Hey what's wrong with wishful thinking! I already said I have mostly accepted it's death, but you never know, I haven't investigated the roots microscopically and examined their viability. Further it was my first plant and I have learned a lesson and I did read and research the plant when I got it two years ago and it was going fine. I also read that these plants are quite hardy and the bottom canes leaves died shortly after I purchased it and after a year of it not having leaves, new leaves came out of it, I never thought that would have happened. I am a virologist and immunologist, and I know at times cells and viruses have been left for a few days at room temperature (they are supposed to be at -80 degrees Celsius) and they have no chance of surviving, but very often some will survive, and we can propagate and multiply those and be good to go. I know comparing plants and human cells is a long shot, but you get my idea; that you never know. I'm sure you have tons of experience and you are most likely correct that the plant is a goner, but I see no reason to not try. I am new to all this, and I am coming to you all here for advice, and it was recommended to me by the other folks here, that also are more experienced than me, to move it to a brighter area, elevate it, and give it warmer temperatures, and I am following advice that I am getting. I am not sure how that 'reinforces bad habits'. Yes I made a mistake, I shouldn't have left it in that temperature, but it was fine for over 5 months in that temperature. I am trying to just make it survive (which clearly may not happen), hounding me about the mistakes that I made that have already happened and can not be changed, doesn't really help.

Insofar as how it would impact root health, there is no difference between plastic and high-fired clay/ceramic. If you can see no crazing (myriad small cracks reminiscent of a fish net with small holes) in the glaze, you can eliminate anything toxic making its way from the pot to the grow medium. If you haven't fertilized or used any type of tonics, insecticides, leaf shine, detergents, etc., it's a very good bet you have unwittingly over-watered due to the fact there is no way for water to evaporate or be used by the plant as the new medium is not colonized by roots and remains a hostile environment to roots due to lack of oxygen. My suggestion would be to lift the plant from the pot to see it the lower reaches of the soil column are saturated. If so, see figure D below. Remove the soil from the new pot, place an over-turned pot in the bottom of the pot so it fits snugly, and cover the drain hole of the over-turned pot with something that won't rot (it does not need to allow water to drain through the hole in the over-turned pot, but it's ok to use a screen if you wish). Mix enough of the soil that falls away from the roots or remains in the large pot with an equal measure of perlite and fill to the top of the over-turned pot, then reposition your plant on top of the pot. and back-fill with the remaining soil w/o the extra perlite. The shaded areas in the images above represents perched water. By comparing D to A, you can see the over-turned pot significantly reduces the amount of excess (perched) water your soil will b e able to hold, so air will return the the soil much faster. The operational words for the moisture level of a grow medium is damp/moist, never wet/soggy. After having put the pot to work as ballast, start checking moisture levels with a "tell" you can make from a wooden dowel rod. It is far superior to a finger or a "moisture meter". More about using a 'tell': Using a 'tell' Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need plenty of air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support the kind of root health most growers would like to see; and, a healthy root system is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips leads to avoid over-watering leads to a residual build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil from tapwater and fertilizer solutions, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor. In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water. Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'. One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue. Questions? Al

Hi all, I am going to tell you about my experience as a volunteer taking care of this species. I have potted up again 40 flats of Sans. and have 40 more to go. The are dried up, the leaves are tan, but the rhizomes are all fat and plump. The curator does the cutting up and give me instruction what size pot he wants them in. There is no heat in this greenhouse, so it's not a hothouse, and we do not water again until we see new growth, the new growth will come from the water left in the rhizome. WE don't cut off dead growth because it will protect the plant from the cold. Mothers-in-law Sansevieria are very forgiving and need very little water even in the summer if grown in the house, out side it will appreciate some indirect light, or bright shade, and while growing it will love water. If you get water on the leaves when the plant is cold, or it's directly in the sun, you will get black spots which is unsightly. It will start to come back, so not to worry, it is rather easy to grow. Norma

So, here's a related question: Has anybody ever had an issue with a mouse or similar rodent killing their just planted seedlings? This spring, I planted my seedlings and within or day or two they started to get cut off at the stem. Since this has NEVER happened to me, and I had cutworm protection on the stems (the seedlings were getting cut off right above the standard 2-3 inch wrapping) so I assumed it was a rabbit. Just to be sure, I later replaced the wrappings with 4 inch lengths of vinyl tubing, which just moved the knawing-off problem higher on the stem. If it had been a groundhog, I would have noticed a large hole in the garden fence, not to mention, groundhogs generally don't eat one or two at a time. So, I wrapped up the cages (I have them in Concrete Wire cages) with a 1 inch plastic rabbit fence two feet up each cage. I kept loosing seedlings. So now I was completely baffled but thought perhaps this small rabbit was able to squeeze under my cages because there was an inch or two of straw mulch that perhaps created a way for them to get in. I sprayed the plants with the absolutely disgusting rabbit/deer spray. The very next morning, two more seedlings were gone, although one was just laying next to where it was cut off. I reapplied, hoping that maybe the animal finally got the idea that the plants were distasteful. The next morning, two more gone, but this time I found something strange. I found that the seedling had been cut off and dragged halfway under the straw mulch next to where it had been cut off. So, whatever it was that was killing my seedlings was actually coming up from under the mulch. When I posted this story earlier this year in the pest forum, it was suggested that it is probably a mouse. Has anybody else ever experienced something like this, and if so, how on earth should I sheild my plants from this problem next year? My dad suggested cutting off soda cans and sticking them into the ground around the seedlings. I think that might work, but I also think the mouse could just go right over it. Then again, the freak mouse that did it this year will almost certainly be dead by this time next year. They just don't live that long.