A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2004 Mother's-in-law Tongue

I have what you call a Mother's-in-law Tongue. It was my grandmother's when she was a young married. I know it is at least 80 years old. It has bloomed several times. This past spring it had 6 bloom shoots. It was very root bound so I did transplant it into a larger pot. Can anyone tell me the correct name for this plant and what the best care might be. I would say that I must be doing something right, but I really don't do anything at all except give it a little fertilizer a couple of times a year, and clean it.
Sal in KS

Sal...welcome to THE GARDEN HELPER!!!

This is a posting I did earlier...it has a couple names within the post....the first name is for the all green and a couple people added the names for the green/yellow strips...I'm not sure which one you have. Name\'s

If you type in snake plant or other names in the google at the top of the page you will come up with more topics people have written about this plant. I know they recommend not repotting when they are doing as well as yours evidently is doing. You must have a green thumb.

Catlover, that was some good info there. However, I have a question...I have 3 of these plants & am planning on transplanting them to a rock garden. You say they don't like to be replanted...mine aren't nearly as big as the other one that was spoken of. How do you think it will do? Will it be ok in the ground, over winter? I've always had mine in pots but wanted to move them.

Is that rock garden in full sun.....I really don't know if they like FULL sun ....you will have to look that up....and it may make a difference which variety of snake plant you have. I have mine(the one with the yellow stripe) in a pot next to the front door that is in partial shade with a lot of reflective light. I have seen some in the ground with the partial shade and they were doing very well. Everything I have read thus far states partial shade, medium heat. I know from experience they don't like wet feet....or they turn to mush... :rolleyes: They don't mind transplanting but they seem to do better when the root system is compact. Don't ask me why....haven't a clue

Thanks, I'll keep researching. Mine are in full sun, all day, on my deck and keep growing new stalks. All three of mine came from the same plant & I separated them a couple of years ago. Right now, they aren't compact in the pot, I didn't know, when I separated them, that they liked that but, that explains why they didn't do as good right at first.

My rock garden will be in full sun, all day, on a small hill. So, I think it will stay drained pretty well. I plan on putting my mother of thousands, aloe vera (when it gets bigger), prickly pear & mother-in-laws tongues in the rock garden.

Thanks for your help.

Edit: This is an after-thought...I wonder if I was to just dig a hole & sink the pots down in the ground, then build my rock garden over that...that may work to keep them root bound, ya think?

You mustlive in a very warm climate. I live in KS and never would I try leaving my mother-in-law tongue outside. I transplanted mine after it did all its wonderful blooming this past spring. It went from a 12" to an 18" pot. Now it is starting to really grow and so many new shoots. Maybe it needed a little change. I did not disturb the roots, just sat into a new pot and filled new soil around. It is actually looking better than it ever has. I should have remembered that someone told me it is also called a snake plant. Sal

I am going to be taking cuttings from a friends plant... just to be sure I do it correctly, I have read to -

snip the tip (3-4inches)
dip in rooting hormone
place in potting mix

thats it???

thanks
Tracie

well we have 3 kinds of snake plant. One looks like it forms a nest, in a short stacked circular pattern with leaves growing out the middle. The other looks like the classic one with yellow and brown on it and lil ones come up right next to it, and the other is kind of tubish in shape, and lil ones come out of the middle of the tube.

I have the tube shaped one. These ones propagate by actually making branches, much like a spider plant, only with a thicker offshoot branch. Whatcha do is just cut it off right at the branch, and just stick it in soil.

What i read about your case, SnazzyT, is to make sure that it actually has a tip before you cut it. It'll be the lil teeny cony thing at the top. It should be atleast a half inch, or 1 cm long before you cut it.

~Phoebe

Add water and be patient (no digging down to see if it has roots....just sit back and wait, and wait)

thank you