Are you able to add a pic?

Hahniis aren't the easiest Sans to grow, I can't grown 'em.

No, burying them deeper is likely to rot the stem. Bad idea, but good you asked.

Yes, a pic pls really does tell so much.

I probably haven't spent enough time with them to kill any :) But this "fixing" project sounds like a good opportunity..

So far they seem to be easy. They didn't like a sunny south windowsill - looked really pale and skinny. Now they are in a shaded south window and appear to be happy.

Soil is cactus mix + perlite + cat littler (diatomite)

I guess the third option is to wait for pups to fill the space... But I really don't like this look..

I've just noticed I have one of them buried together with leaves.. It probably looked way too tall when I planted it..

I also have a golden (?) one that appears to be too tall. Don't know its growing conditions before - I have it for about a month or two.

It's growing a baby - when is it best to remove it to grow a new plant to be compact?

...but in theory - does cutting and re-rooting sansevieria stem work? (and how long will it take to grow enough new roots to continue growing leaves)

Or burying it deeper? If it makes roots on the stem part above the soil level, maybe it means it can go deeper without rotting?

there has to be at least 1 grown 'crown' for it to make pups. If you only have one and you cut it off it might take a year to produce a new shoot or it might just dry up/rot.

at least 2" of stem need to be exposed for roots to grow. i would say usually it's better to cut a piece with the stolon - the fat stem underground. it does produce roots when cut. and the pups are from underground stolons that grow from main stolon. so, if you break off the pup/growing tip at the main stem the wound is minimal.

in general they grow better when they have company :) like 3 crowns together connected by underground stolons. it is their nature to grow 'in colonies'. the old crown will decline with time and the new ones will grow larger - so then you remove the old stub and your plant still looks good.

You can propagate Sansevieria using one leaf cut into sections. A single leaf will give you a number of babies. You can find information on how to do it by Googling.

@floral, thanks, I actually have 3 pregnant pots with rooted bits of leaves :)

@petruska, are you saying that if I cut the crown off, I can (potentially) expect new growth from the remaining lonely stem/roots? I must admit I didn't think of that option at all... I would have cut the top off, and discarded the old roots.

Btw, I've just unearthed (quite literally) an answer to the stem cutting/rooting question. My brand new baby appears to be exactly that - cut at the stem. Hormones? Or would it grow like this naturally?

>> @petruska, are you saying that if I cut the crown off, I can (potentially) expect new growth from the remaining lonely stem/roots? I must admit I didn't think of that option at all...

i was saying that you need at least 1 full-grown crown remaining. so if you cut off the pup or two or all and leave the original old crown - it should produce more pups if it's not too old and exhausted. because eventually it stops growing and then it dies after pupping.

pups will not produce new pups until they mature into bigger sized crown (1-2years?) and then they will pup in turn too.

but if you have just the underground stem left in the pot with no leaves on top it will die off most likely. i've never done it. it's very hard to water properly. you could try it as an experiment, if you have too many left over after division.

once i read that if you have emerging stolon with no leaves yet but just a growing tip - it will not mature into a plant by itself, if cut off. and i accidentally snapped off a piece like that - it was hanging outside the rim, no room left in the pot :). i planted it and it rooted , but it took it a year to produce 1 small leaf. it's a very slow process. after 4 years it has 4 thin leaves only, but it's Laurentii, it's slower growing then plain.

as far as your plant cut at the stem.

normally once the pups start growing they develop roots too. so at this point it's ok to separate them by cutting the stolon. yours was cut rather high, but it does have roots high up - so it's ok. it's not hormones, it's just natural growth like that.

Thanks for the clarification :) Makes sense.

I think I'll sacrifice one of the three trifasciatas - chop it in half and see if the top can produce new roots and how fast. I just really hate the way they look from the side, and they happen to sit right in front of my work place :)

I now understand that for such "shortened" plant to produce babies, it will have to grow a new stolon first. It will probably take eons in sansevieria time..

What size pot is optimal for a 3 crown "colony"?

depends on size :) and how wide the crowns are. i pack mine tight.

>> chop it in half?

usually the crown is quite low with leaves starting at the base. it does not form a long stalk.

it's best to have min 1" , better 2 inches of stem below leaves - that's where the roots will be forming, so if you cut that off you'll just have an underground stolon left.

Am I misunderstanding something here?

I believe it's been said & repeated, no you can't propagate Sans. by cutting the stem alone, it must include the lower portion 'crown' at least, which essentially makes it a division (not a stem cutting).

i agree with that. but i've done something before (read my post above) that was said it can't be done!

so...it does not hurt anybody to try if you have extra's - as an experiment. just so you understand that most likely it won't work :).

i am not sure OP (@dialt) understands all about cutting :division (hense talk about cutting in half...which is confusing at best).

besides, i think the plants in question of OP are totally fine normal healthy plants and i personally would not mess with them. and to top that ..i do not think that they are etiolated, as the subject title reads, especially since they've been in southern exposure.

The first trio comes from a pot in my apartment building staircase (the place where unwanted plants end up being homeless and eventually die). That place has Northern exposure and small windows.

Ever since repotting (some 3 months ago) and giving them bright light, they have been coming back to life.

Re "cutting in half" - I mean significantly shorten the the stem/stolon portion of the plant and then plant them lower in the same pot. They are currently sitting on the very bottoms of those black pots, so the stems are at least 3 inches long.

..’but in theory - does cutting and re-rooting sansevieria stem work? (and how long will it take to grow enough new roots to continue growing leaves) ‘

This part of your question is confusing.

By ‘continue growing leaves’. Do you mean putting on leaves on that crown that you chopped off?

By severing the root system from the crown, you end up with a cutting on top, not a proper plant. So no, that crown you are chopping off will not put on more leaves when you plant it back. It might rot off or root but definitely will not continue producing leaves on that particular crown.

If it roots, you will get new shoots that will turn into separate new rosettes. As for the cutting itself, difficult to say what happens after. It might remain, lose a few leaves or slowly rot away. My sulcata cuttings are still green a year after producing new shoots. But for sure, they did not grow taller.

Thank you for the new info, Ruddy! Very helpful!

Yes, by "continue growing new leaves" I do mean putting on leaves on that same crown. I thought that it must grow new roots first, and then continue as usual..

I guess I am expecting it to act like some echeveria or something :) You know - cut the top rosette off, put it on the ground, and it continues growing as if nothing happened.

"By severing the root system from the crown, you end up with a cutting on top, not a proper plant"

Got it! :) So.. If I cut off (trim) the major portion of the underground stem, but leave a few existing old roots with the crown, this should count as a normal plant that would continue growing, right?

I'm sorry.. English is not my first language, and it looks like I need to sort out my vocabulary/terminology to be able to express my plant thoughts better.. Working on it! Thank you for your patience and understanding :)

OK, I felt I had enough info to proceed with this project :)

I like the new proportions much better and I also removed pickle color leaves from the bottom (pics don't show the real color well). Gonna try to propagate those leftover leaves just because I'm curious :)

BEFORE

AFTER

I trimmed the underground part leaving a portion of the stem with some roots on. They also had roots growing between the leaves.. (pics showing all three bottoms)

Sorry, I don't understand this conversation anymore, maybe it is the terms. I'm w/ Petruska on this, the plants look fine to me, nothing wrong w/ how they've grown. If mine, I would have just left 'em be.

What you've done looks OK. But one can't compare these w/ Echeverias, Sans grow differently than most other plants.

May I pls. ask what part of the world you're in? I'd love to be finding such beautiful plants where I live. They all look really good & healthy to me.

I do understand this conversation, although I must admit I had to re-read some posts a few times to connect the dots LOL Lots of good info which fits together nicely.

I'm in Europe, Lithuania. People in apartment buildings do have a habit of kicking their unwanted plants out to the staircase - isn't it the same everywhere? Few of those get rehomed, because they are usually overgrown and/or ugly (like e.g. a 6 feet tall mostly bald dieffenbachia ) ..

can't help it :) - off subject!

>> a 6 feet tall mostly bald dieffenbachia..

just cut the tops off and root it even in plain water and you'll have a handsome plant in a couple of months. and you'll get a free experience with propagation too!