That is a fun one and you will have a giant cluster of leaves before you know it! Variegated masoniana is awesome too though the leaves don't get as big as the all green one.

I LOVE MASONIANA!!! We had a whole discussion on them a while back. They're just so large and imposing. You've got a great plant there and are soon to have a whole pot on your hands. Keep us posted on it's progress/pups. Congrats!

I had been looking everywhere for it and I got the last one on eBay for $18, which is the cheapest I found for the size. I started getting into other sans varieties as well. I have a zeylanica, moonshine, robusta, and the common one with yellow strips. Are there any other striking tall varieties besides the one with the yellow strips down the side?

Come next year, I will be thinning my collection down again. I send for postage only, as well as about a dozen people here.

Stush

Yes lots of sans passesd around this group of great people!

Cityplants, I have one called hyacinthoides and the thing is huge! Leaves 2-2 1/2' tall. A pot buster I'm sure. The leaves are not super wide like masoniana though.

vitorama where can I get one of those online?

There's a guy on ebay named johnlarr. That's his ebay name. He sells them cheap as "reticulate sansevieria" and has several listed. This is mine:

Just thought I'd keep you all updated:

"johnlarr is out of the office until 12/31/2016 and may not be able to respond to your message.

Message from johnlarr:
My
store is unfortunately closed due to Hurricane Matthew. At the time of
this writing (Wednesday night, 10/5/16) Matthew is about 24 hours away
from skimming, and possibly hitting, Boynton Beach, FL. I do not know
what plants, if any, will still be in shape to sell afterward, and it is
possible that I may be off the Internet for weeks, if this one is
anything like Hurricane Wilma in 2005. Sorry for any inconvenience.
Please check back frequently as I look forward to taking your orders
upon reopening. Thank you again for your business!"

My thoughts to everybody whose homes, gardens and nurseries have been and are on the path of Hurricane Matthew. Please stay safe.

I hope Russ is ok. My prayers goes out to all the people affected by this hurricane.

Stush

I'm good Stush, thanks! I don't know how Boynton Beach fared, I'm inland from the east coast but only about 50 miles, my best guess of winds here is about 60 to 70 mph, but expected 70 to 100. People on the immediate coast got hammered, my stepfather's in Cocoa Beach and still without power.

Cityplants, I'm curious what soil mix you have the masoniana in, it doesn't look like a traditional sansevieria mix. If you've been having success with it though, stay with it. As others said, there are many growers here that are willing to share their extra plants. So you might post a list of the sans you're trying to find.

What city are you in, and what is your growing zone?

Russ

it is in a miracle grow cactus soil that I mixed with orchid bark. I put a thin layer of the cactus soil that was not mixed on top. I'm in Manhattan and it think that is zone 7b

That mix will kill my Gold Hahnii's but is more than ok for most tall trifasciata and those tall big other species. Some of my cactus, I used clay outside soil. Same with my big wild agaves. Any thing to slow them down. Different plants, at different cold and wet spells changes what soil would be successful. Look at Tiffany, she grows a lot of sans in outside soil thru the summer months and gets great results. My problem Gold Hahnii is in 90% gritt.

Aha, it's the cactus soil on top that confused me. Many of us here use a commercial potting soil with perlite in 50/50 proportion, or a mix with pine bark, Turface (calcined clay product), and granite grit which is often called 'gritty mix'. 'Gritty' seems to be a generic term for mixes with a lot of aggregates, even to the exclusion of any organic matter whatsoever. They can contain perlite, small river rock, granite, large grained sand, crushed lava rock, etc. I don't think it matters to sansevierias a whole lot as long as drainage is really good and it dries fairly fast but it can depend on your growing conditions and climate.

There are at least a couple of sans growers here that are in the New York City area. You apparently grow other genera, I think I see an aroid in one of your pics, Zamioculcas zamiifolia. Besides sansevierias, I have a large collection of aroids.

Your tall sans with the wide yellow edges is trifasciata Laurentii, probably the most popular house plant ever. Other fairly available attractive tall varieties of trifasciata are Silver Queen, Silver Laurentii and Black Gold. Silver Queen is all silver, new leaves are beautiful, as they age some green banding can appear with an overall greener color. Silver Laurentii is the color of Silver Queen but has wide yellow margins, very choice. Black Gold is a much darker version of regular trifasciata, it's common in most areas of the country at big box stores. Many of us will have extras we can share. Less common tall varieties are Gilt-Edge, Slipped Stripes aka Lillian True, Bantel's Sensation, Black Sport, and Wagner's Gold. Gilt-Edge is like Laurentii but the yellow edge is extremely narrow. In Slipped Stripes the yellow edges of Laurentii have 'slipped' into the interior of the leaf, narrow and wide in a random pattern, and stripes on the front of the leaf don't match up with those on the back. Bantel's Sensation is highly variegated with white stripes and is a slow, picky grower because of it. New leaves of Wagner's Gold look like normal trifasciata but yellow striping in random patterns across the leaf slowly develops as the leaf ages.

Then of course there are the medium-height varieties like your Robusta, and the Hahnii types that are much shorter. These are all varieties of the species trifasciata, but the species metallica (old name guineensis) has a few attractive variegates such as White Striped Giant, San Remo, and metallica variegata.

Give us a 'want list' and maybe we can help you acquire more sans for your collection without having to order from commercial sources.

Russ

I got some sans I got to part with right now. Next week will have to go Priority Mail, this week depending, could got First Class at half the cost. Unless it's too large or heavy. Futura compacta, Slipped Stripes, Siam Silver, Masoniana. A phlo. Florida Beauty, some aloes. Any takers?

Stush

Stush, wow , sounds like the beginning of a new collection for someone. That's a nice variety of plants. It's always hard to get them all moved inside this time of year.

Aaaaargh! Just spent the last of my plant budget!

Thank you for the offer Stush! I could use a Slipped Stripes and the Philo Florida if no one speaks up for them. I can reciprocate with trades, maybe I have something you would like. Otherwise whatever arrangements you require.

Thanks again my friend,

Russ

Stush, just had a thought... what is your Futura Compacta? Maybe I should try one of those if no one asks for it. If someone does, pass it to them.

We appreciate you,

Russ

I'd like slipped stripes if you have more than one. I see Russ is 1st in line :-)

Katrina, I'd like you to have the Slipped Stripes if Stush only has one, I've messaged him about it.

Russ

Thanks Russ. Hopefully there is more than 1 though.

Only one Slipped Stripes for now. Spring I can cut up my big plant. Looking very much like a Compacta right now. When larger and more fully developed, it will have that slipped effect.

Broken stem when bring in for winter. Got lots to give out on this one.

I now own a cat. Stray that kept coming around and was going into the garbage until we started to feed it. Now we'll stuck with her.

Main mother plant.

These were returned to me due to mealies and treated with Imidacloprid (Bayor). They are all cleared and healty. Some are dark jade with yellow edges. Don't know what they are called. Maybe not even futura? Giving all away.

Stush

That's a beautiful cat Stush, I'm glad you took it in and gave it a home. Your kitty looks in good shape, did you give it a name?

I had dogs and cats my whole life, but the quieter personality of cats fits me better now. My cat Sammie is 15, a stray I found as a little fluff ball at the post office front door at midnight when picking up my mail after work. I live alone and she's been great company and a good companion.

Your Lillian True is beautiful too, well grown! No doubt the grouping of sans is Futura Simplex.

Russ

I only call her Kitty. She some times stays away for days and just now after almost a year, I can pet her. I want to get her spayed and shots to protect her. She's too wild to be able to come in the house, so we just have a nice bed made up for her and keep her fed and watered. She is good for getting those pesky chipmunks around the front stone wall.

That's a great looking feline Chris, I'm glad you stopped and rescued him. I try to pick up cats and dogs when they're obviously in trouble but most of the time you can't catch them. I have had some success stories though, won't go into them now.

Anyway, he's beautiful, what's his name?

Look like you've got plants in for the winter, getting cold up there?

Russ

That is 'Whisper' he was about a 6 or 7-week old kitten when found on the side of I95 healthy(though hungry) and friendly but obviously dumped where he was and could have very easily ran out into I95 traffic as he was on the shoulder of the road with a barrier on the other end of the shoulder. My wife and I and young daughter were on the way to Virginia to visit relatives when we found him. It was a Sunday and no place to bring him so we got attached. My wife is not a big cat person but always has made sure he is provided for and he has been a good companion for us and especially our kids! We had our first light frost yesterday though days are going up into the 70s. I brought most of my plants back inside though not quite all. Still have a large jade and large Sans masoniana at work outside and a couple miscellaneous items. Never enough room to bring them in LOL! That is 'Wagner's Gold', originally from you to my right and a big 'White Striped Giant' hidden behind me to the left. That Amorphophallus 'Shattered Glass' I wrote about in the Aroid forum since it didn't come up until August is also to my right on the floor. Got to get that in better light. Its timing is mixed up and it is actually throwing up a second shoot now(?)!

Chris, he's a lucky cat that you picked him up. The cruelty of some people with unwanted animals is horrific, I've seen too many instances of abuse first hand.

On growing room, I have thousands that I have to leave out under oaks to overwinter. My winters aren't that cold but I always have massive leaf and stem damage from a few overnight freezes and I do lose some every year. Hence my need to have 3 or more of everything, if I have only one it has to come indoors.

Your Wagner's is magnificent, I don't grow it well for some reason and have struggled with the one you sent. Although small, it seems to be doing well now and I think it'll be okay.

Russ

Russ, You need a greenhouse. Sounds like it's warm enough for no heaters during winter. Harbor Freight has one 10 x 12 with 4 vents for $700. I'm thinking about it some time next year. My winters are too cold and too expensive to heat in winter but expands my growing season by 3 months.

Chris, We came close to our first frost. Low 38 some did get a light frost but not around us. Got all mine in and way overstocked this year. Standing room only. Any leaf that gets taller than 30 inches gets wacked.

Stush, I have an old 12 X 24 foot shadehouse I built in 1993 that I cover in winter. In the early years I had a professional Modine gas heater in it but it rusted to nothing in 3 years and always had trouble keeping the pilot light lit. Now I don't heat it, but it doesn't begin to house all the plants I have. I'd need 3 or 4 of them, but I dream of a 30 X 100 commercial hoop house. I easily have the space on my 1.5 acre, but not the time, inclination or energy to build and then maintain it.

Russ

Russ, how did the shadehouse hold up during the hurricane winds? That was a heck of a storm. You were lucky to be inland.

Barb, no problem on the shadehouse structure. I had a lot of plants that blew over but most were still upright afterwards. I was amazed. My property is surrounded by large live oaks and a wall with a large housing development on the other side, so winds are buffered quite a bit. I nailed some shade cloth on the two sides facing the direction of the winds, only a few plants inside had been tipped over.

Thanks for your concern Barb!

Russ

I wish I lived near by. I would help build that large hoop house 32" (4 roll of 8" block) off the ground with raised beds. No worry about heavy rains that way. I have 1/2 acre but surrounded by open woods on 3 sides. Plenty of space to build a nice green house but so many things come first before my plants. Sooner or later, I have to do it.

Stush, it'd be great to have someone like you nearby, I don't know anyone in my area that's interested in horticulture. Other than where the house is, my property is low and the greenhouse location would need to be raised 4 inches or so, which wouldn't be a big deal.

I'd rather have a property like yours, ringed with woods or at least unoccupied land. Mine used to be that way but the housing development bought up everthing around me, now I'm surrounded by houses. Quite a revolting development for someone who loves a natural view, fresh breezes, and above all, quiet.

Russ

I know I am blessed. I am afraid if my neighbor sells his land (10 acres) It just may be developed. Then I sell my house and move to S.C. where my brother lives. Zone 8 so I could increase my outside amount of plants. Greenhouse 10 months out of the year. So on.

Stush

Stush, SC would be quite an improvement in temperatures, but I know moving is a traumatic experience. So I hope your neighbor never sells the land, at least not to a developer. Might not be so bad if someone bought it for an estate and put a big house in the middle of it, maybe clear an area for horses. I wouldn't mind that kind of situation.

Russ