That's one plant that can look really ratty and beat-up, but yours looks beautiful. I checked the Sunset garden book, and if this is "sansevieria trifasciata," shelter from midday sun is recommended. The cactus book says it likes "summer light," so I guess you are meeting it's needs very well. Maybe the plant often looks bad because it's overwatered or in full sun all day.

Gee Russ, I'd heard & read (maybe in Hermine Stover's Sans. book), that both S. Bantel's Sensation & S. Lillian True will reproduce true (that is to say, not revert back to all green in the new pups). I don't know for sure & have no personal experience w/ these yet, but am currently trying to make new Bantel Sensation plants off of their leaves, so if the leaves make it (one's already looking all dried out), I may be able to see for myself how they reproduce in terms of keeping their variegation (or not). Karen

MsGreenFinger GW(8 Ireland) I didn't base my post on scientific research. But I did look up articles about 'air purifying plants based on a NASA research' which are actually the most common house plants. (Palm, spider plant, Sans., english ivy, peace lily, boston fern etc) Maybe it does matter what kind of plant one has, how many, what size and how fast they grow. But I am sure, having a dozen large specimens in your home will make the air quality better, just as they make the life quality better. You also can read this interesting aticle: Can House Plants Solve IAQ Problems? The idea of common plants solving IAQ problems is attractive. Most people like having plants in their homes and offices and in the hotels, stores, and public buildings they visit. However, important questions exist as to whether plants can actually affect indoor air sufficiently to warrant their use as air cleaners. Can House Plants Solve IAQ Problems-2.pdf (PDF document 38Kb) This is from this article: To date, advocates have not reported the results from actual field tests. One field study was begun and failed, according to a strong advocate of the interiorscape approach to IAQ control. Stuart Snyder is the president of Aqua/Trends of Boca Raton, Florida, a firm that sells irrigation systems for interiorscapes. He offered his explanation as part of a 13-page letter to Robert Axelrad, Director of EPA's Indoor Air Division. Responding to what he calls EPA's criticism of the NASA work, Snyder wrote, “In many ways small systems are better able to isolate factors, and more clearly define mechanisms at work.... Larger environments are too subject to conflicting variables. Real life, field studies with their complex dynamics are also valuable, and should be implemented at later stages of research -- they are however, more difficult to accurately stage and evaluate” Snyder continued, “Scaled up studies must be made at some point. Associated Landscape Contractors of America have already attempted a controlled study in an office building. It failed as a study because of these difficulties.” The office-building study was done for over a year under realistic conditions and with as much control as can be achieved in a field study, There was no indication that the presence of plants had any measurable effect. HBI Inc., which conducted the study, reported virtually no effect of plants on the VOC concentrations. John R. Girman (Chief of the Analysis Branch at EPA's Indoor Air Division) has prepared a memo that details some shortcomings of the NASA study's claims for the efficacy of plants. The memo was included in correspondence between Axelrad and Snyder. Girman's memo responds to some of the technical issues presented by Snyder and other advocates of IAQ control with house plants. The memo's title is “Comment on the Use of Plants as a Means to Control Indoor Air Pollution,” (undated.) Girman analyzes the notion that NASA research shows plants are effective at removing indoor air pollutants at realistic concentrations and time frames. He calculates that at the most favorable conditions, it would take 680 plants in a typical house to achieve the same pollutant removal rate Wolverton and his colleagues reported they achieved in the test chamber. However, scale-up considerations are also important. It appears that the average chamber volume used in Wolverton's tests was 0.5 m3. This means the results must be appropriately scaled-up for use in a larger environment to allow for differences in volumetric loading (the number of plants per volume of space). This does not appear to have been done. The volume of a typical house in the U.S. is 340 m3 with a floor area of 139 m2 (1500 ft2). Thus, the recommendation that one plant be used per 100 ft2 implies the use of 15 plants in a typical house. [ALCA recommends 1 plant per 100 ft2. Wolverton recently told us he now recommends 2 or 3 plants/100 ft2, but he says “he is “just throwing a dart."] This would provide for 340 m3/15 plants or 23 m3 per plant, not 0.5 m3 per plant as in the chamber. This means that each plant would have to clean 46 times more volume than it did in the test chamber or, as would actually happen, it will clean the larger volume less effectively. To be more precise, each plant will have a pollutant removal rate which is only 1/46 of the rate it would have in the chamber, i.e., only 0.002 h-1. Thus, plants at the volumetric loading recommended would be expected to contribute relatively little to pollutant removal in any indoor environment with typical ventilation To achieve the same pollutant removal rate as realized in the test chamber, one would need to have the same volumetric loading, i.e., 680 plants in a typical house (340 m3 divided by 0.5 m3 per plant). This does not seem practical and this forms the basis for concern that adequate and realistic scale-up considerations are necessary before the use of plants can be recommended as a means to control IAQ. Similar concerns apply to the use of plants to control IAQ in office environments. It is hardly surprising that the attempt to validate the test chamber results by Associated Landscape Contractors of America did not provide measurable success ellenr22 - NJ - Zone 6b/7a(6b/7a) another option would be to not pollute the earth, the air. I agree with you but people need to vote for the right people in the elections to do that.

Plant Care Mother-in-Laws Tongue How To Water Mother-in-Laws Tongue has rhizomes that store water, so stay more to the dry side with this plant. In low to medium light, allow potting media to dry down completely in between watering. In higher lighting, allow to dry down at least 3/4 of the pot depth. Please see pages on watering indoor plants and lighting for your plants best health. It is often difficult to judge if a Mother-In-Laws Tongue needs to be watered so it is helpful to use a soil probe. This aids you in checking the soil at the bottom areas of the plant's root mass to check for moisture. A soil probe or moisture meter is very useful in helping you avoid over or under watering of your plants. I use a moisture meter often to double check myself in my indoor plant care accounts. An aluminum or steel soil probe will work well and not break. This is the type interior landscapers use as the inexpensive plastic probes can break easily. The 13 inch length will work for most indoor plants. The longer length would only be useful for grow pots with a diameter of greater than 28 inches. Also, be careful when you do water your Mother-in-Laws Tongue that you do not pour the water in the leaf rosette as it may cause them to rot. Water the soil only and use room temperature water. There are a few things to watch for with Mother-in-Laws Tongue. They are prone to scale and mealybugs and if you notice these pests they should be wiped off immediately with a cloth or cotton dipped in rubbing alcohol. Mother-in-Laws Tongue can be found in different sizes and colors. Some are shorter, with a rosette type of growth such as the Sansevieria 'Hahnii'. Sansevieria 'Superba' is somewhat larger but with wider leaves than the taller varieties. The Sanseveria Laurentii is the most common variety, with a broad, yellow edge on the thick, sword shaped leaves. The center of the leaf is cross-banded with pale markings. Sansevieria can be found with pale silver-green foliage as with Sansevieria 'Moonshine'. The 'Black Gold' has a dark leaf center, almost black, with a gold leaf edge. The Sansevieria 'Zeylanica' is more of a light silver-green with darker crossbands or mottling of the leaf. With the different growth types and unusual and beautiful colorations, the Mother-in-Laws Tongue has something for everyone who enjoys indoor tropical plants. And they are easy care, too! As I said, keep them pot bound, don't over water and place them in adequate light and they should be relatively trouble free. When the plant does become root bound you can remove it from the grow pot and divide the plant to make smaller individual plants. Make sure when you do divide your Mother-in-Laws Tongue, that you plant the smaller plants into pots that fit them. Remember, Mother-in-Laws Tongue is better pot bound. You can often place a cut leaf into moist sand or rooting media and get it to root and start a new plant that way. While it is usual to see Mother In Laws Tongue plant at a height of about 2-3 feet tall, I have seen them grow to over 5 feet tall and remain full. This was a Mother-in-Laws Tongue plant potted in a 14" diameter grow pot in a very good light situation. It is unusual to see them that large indoors but it can happen with excellent lighting and care.