Snake Plant leaf, best way?

Ok, I know that the Snake Plant, or Mother-in-laws tongue is supposed to be easy to start..I had heard that you just stick a leaf in the soil and it will root. However, my sister said she has tried that several times and it did not take. advice would be appriciated. Thanks, GrandmaVal

This is the way I do it: Take a leaf and cut it into about 3 inch pieces (be sure to know up from down). I use half potting soil and half pearlite. stick the down edge about an inch or more into the pot of starter mix. dampen.

After a few weeks, you'll see baby plants coming up. This one is several months old. Notice that the original leaf was variegated (white margin) and the babies are not. Some of the pieces take and some don't. Good luck.

Learned a good rule of thumb from a vineyard farmer (my dad)...when taking cuttings, cut straight across at the base of the cutting and cut on an angle at the top of the cutting...that way you always know which is the top...eliminates guesswork later, especially if you're doing alot of cuttings.

jc, thanks for the tip. Such a simple solution that never occured to me.

I did this very thing back in the spring. I was repotting several of mine, and one of the leaves/stems (whatever they are) was too tall to stand alone. I cut it into 4" pieces and stuck them in soil, being sure to keep the soil moist. All of the pieces grew baby plants. Mine is like the green w/yellow rim mentioned above; when they grew, they grew solid green with little gray wavy lines horizontally placed across the leaf.

It was easy, and fun.

One other little thing I learned recently: If you do not damage the tip of a leaf, it will continue to grow taller and taller and taller. If the tip of the leaf is every damaged, that leaf will not grow any taller, ever.

Thank you, guys, the advice and pix are great! (I have been off of here a few days with a sick grandbaby.) I love the tip about doing the cuttings with the top at an angle. Do you guys let the leaf dry out or just plant it as soon as you cut it? I have heard both ways. My sister tends to over water and use heavy potting soil, I'll bet that is what she did. This plant has very little verigation, so it will probably be solid green. Maybe I can find a nice varigated plant and combine the two in a large pot. Again, thanks. GrandmaVal

I try to keep mine moist while they are rooting, but once established they take very little water. I killed the one with the white stripe on the side by overwatering. Some of the leaves rooted (above) others just dried up. Always a guessing game. Good luck.

Well, sometimes I'm kinda dense... comes with being over 50 (LOL). I think I'm going to get a bigger pot and transplant those into it, so I don't have to move them for years... Eventually I will have ANOTHER big pot of them. I've never thought of this before...duh! You guys are so good to give me ideas. It doesn't take much... Thanks!

Yeah, the over 50 thing I sure get! LOL! I have my two little pieces planted now and will let you know if they ever grow new babies. Thanks, GrandmaVal

The only way I've found to propogate this plant and keep the cream margins is to take the tuber at the bottom of the leaf, which usually has a few roots already, and plant that. Leaves on their own (or pieces) have always come up without the cream margins.
Have you ever had yours bloom? They need to be potbound. The plant sends up a thin stalk with tiny white flowers that smell wonderful. Each flower has a drop of nectar hanging from it which is extremely sweet.

Two times in all these years... I've had them to bloom. The bloom is very fragrant, and very sticky. I just LOVED it when it happened... before that, I didn't even know they would bloom. I agree, the ones that bloomed were in very root-pot-bound condition.

Sansevieria trifasciata 'Laurentii' (the plant with the yellow bands on the edges of the leaves) must be started by division. If you start this plant by a leaf cutting you will end up with just plain Sansevieria trifasciata (without the yellow bands on the leaves).

If you do want to grow this plant by leaf cuttings, let the cut leaves dry for a day or two before sticking them into the propagation medium. If the cut leaves are put into the medium too soon they may just rot.
Good luck,
Mike