Thank you for providing so many photos. I look forward to hearing what others think of this!

I do believe that the leaves will help support the plant and foster new healthy growth. Hopefully, someone will recognize this rust? Fungus? Mites? Long gone no see 'um?

I feel like it is worth mentioning that these plants appear to be otherwise healthy, with new leaves being formed. The gold flame is losing some leaves, but they are wilting few and far between. They turn yellow.

Hi Codie,

Surprised this hasn't gotten more responses. I myself have posted abt this at Sans. Forum, as I too, have had it a few times. Don't know that we resolved what it was / is, but since mine is on a not-so-common Sans., I kept it, I took off the most affected leaf & left the rest (esp since this Sans only has couple of leaves).

Agreed, your plants do look otherwise healthy. Kudos to you for trying to get a good mix going including some Perlite. Thing is tho' you needs lots more Perlite to help, next time you repot you should add lots more Perlite, as least ONE THIRD of the whole mix w/ Perlite if you're an overwaterer. Note the look of my mix, not much soil to see.

I can't find my pix that showed the rust really well.

About your plants, If they were mine, I'd keep 'em & see how it goes. Pls avoid getting water on the rust spots, assume those areas to be vulnerable.

I found my prior post abt this, here's the link.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5699654/siam-silver-s-latest-rusty-leaf-issue#n=3

Thanks Karen! I found another post where Stush recommended mouth wash. I used a bit of that yesterday. I may go in today and do some pulling and cutting away of the worst parts. Then maybe sprinkle some cinnamon?

Karen, how is your affected plant doing now?

About the same actually, seemingly fine other than still rusty. Will try to take some pic this wknd.

Plant's about the same. Batteries too low, will try to take more pix later, an overall to show the rest of the plant seems fine.

@Codie

I would definitely not give up on it.

I had a san that looked like that when I got it in the mail. I suffered thru and just kept treating it like my healthier looking Sans, it is still alive but not much a looker in a pot, no new leaves, not for years, but it pups the healthiest rust free little babies every year.

Nothing would be cooler than to see the plant itself look healthy, but she is worth her weight in gold for her offsets.

Can't be sure if bug damage but now gone or fungus which I doubt so I would stick to the mouth wash to disinfect it and leave it alone. Any more 'shock' to the plant would not help but hurt it. I had some like that which out grew it and produced nice growing pups which you can then separate and grown on. I think it is just growing damage from a past bug.

In Karen's case, It looks like a fungus called Colletotrichum sansevieriae that causes anthracnose. We talked about this before some where. Copper Sulfate or Silver mixed with mouthwash seems to really knock it down but scares it until it can regrow new leaves. Highly variegated plants are most prone to this problem.

That looks like what happened to one of mine a couple of years ago when it was outside and temps got cool in the evening. Once I finally figured out what was wrong I took it out of its pot and cut away the rot, sprinkled it with cinnamon and let it dry out for a couple of days then repotted in straight perlite. It grew roots and it's been fine ever since.

When I suspect a bacterial or fungal attack now, I dose with mouthwash and spot treat with a paste of flowers of sulfur with a little water and a small paintbrush. I hate the word 'scab' but that is kind of what the little sulfur patch looks like. Fungus has me gun shy.

Copper is good but is toxic to plants and silver is expensive. Sulfur seems the way to go.

Sorry to say You are all misleaded. The culprit is a tiny spider mite (still undetermined species) one tenth of a millimeter in size and bright orange in colour. It thrives at the base of the plant, inside the basal leaf sheets. I can barely see them moving with the aid of a magnifying lens. The mite bites the plant, which soon develop a big scar which in turn, produce a vast necrosis , eventually killing the whole plant. On the dead tissue , soon develops the black sporangia of a saprofyte Aspergillus ( a powdery black mould) so, some are induced to think this fungus is the culprit. You can easily get rid of the mite with a cheap acaricide ( I use Hexitiazox) in different brand names. This parasite only attacks the trifasciata group of sans. It apparently doesn't like the other more ' hard leaved' species.

Hexythiazox is an acaricide that acts against egg, larval and nymph stages. Thanks, I'll have to check this out. What are the brand name you buy?

Wow, Googled it and cost is outrageous about $300. I'll stick to imidacloprid and Listerine Original mouthwash.

Here I buy it as 'Perfil' (a bag of 100gr. powder). It costs about 5€ and lasts for years...

I alternate Perfil with 'Comanche' by BASF. powder, little more expensive, but less than 10€.

I had seen some photos with the leaves of sans pulled down and back to reveal orangey goo of those tiny mites. I remember reading that some time ago they were making a bit of an appearance in Florida. Some of our insecticides can actually contribute to the proliferation of some mites. I do like Sulfur. Sulfur micronized spray, liquid spray, dust, maybe even some sulfur burners. Delving into medicinal plants, I hope to keep all of my plants and equipment clean. Sulfur is dang economical as far as pest control goes. Is it known if these orange mites have temperature or humidity sensitivity, like some other spider mites?

Looking back on my notes;

Diminutive mite

The Australian Strategy

Applying wettable or flowable sulfur at precise timing and high spray volume should result in good control. The aim is to target mites at the start of their spring migration from overwintering sites under the bark of vine cordons/crowns to the buds and shoots. This is before feeding and egg laying begin.

So as Shana relates, Sulfur should be a good control agent.

Sulfur has no effect on mites. Moreover, their generations have different kind of resistance to chemicals. The problem, as I wrote above, is NOT due to the bites of the mite itself, but is the result of the plant reaction to the bites which turns up as a vast necrosis. This necrosis, sooner or later is invaded by saprofite fungi which start the rotting of the entire plant base. So, You MUST act immediately when You spot the mites: thinking of 'control' of the pest makes no sense. As for T° and humidity, I see the mites grow only in the Summer when the weather is pretty warm and moist. Don't know how to put photos here. But we have some in my FB group.

It works as a control agent to help stop the spread. To cure the problem of course the use of a Acaricides. Acaricides are pesticides that kill members of the arachnid subclass Acari.

This is not meant to augur or dispute the issue. I aspirate you input and learn from it.

Think of this as a fire, instead of water, remove the fuel. There are other ways to deal with problems. That's why we need all input. What did work for others.

I am curious about this mite and what a timed exposure to 120 degrees would do to it,

Could cure the disease but kill the patient. I think it would drive them in deeper.

Thank you, everybody, for all of your ideas. Been using mouthwash, with copper pennies in the spray bottle. I think its still too early to tell if this is making a difference. I definitely plan on ordering the sulfur soon. Would an insecticidal soap do anything to these mites? Or perhaps rubbing alcohol?

There's alcohol in the mouthwash. Question; How do you know if you have an attack? The scars are not ever going away. You just want to let the plant produce new unaffected growth. Don't really know for sure the cause in the first place unless you have seen the mites or their effect. I still think it's past damage and no new damage is happening or do you think their still some thing going on?

Also I hope you used very old copper pennies that have more copper content in them. It is so little that it may not even effect anything.

If you do have mite problem, then an insecticide like Bayer or Bonide would be best. Made for such an attack.

The stuff Robert used is not readily available here and is costly. I don't think the soap would help much due to the mites being in the plant instead of on the plant.

Stush, you are right- I haven't seen any mites. Most of the new leaves coming out seem to be damage free, but there are a couple of spots where there is a rusty looking hole going all the way through the outer leaves and into the brand new leaf forming. That's what worries me. And also the thought of bringing the affected plants inside all together with my healthy ones, makes me want to "double down" on treatments just to be safe.

That being said, I hope you are right and it is only past damage.

Don't know how he would take it,,, Have you said anything to the one who gave it to you? Maybe just don't say anything.

Codie, What's your update? How are they doing?

Here is a sad example on my Morgenstern. As Roberto said, it attacks only the trifasciata group, and some trifasciata are more vulnerable than others. I started collecting sansevieria last year, and i am now experiencing this problem on some plants. I am gone try a insecticiide againt the mites and sulfur. When i spray on the outside, will the treatement get deep enough into the plant?

Robert, Depends what you use. Sevin is a good all around insecticide coupled with using Bonide House Plant insecticide which is a systemic with imidacloprid. Bayer changed their formula which may still be good. It's 3 in 1 is a total care spray.

Note; Morgenstern is not in the trifasciata group. Same as Siam Silver. It is almost impossible to grow with out some brown (rust) damage accruing over time.

Hi Stush, A more experienced collector gave me the advice to take of the outher leaf, and scratch of the spots with a sharp knife, and then cover the wound with sulfurpowder. I did that now, but for this morgenstern the infection was allready too deep, i'm afraid.

Morgenstern should be a trifasciata as described by Chahinian in his book 'the trifasciata varieties' ?

Robert, You are right. My poor brain gets things mixed up at times. Morgenstern's Futura Aurea aka is Futura Asahi. Kept getting it mixed up with Metallica 'Tenzan' for what ever reason.

Let that infection dry out now and give it some time. I would not recommend cutting or scraping that close to the main rhizome. Sulfurpower should work okay. I use regular cheap mouth wash with alcohol in a spray bottle with a little baking soda mixed in. Give a light spray ever so often while you see some thing going on.

My S. trifasciata futura Asaha has been thru a lot and every year I remove up to 6 pups and give out. Some times it looks kinda bad but always recovers. It may be my strongest tuffest Sans I own.

Are you absolutely sure, that 'Morgenstern's Futura Aurea' (with thin green edges to the leaves) and 'Asahi' (with wide yellow edges) are synonyms of the same plant?

Basia, I was given one of Asahi and Aurea and when I googled it at that time, it was synonyms of the same. I can't tell them apart so I believe it to be true. I can't remember from who but I just assumed every one knew. Maybe Chris or Russ can give their view.

If you want, I can put you on the list for Asahi next year. Every year I give out all the pups from the two plants that I had for many years. If it turns out they are different, they a lot of people here has to be told that it could be either one. They do look exactly alike to me. Both plants never seem to have any two leaves to be the same. Both plants stack, having many leaves. Well over twenty at least.

I googled Sansevieria Morgenstern's Aurea. Show many pictures of my plants I posted here.

From Russ in a 4 year old post here.

I agree with Barbmock that your Kew's Aurea is actually Morgenstern's Aurea. It's also called Morgenstern's Futura Aurea, and Juan Chahinian in his book The Sansevieria Trifasciata Varieties simply calls it Futura Aurea.

Yeah, and Chahinian does not mention 'Asahi' at all...

If you find anything out, please let me know Basia.

I looked into Sansevieria journal issue 30 (Chahinian's paper on Sansevieria varieties). There are two different cultivars: one is 'Future Gold' (green centres, very wide yellow margins, practically bands, stable variegation=pattern repeats itself in all leaves) and the other is 'Morgenstern's Futura Gold' with each leaf looking different, but most have green margins ("Silvery and yellow

growths with surface striations of the leaves, somewhat narrower and thicker leaves than those of Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Future’"). This plant does look similar to your 'Asahi'. But - look at my 'Asahi' plant, this had very wide yellow margins :D All very confusing :(

http://www.glasshouseworks.com/sansevieria-trifasciata-morgensterns-aurea&search=Sansevieria%20morgen

Description of Morgenstern's aurea on glasshouse works website

Nancy, I read that article a few days ago and it appears to be just like mine. Smaller growing then most futura group but larger than hahnii but mine are quick growers and pup maniacs.

Basia, That's too tall growing and skinnier leaves than Asahi.

What I hate is there are far too many plants that look exactly alike with so many nursery trade names to them. Each saying they own a new plant. Gold or Golden Hahnii is another one. Slight growing conditions shows a little different pattern and there goes a new name.

I had a dark greener Gold Hahnii and a bright yellower Gold Hahnii. Very different looking. After several years growing side by side, you can't tell them apart.

But that said, I am always on the look out for strange new pups that emerge because that's were new cultivars come from. Like my Solid Gold I now have several of from Gold Hahnii.

I'm glad that one went thru. Last one I typed up and sent just disappeared. Makes me want to quit this site.

Stush, I saw a sans online that was called black sport. I emailed them and asked if it was Crane's black sport (which I knew of), they got back to me a few days later, said they looked up the name and the plant appears to be the same. How come people can change plant names like that? All of the changed names are confusing. If you go the by the dracaena names that's really confusing

Nancy,

Good point; I believe it is due to them not fully knowing about Sansevieria of the hobby.

Reason why Sans enthusiast still and always will go by the name Sansevieria. The most I will add it (dracaena) to the name after Sansevieria. I know this will anger some people.

Hi, why is this so disorganisation?? Can someone please write clearly what ALL the solutions are? And please include DETAIL? What strength sulphur? What strength alcohol? Isopropyl or Ethanol or Methanol?? Can you scratch off the rust spots?

Ironically I killed a tiny spider near the tip of the plant after spotting rust spots and dieing parts of leaf.

I also have a long 12cm long, 3-5mm narrow strip of rust along a leaf (~4mm from the edge) running vertically! 🤕

Can we use Neem oil? What strength?? 20ML per 9L or 5ML per 9L??

All these brands names only available on USA don't really help. Please include active chemical or a link. Thanks

Would really appreciate your help. 😊👍🏻

PS. FYI. To solve water / rot / dryness risks, I make a loamy sandy a mix of soil with: 30% Cactus soil mix (remove any large bark/wood), 20% Perlite, 30% mix of Peat Moss & Sphagnum & Coir Peat, 10% Propagation Sand (washed), 10% Scoria - washed (aerated lava), plus 1-2% Charcoal (crushed chunks & bits)! 😇 Water only w/ a spray bottle every 5-7 days w/ low Chlorine / filtered water! 5 new pups in 4 pots after 6 weeks! Then pups 20cm high after just 4-5wk. Happy Sans!

Emma.

Emma, Pictures always help. I used to use cheap dollar store mouthwash in a spray bottle with a teaspoon of Baking Soda mixed in. Helps some but I since started using Ortho MAX Garden Disease Control Concentrate, 16 oz. One bottle last me years. Maybe 1/2 teaspoon to a one liter spray bottle. Spray down the plant once every other day for maybe a week. Spider mite or bugs then I add a teaspoon of Sevin liquid to the mix.

My soil mix I use now is well composted grass & leaves which turns into black soil then mix in a little perlite. For some I use poultry grit for extra drainage. I don't think too much about exact amounts.