SANSEVIERIA 9-1-1! Soggy dead leaf on otherwise healthy perfect plant!

5 years ago

BACKGROUND: I have have had this gorgeous snake plant for 2.5 years and am super proud that its grown from a 4” little nugget into a gorgeous 2ft+ under my care. It sits by our bay window with several other small plants, is watered ~monthly as needed, is rotated 90ish degrees about every other week, and was repotted it about 3 months ago.

This morning, I went to take it outside to enjoy the nice hot weather with my other cacti/succulents and was devastated and horrified to find a single disgusting, moldy, waterlogged leaf laying like a dead fish across the side of my beautiful plants pot

There is literally NO WAY it was over watered - after having a super gnarly fungus gnat investation that lead to me purging every house plant I owned a few years back, my replacement plants are usually on the cusp of dehydration. The soil in my Sansevieria’s pot and in the pots of all of the plants that are kept next to it are bone dry and there is no vent/door/draft anywhere near that side of the room.

while I would love to hear ideas as to how this could have possibly happened, I’m more concerned with doing What’s best for my plant now that soggy death leaf is here.

I’m going to buy fresh potting soil now (succulent blend from local nursery that is the bomb!) but I’m concerned that repotting again so soon will be too stressful and cause even more damage.

I have A LOT of house plants, but this Snake Plant is one of my very favorites - ANY guidance would be so very appreciated!

Featured Answer

Karen S. (7b, NYC)

5 years ago

Morgan,

I wish I knew what to suggest, it's otherwise a nice looking plant which looks healthy. Repotting isn't as stressful as all that, especially for Sans. which are largely indestructable (mechanically, like from being handled). Since you said you'll change the mix, pls. make sure to add minimum 50% perlite or pumice.

Sorry to disagree Matt, her mix looks fine, it's good to see an adequate amount of perlite, would appear to be fast draining.

I've grown a good number of Sans, indoors only & they're not bulletproof. I've killed them from both over & underwatering them, even in fast draining mix.

Not being a fan of gritty mix, I supplement w/ lots of pumice or perlite (usually 50%) of each.

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Comments (7)

Marta
5 years ago
Hmmm... unfortunately I don’t have any advice for you - but would like to congratulate you on this beautiful specimen. I’ve had one for a couple of years and it has not grown at all...
Morgan Wiley thanked Marta
Matt Barnett
5 years ago
Sansevieria is a bullet proof plant. Really you would have to drown it to kill it. Repot into the gritty mix, the mix you have it in looks black and too damp. It will soon break the pot to tell you its time for a bigger one. ;)
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Matt Barnett
5 years ago
The soil does look fluffy enough not to kill it immediately, but if you water it too much, it will still hold perched water. Given that sans is a succulent, most suggest less organics in the soil or at least enough inorganic larger particle components to eliminate the perched water capacity. I have mostly kept my sans on the lanai under fairly sunny conditions, but I have fould that even my mother, who had a brown thumb, couldn't neglect hers to death indoors. In fact, I don't believe I have ever seen a sans killed by too little water period. They grow in the wild here (obviously introduced) in some areas. They do fine all through our "winter" in our terrible sandy soil with no rain for months. That might be a Florida thing though.
hellkitchenguy Manuel
5 years ago
Marta, is your Sans getting enough sunlight?
Karen S. (7b, NYC)
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
I wouldn't say most suggest it Matt, some, not even many. I also think you should mention early & maybe add to your name /zone info that you're in FLA as otherwise, I don't think gritty would be good for Sans. I believe the Poster Crenda is in FLA & posts it's a different & sort of unique climate for growing succulents.

Read around more, lately a number of folks had posted about switching OUT of gritty as too drying for them & their particular growing situation.
robinswfl
5 years ago
Karen, you are right. I am one of the people who has switched out of gritty mix for Sans. ALL my Sans are in a C/S soil "blend." I myself "blend" about 40-50% C/S soil with the rest being gritty substances -- perlite, pumice, a handful of Manna Pro poultry grit thrown in here and there, if the pot isn't too big. (Manna Pro makes a pot HEAVY in no time.) For Sans, I even "repurpose" some soil. Learned that from Rina.

I do have plants growing in gritty-type substances -- Haws, Aloes and Gasterias primarily. And I do find them "too drying," so I must pay more attention to those plants. But my Sansevierias have not done well in gritty-type mixes. I have about 20-25 Sans now. They all live outside on my covered lanai. It's hot AND humid in Florida. With the Sans being in a C/S mix that's about 50/50, I water most of them about every 2 weeks give-or-take. If I need to err, I err on the side of "well, water them tomorrow, not today."

Everyone loses individual leaves on a plant. When I first saw this post, I thought -- okay, a leaf has died. The rest of the plant looks good and Morgan said she was going to repot anyway. A good look at the roots is often the most informative action one can take.