I think it's beautiful just as it is!

Thanks entero... I think so too, it's just that I fell in love with all the bright yellow/gold on the pics I saw online. I'm still happy with it tho; any suggestions?

That is about as gold as a gold flame gets. You will need to put it in pretty good sun to many sin the gold though.

Should it look like this?

http://www.lapshin.org/succulent/Sansevieria-Trubus/Sansevieria-trifastiata-Gold-flame115.jpg

I just saw a few Goldflames at the nursery I frequent, they are nowhere near as beautiful as yours!!! I'm thinking maybe the young ones are yellow and develop more green as the plant gets bigger? The green is what keeps the plant alive, gold plants are challenging to grow (so I hear).

about all you can do is give it as close to ideal conditions as possible and let the plant do its magic.

GreenLarry, that's what I thought, that it would look like that.

Thanks everyone, I'll just move it around my house so it gets as much sun as possible!

Thanks Stush, yours are lovely! Mine has a lot more green so I've been moving it to the East side of my house in the AM, and to the West side in the PM, like a crazy girl... hahaha!

Those Lapshin sans are VERY extraordinary, I've seen a lot of Gold Flames and never saw one like those. They would be very difficult to grow given the lack of green chlorophyll. Mary, yours is very beautiful, and much easier to grow than the ones in the picture. They're very sensitive to overwatering, if the soil is obviously moist at the surface, don't water. Also highly sensitive to even cool temps, so be sure to keep it warm in winter. Nothing below 60 or 65.

Stush... pretty!!!!

Russ

Russ, Those of mine are just as hardy as my tall trifasciata. I keep them in my cool basement for the winter under lights and they always do well for me. Not like my Gold Hahnii.

Stush, I've had 4 or 5 Gold Flames and have lost them all in fairly short order. For me they're as difficult as Golden Hahnii's, but I guess you've got the 'golden touch'. I ain't got it, that's for sure.

Russ

Russ, with my losses, I don't have any golden touch. Just lucky with these. Maybe they are a hardier strain or something. I lost my window box of Golden Hahnii that was growing for years for me and I though they were a hardier type but they forgot. Still got one pot with 3 small pups and the greener Gold Hahnii.

Stush, you always have the most amazing plants.

"I thought they were the hardier type but they forgot." Hilarious, Stush!

Stush, I think you posted pics of that windowbox full of Golden Hahnii's. It was an amazing sight! I still have some, remnants of many pots that I bought last year. They have the wider green leaf edges, which may be the only reason I still have some, being a little stronger. I still see them for sale at Home Depot, $3.88 plus tax which is a bargain.

I'm experimenting with a more open mix, adding 1/4 inch river rock and more perlite, and I've recently started spraying with a chemical that controls some of the common sans diseases, plus just started spraying with Listerine.

I used to grow really pretty Hahnii types years ago, but something has changed and I've gotta figure it out. I never had to spray anything in the old days, everything thrived with very little care and leaves were always perfect with no white or messed up areas.

Russ

Russ, are you having foliar disease on you Hahnii?

Hey Fred! Well, I'm not sure what it is, could be deterioration of lower leaves from overwatering. They're going to mush. I've had centers rot as well, which I guess could also be from getting too much water. But I've had some left out in rainy weather that don't seem to be affected at all.

So spraying is precautionary, plus opening up soil mixes as well as finding drier locations for them out of the rain. But as I said, I didn't have concerns about any of this many years ago, Hahnii's grew very well under same conditions that are killing them now.

How's it going?

Russ

Russ, I think your problems may be the ph level. Sans love a more acid soil and I use sulfur added to my watering. Also what water do you use? Florida water is heavily chlorinated and who knows what else chemicals are in there. Do you have a rain water source? When I water in the winter, I use old fish tank water from my son's tank. Summer, I have a rain barrel to catch the downspout water in.

Interesting thoughts Stush, I hadn't thought of chemicals in the water, it's not particularly heavy on chlorine but I've lived here for 23 years and is same water used when I grew Hahnii's with ease. My water is probably pretty hard, or alkaline. I have hundreds of sans and generally use the hose to water, so no way to add sulfur. I guess I could put all my Hahnii's in one place and water those with a gallon jug of treated water. How much sulfur would I add to a gallon?

I don't have gutters on my house where I could catch rain water, but maybe I can figure out some way to do that.

Thanks!!

Russ

I have heard more than one person say Sans prefer acidic soil, yet if you read that sansevieria production guide, it says just the opposite.

Sansevieria grow well under a soil pH range of 4.5 to 8.5, although a range of 5.5 to 7.5 is preferred. Stock growing in limerock soils is usually subjected to a pH range of 7.5 to 8.5. The pH of beds prepared in sandy soils amended with peat or potting mixes should be adjusted with dolomitic limestone to a range of 6.0 to 6.8. Dolomitic limestone provides adequate levels of calcium and magnesium.

Interesting, yes?

Thanks Lori, so I guess the thing to do is experiment with a few sans and add the sulfur, see what happens. I've heard the same thing regarding adding limestone for sans.

Russ

Russ, you might try gallon jugs filled with tap water and allowed to sit for days so they are room temperature and the chlorine can dissipate doesn't help with fluoride though. Do you have any Hahnii in the ground? They used to grow on the north side of my neighbors house on Pine Island. Just wondering if it is the tap water or the disease is in the environment near your house? Maybe another cause?

Thanks Fred, I honestly doubt it's anything in the water. I don't have much trouble with other kinds of sans, it's just mostly the Hahnii's. I haven't put Hahnii's in the ground, a couple of offsets of aubrytiana have escaped thru pot-holes into the ground and they do well there before I dig them up. I would have left them but they were in an area where I needed to walk.

I'd forgotten you lived in Florida for a time, I've never lived on the west coast but I hear it's really nice, and really expensive, over there in the Pine Island, Sanibel Island, Cape Coral area. You were only a short drive south from Juan Chahinian in Naples.

Russ

vitorama, 5.5 to 7.5 is almost all on the acidic side. Tall tough hardy type can take harder alkaline soils but I would never add lime stone.

I purchase the sulfur sold for azaleas in a bag powered form. You can sprinkle some on or I like to mix in a bottle and add a little bit when I water. I don't think you can overdue it. But like all good things in life, a little is good a lot is bad. One of the benefits is it kills fungus and most bugs don't like it.

Now that's an interesting approach, thanks Stush. I add a couple teaspoons (according to the directions on the bag) of pelleted/granular sulphur to the gritty mix when I repot them. I just fed and watered all of them by hand, with a cup (from a 5 gallon bucket, as it's about to climb to 100 deg. here and pups are a poppin' all over, I want to feed those babies.

SoCal is known for alkaline soil, and alkaline water so I do fill the buckets and leave them overnight then add citric acid & Foliage Pro before watering. Let me tell you, it's a lot of work pulling each plant, watering it several times until I'm sure it's thoroughly soaked. But, I can examine each plant, see which ones are in need of more spacious digs, etc. I also take a hose to them but to rinse off the foliage as it's dusty here. It's good to know they don't mind being watered with a hose (they won't die) I'm sure I will.

Speaking of Juan Chahinian, he used to live about 10 min. away from me I'm assuming before he moved to Florida. I'm going to drive by his old house and see if there are any Sans in the landscaping by chance. Also around the block from me is the former home of a man who had an antique rose nursery- beautiful Tudor home with roses everywhere, just gorgeous. I haven't been by there in awhile, I wonder if the new owner cared for the upkeep on all those roses and the water bill.

Stush, the paragraph I wrote about Ph and limestone was directly copied from the sansevieria production site. I didn't say I agreed or disagreed, i don't have enough growing experience for that. I was just putting out another point of view from the University of Florida.

Vitorama, That info is correct. Anything below 7.0 on the ph is acidic. Most Sans like this. It could take it up to 8.5 but this is only the tough ones. Produced in Florida when they were growing them for string and hybridizing them. I thank you for the input and didn't mean to sound like I was disputing this.

I value your input enormously, Stush. That's why that article surprised me so!