I've had success just in regular bagged potting mix. It didn't have to be anything particularly special.

I have one Sansaveria - and have never attempted to take cuttings. Wouldn't you want to just divide it? Pull apart a small edge with some roots on it and repot that section? I have been eyeing my plant trying to decide if it is big enough to divide.

I have divided Sanseveiria but that decreases a sometimes lovely, large plant. If you take a cutting of just one leaf, you can still have a large plant. Also, haven't you ever had a damaged leaf or a leaf that's fallen over? Take cuttings from that and you've increased your plants. I currently have a few cyclindrica and laurentii leaves in water. I wanted to try ALL possibilities for increasing my plants. It seems to me that Tapla Al's 5-1-1 would not hold enough moisture to start cuttings.

Okay - that makes sense. Actually, that is the reason I didn't divide it the other day, I didn't want to disturb a plant that is doing alright. I do have a couple of leaves with a few nicks on them that I have no idea where they came from. I try to be very careful around that plant because I really like the foliage to be clean. And I was wondering the other day if it was getting enough sun because some of the outer leaves are leaning over and not standing upright, which takes away from the very vertical accent that is the reason you have one of these plants. So maybe I should consider taking a cutting.

So, you cut off part of a leaf? Or a whole leaf at the base? Or do you pull one off the plant? I would like to increase as well and houseplants have gotten very expensive. Do they actually root in water? I love that! I just rooted a lot of Arrowhead and Pepperomia cuttings that work great in water. Already have them potted up and they are doing great.

As for potting soil, I do not use Tapla's mix. I had difficulty getting the ingredients etc and after a lot of time spent trying to make that work for me, I went back to using my own potting soil recipe, which is basically a commercial organic potting soil, with added perlite. Sometimes I buy a small bag of something specifically for one type of plant and then I add perlite to that. I do like to have very good drainage because that seems to work well for me.

If you are rooting in water - does it make any difference what potting soil you use?

I want to do both - water and rooting medium - since I've already done division.

To propagate sanseveiria, you cut an entire leaf because they don't heal. Leaves that fall over won't stand back up either from what I've read. You cut the leaf into 4 - 8-inch sections keeping your leaf in only one direction. ONLY THE END CLOSEST TO THE ROOTS WILL ROOT ITSELF, i.e., if you flip a section and put the top end in the dirt or water - it won't root (from everything I've read & watched).

I had trouble getting materials at first for the 5-1-1. Now, I've sort of replaced here and there with whatever I have or can get, most notably the pine fines, I use Lowe's Soil Conditioner. I am making another try at the 5-1-1 because I personally don't do well with peat based container soils. It may be my watering technique, schedule, humidity, anything, but it tends to form a hard ball that doesn't like to take up water.

I thought I responded to this, but, I may have gotten interrupted and didn't finish it and forgot.

Thank you UHOuter, for the directions on rooting sections. I am going to try that and take off the stems that are falling over to do it.

I do add more perlite than is usually suggested because I like to have good drainage and that makes a big difference.

I don't think anyone has,mentioned setting sans leaves aside before planting to allow the cut ends to dry. Putting cut leaves directly into moist soil mix can easily rot the cutting, much less likely if the cut end is dry. Thin leaves like trifasciata will dry in a few days to a week, thick ones like hallii or cylindrical can take much longer.

Unbalanced, on propagating your Laurentii leaf, your resulting plants will be the regular trifasciata species without the yellow margins. Very rarely an albino will arise if it originates from the yellow variegated tissue of the propagated leaf. This all white plant can't survive if separated from the green parent leaf since it has no chlorophyll to produce food.

Sansevierias being succulents, it's weird that they can be rooted in water, but it does work. I like a commercial peat mix with at least 50% perlite added, more is fine. Most any other medium can be used as long as you add a lot of perlite.

The great sans grower/discoverer/collector B. Juan Chahinian has said that the best leaf cutting is a whole, entire leaf with the tip intact. A whole leaf has the stored energy to produce multiple generations of new plants, when the first batch are big enough to separate from the leaf, report it in fresh soil for another round of offsets, and again and again until the leaf yellows and dies. Leaf sections will produce only one generation

Very interesting. But if you take a whole leaf, aren't you basically dividing the plant and isn't that leaf going to have roots on it? And are you saying as soon as you get offsets you should repot those and they will make offsets too? It sounds like that shampoo commercial they used to have on, where ."...she told two friends, and they told two friends..." [g]

Al's 511 mix.

The whole leaf cutting is a typical one, cut at the petiole and not involving the stem with roots. It's the same leaf one would take if cutting into sections for propagation, except the whole leaf is used. As you say, the initial generation of plants from the leaf will go on to produce more offsets, but that's not my or Chahinian's point. He's saying that after the first round of offsets from the leaf have been separated, the leaf itself can be repotted and, if it was a strong leaf in good condition, will easily produce another round of new plants. A third generation is iffy but entirely possible, the leaf will produce plants as long as it has energy.

I've used this technique but have forgotten how many new plants were produced, at least 6 to 8 in 2 or 3 generations. I suppose one could say that section cuttings would probably produce just as many offsets, very possibly, but I'm just passing on the interesting opinion and observations of a world reknowned sansevieria expert, as well as my experience.

For those newbie leaf propagators interested in learning some 'rules'....

Any variegation on the parent leaf will almost always be lost. So the yellow margins of a Laurentii leaf will produce a plain trifasciata with no yellow margin. Also, all species and hybrids will propagate true from leaf cuttings, you get copies of the parent.

But it can be different with leaves from varieties of trifasciata. some produce the same plant, others can produce entirely different varieties. Hahnii Loop's Pride often produces Malachite, another Hahnii variety. But cuts of Malachite always produce more of the same. Leaf cuts of Hahnii Primitive produce Hahnii Lime Dwarf. There are many other examples.

I once had a plant of Hahnii Seibert, which has green leaves with yellow vertical striations down the center, that twice produced as offsets Golden Hahnii's, Solid Gold Hahnii's, as well as Seiberts. So the variability is fascinating.

I'm not sure of the point of the comment regarding 5-1-1.

"I'm not sure of the point of the comment regarding 5-1-1."

The question asked was "what mix or media does one use when propagating sanseviera cuttings", not how to do it. The response of using the 5-1-1 mix is perfectly valid. I use that mix exclusively for rooting cuttings of just about everything. Once well rooted, they may get moved into a different mix depending on the plant but I almost always start with the 5-1-1.

My mistake Gardengal, I picked up on the 5-1-1 comment as a response to my post, not the original question that started the thread. So of course 5-1-1 is valid. Old minds sometimes don't quite stay on track. On mixes, I always say use what works best for you, but experiment.

The original author did follow up with talking about leaf cuttings and how to propagate, so my comments on 'how to do it' were appropriate and not off-subject. Thanks for the correction.

I think he is responding to my question about whether taking a whole leaf was division or not. I would actually like to ask about my own sansaveria, but I don't want to hijack this thread. Did the OP get her question answered, and would it be helpful for me to continue the discussion of propagating Sansaveria here, or should I start a new thread?

Prairiemoon, I'll follow you to a new thread if I get a heads up where it is. Or I'm at bluesea14808@yahoo.com.

UnbalancedHO, good info on which end of leaf sections to plant. Some growers mark the down end with a magic marker arrow, I cut straight across on the top end and at an angle for the bottom. Besides a 'down' indicator, the slant adds a bit more length to the cut so could potentially produce an extra plant or two. A 'V cut would accomplish the same thing.

Thanks Russ, I'll post a new thread on the Plant Propagation forum tomorrow. Thanks!

lets try again ... it was an answer/response to a question

What mix/media do you use to start sansevieria (snake plant) cuttings?

Al's 5-1-1 mix

Water works well when you aren't in any hurry or have no real interest if they live or die. These lived in this trash can for over a year before potting up. Sometimes the water was a foot deep from rain and other times completely dry after I dumped the water to prevent mosquitoes.

HC, good to see you over here far, far away from Begonia-land. It's amazing that sans tolerated being in that bucket of water so long.... I assume it's cylindrica, a very tough one as are most sans as long as they're not wet and cold at the same time.

Russ,

Got to mix things up a little. Some sans, lots of begonias - HA! What to do with all the extra stuff though? My basement runneth over.

Broken leaves I sat inside this abandoned pot for summer.

DC, nice story about propagating that leaf, it's a testament to how tough sans are and to how strong the will to live is in them.

I'm wondering which sans is it that you saved?

I don't know the varieties. Here's a pic.

Camera angle is everything...it is not a giant plant. I had to measure...the tallest leaf is 40 inches.

Thanks for that pic, beautiful plant. It is the species trifasciata with very pretty, contrasting banding. This is one of the more tropical of the sansevierias, as opposed to the dry climate desert types.