i'm not sure i can replace the bulbs with anything aside from aquarium lights. the plants seem to be doing alright with them so far. i have them on almost 12 hours a day.

Norma: so is Black Sword the correct name for that plant or is it Mein Libling?

Bri.

i had my Sans in the terrarium for about two and a half months and they just took off! they all showed significant growth, pupping (from rhizomes and stolons) and extensive root growth. only one plant rotted and that was a cutting that, perhaps, did not get enough time to callous. all the other plants flourished and grew a lot faster than the Sans i had outside. about a month ago, i replaced most of the plants in the terrarium with Sans i recently purchased from Thailand (with the help of Chanin/Stephania). and now those are flourishing as well. i put a very small pup of S. rorida in there and have noticed significant growth in the last month.

and the most remarkable thing is that i was able to positively prove a Sansevieria urban myth: that you can root calloused leaf cuttings by placing the calloused tip in water. i brought back a lot of leaf cuttings of very rare Sans from Thailand with me. i've been busy and they have been sitting in a plastic pot since i got back and a couple, unfortunately, dried out. the rest showed no change. last thursday night, i finally got around to putting them in the terrarium. i stuck most of them in the substrate. and one of them i put in the fountain that is in the terrarium (calloused end in the water, of course). i didn't think anything could have happened yet, but last night (three days later) i went into the tank to adjust something and just decided to pull out the one in the fountain and i saw THREE rootlets! the longest of which was about 1 centimeter. i could not believe it. i then checked a few of the other cuttings that were in the substrate and several of those were rooting as well! but not as fast as the one in the fountain.

i was floored. i didn't think ANY succulents could root that fast.

now i'm excited each day to go home and just stare at my terrarium....and search for free, broken fish tanks on craigslist.

i apologize for not providing pics. i'm at work now. i will add pics when i get home.

anyway, the constant heat and humidity really sets off Sans growth on every level. just wanted to report that.

oh, and i started leaving the lights on over night, every other night. so half the nights they get darkness. all other times, the lights are on. i think that promotes faster growth as well.

Bri.

As promised (though a bit late), here are the pics. i was literally about to snap a shot of the rootlets on the one leaf cutting that had rooted, but the battery on my camera went dead.

this first one is of the entire tank:

the next few are of random sanseverias i brought back from Thailand. they will take some time to grow into recognizable, mature plants. but most of them are hybrids and may not be recognizable at all:

this next one was a gift from a friend i met in Thailand. it's an unnamed sansevieria from Somalia and this friend has exclusive rights to import them into Thailand:

this next one is of Sansevieria rorida. it's a pup given to me by Chanin, whose Gardenweb ID is Stephania. he was the most gracious host when i was in Thailand, thanks again Chanin! anyway, it's hard to see, but it's the reall small plant toward the center of the pic with the distinct white margins.

this mext one is of the fountain i put in the terrariu to keep the humdity up. you can see the cuttings i put in there, one of which as already rooted. i've been checking, but the other ones haven't yet. but it's only been 2 days.

i apologize for the quality of the photos. it's hard taking pics of the inside of a terrarium and i didn't want to dig out my big camera.

thanks for viewing and i am open to all comments,

Bri.

Hi Bri, what great finds! Out of curiosity, how many plants were you able to bring back? I had been following your discussion with Stephania and know this was a concern of yours. Maybe someday I'll get to Thailand, but for now, I have to settle for traveling out west to get the Sans. that I can't find here in WI. Good luck with all your newbies..the tank still looks great!

Nancy

hi Nancy,

actually, i learned that there really is no limit to how many Sans you can bring/import back. Sans are not CITES plants nor are they regulated/restricted in any way by our USDA. you just need to apply for an import permit through the USDA before you go. i had only intended on bringing back Sans, so i applied for a permit to just bring back Sans. it was a very simple, one page application. they sent my permit about a week later. when i got to Thailand, i found all these other types of plants that i wanted to buy(like a kid in a candy store) and i emailed a contact i had made at the USDA while i was in Thailand and he told me that even though my permit specified Sans, i could actually bring back any non-CITES plants and as many as i wanted. and i could also bring back CITES I plants as well, so long as they are only for personal use and not to be resold.

there were some complications with actually getting my plants (i had them shipped separately) once they got to the US. but those problems were unique to my shipment. all in all, it wasn't a bad experience. it was surprisingly easy, actually.

if you are thinking about going to Thailand, i would highly recommend it. i just cannot say enough good things about Thailand. i've travelled a lot and Thailand has always been my favorite country (since over 10 years ago after my first trip there, and that was BEFORE i cared about plants/Sansevierias). it is such a BEAUTIFUL country. the food is amazing. but the most attractive thing about Thailand is the people. they are hands-down the most friendly and hospitable culture i've had the pleasure to encounter. i honestly cannot describe how great the Thai people are. and i was there during their RIOTS!

anyway, if you want more detailed information about bringing plants back, i'd be happy to email you privately about it.

Bri.

Bri I had the same impression of the people as well. If any one wants to travel with me, I'll go, at my age I don't dare go alone. I am so glad that the experience was positive. Norma