Sansevieria pinguicula... I think I'm in love

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Steph115
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Sansevieria pinguicula... I think I'm in love

#1

Post by Steph115 »

So per some of your recommendations, I joined the Succulent Marketplace on facebook. I've successfully avoided a number of offers I found extremely tempting - but this one... Sanseviera pinguicula is one of the coolest plants I've ever seen. For those of you who are seeing it for the first time, they call it "walking sansevieria" because it produces aerial stolons rather than rhizomes that support its offsets. Gorgeous.

Any of you have experience growing this?

Here's a link to some pictures.
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Re: Sanseveria pinguicula... I think I'm in love

#2

Post by Gee.S »

OK, I like that a lot, it looks like Agave pelona! I have a hard time believing that Zone 8 crap tho... I have yet to meet a Zone 9 Sans.
Agave
"American aloe plant," 1797, from Greek Agaue, proper name in mythology (mother of Pentheus), from agauos "noble," perhaps from agasthai "wonder at".

"Some talk the talk, others walk the walk, but I stalk the stalk"
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Re: Sanseveria pinguicula... I think I'm in love

#3

Post by Azuleja »

That's a very cute sans. I killed S. cylindrica this winter. It melted at around 26° in a nice protected spot on the porch.
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Re: Sanseveria pinguicula... I think I'm in love

#4

Post by Gee.S »

^ Potted or planted? I have both, and my in ground plants would have survived that, but potted probably not. I get the pots out of harm's way when that kind of cold blows in.
Agave
"American aloe plant," 1797, from Greek Agaue, proper name in mythology (mother of Pentheus), from agauos "noble," perhaps from agasthai "wonder at".

"Some talk the talk, others walk the walk, but I stalk the stalk"
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Re: Sanseveria pinguicula... I think I'm in love

#5

Post by Azuleja »

Potted and sitting in a basket against the wall.
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Re: Sanseveria pinguicula... I think I'm in love

#6

Post by Spination »

One of my first, and unfortunately part of my education regarding Sansevieria... and cold. The two don't mix.
2013 10 29 Sansevieria pinguicula b X800.jpg
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Re: Sanseveria pinguicula... I think I'm in love

#7

Post by Steph115 »

Gee.S wrote:OK, I like that a lot, it looks like Agave pelona!


You're so right. I'd never seen a juvenile photo of pelona but the leaves are so similar.

Azul & Spiny - I'm sorry to hear about the cold weather woes. Spiny, is your penguicula still with us, or is it deceased? Also, any idea how slow growing we're talking with this species?
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Re: Sanseveria pinguicula... I think I'm in love

#8

Post by Geoff »

One of my favorites, too... NOT zone 8 though. Barely zone 9b... more like a zone 10a. However, definitely some Sansevierias that are zone 9a (I have one doing great here in Acton in zone 8b barely... takes blistering heat and temps down into the high teens). No idea what species they are, though... I had about 10 species that did fine in my zone 9b home in Los Angeles. In fact, few had troubles there (pinguicula was one of those, however, as were all the miniature trifacsciatas).
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Re: Sanseveria pinguicula... I think I'm in love

#9

Post by Steph115 »

Good to know about the hardiness. I've got a recessed greenhouse window in our new place that gets great direct sun (in summer, anyway). I can't resist guys... I'm doin it! If it goes south, I won't say you didn't warn me ;)
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Re: Sanseveria pinguicula... I think I'm in love

#10

Post by Spination »

Steph115 wrote:Spiny, is your penguicula still with us, or is it deceased? Also, any idea how slow growing we're talking with this species?
I got it in 2013, and it made it through that mild winter. I had it outside up against a wall, but it was never exposed to much worse than frost. Emboldened by that success, I kept it in the same place for the next winter. Unfortunately, Dec 2014 brought a week of harsh lows, below 30 as I recall, and that was that.

Although one can push the envelope and achieve some measure of success with some, the issue is these plants evolved south of the equator in Africa. I was doing some online research a while back to see what kind of lows these plants were dealing with where they evolved. First I looked up geographical indigenous habitat locations for various species, and then checked the temps for those areas. The deal is that for most, a winter low for these plants might be as low as 50F. That pretty much paints the whole picture. I keep all of mine now in a shelter, with a small "milk house" heater, that just keeps lows from dropping below 40 in the winter. No frost, no freeze, no problem.

Although they are very hardy, and will take neglect and heat, they don't like wet feet. Water them when the temps are warm, so the pots can drain and dry between watering without excess delay. Don't water them when the weather is cold. If the soil stays too wet too long, they rot. Needless to say, they need excellent drainage.

I agree the "walking" thing is just so cool.

Here's a different one doing something similar. Not quite the same, but similar. It's called Sansevieria bella 'Mutomo'.
2017 06 06 S bella Mutomo a.jpg
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Re: Sanseveria pinguicula... I think I'm in love

#11

Post by Steph115 »

Your bella 'mutomo' is gorgeous as well. Thanks for your insight into caring for sansevieras, especially through winter. I asked the seller about how much growth I should expect, and he said 1-2 leaves / year is typical, and the plants bulk up first before growing new leaves. His mother plant is 3 years old and had made 3 pups in that time. Not tooooooo bad... =)
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Re: Sanseveria pinguicula... I think I'm in love

#12

Post by Steph115 »

At long last... this beaut arrived today! D)) It's much bigger than it looked in the pictures, and its root system is quite impressive. I stuck with a shallow container because I believe these like to be under-potted, which makes sense to me as it would reduce the risk of wet feet. Also, most of the pictures I've seen of these guys are in shallow (albeit sometimes very long) containers.
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Re: Sanseveria pinguicula... I think I'm in love

#13

Post by Steph115 »

Brand new stilt root forming on my sans. This one is located right where the plant lacks support. It is finally starting to plump back up & resume some leaf growth as well.
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Re: Sanseveria pinguicula... I think I'm in love

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Post by Spination »

Very nice. It's like the plant knew it needed another leg right there... ::wink::
Kudos too for planting it as you did. I would not have assumed that the stilts would be in essence the plant's new roots. So, you taught me something with that! :8:
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Re: Sanseveria pinguicula... I think I'm in love

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Post by Gee.S »

Steph115 wrote:Brand new stilt root forming on my sans. This one is located right where the plant lacks support. It is finally starting to plump back up & resume some leaf growth as well.
That is soooooo cool!
Agave
"American aloe plant," 1797, from Greek Agaue, proper name in mythology (mother of Pentheus), from agauos "noble," perhaps from agasthai "wonder at".

"Some talk the talk, others walk the walk, but I stalk the stalk"
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Re: Sanseveria pinguicula... I think I'm in love

#16

Post by Steph115 »

I wish I could take credit for it! I just planted it the same way the seller had. I wasn't sure that completely new stilt roots would form after separated from the mother plant, but the other day I turned it around and there was this little nubbin!
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Re: Sanseveria pinguicula... I think I'm in love

#17

Post by Brooksphilly »

Steph, what a great potting job. Beauty! This is my favorite sansevieria by far. Over time, if you desire, you will be able to separate and give away pups. I keep mine as an office window plant and have given away probably 8-10 offsets in the last 10 years.
For me, care has been like any other sans--very loose mix, not overpotted, pot in clay, and water every 2 weeks (weekly in summer months). I do not let sans go totally dry in winter, so they get 1x/monthly at the very least in the winter.

Here's a current office mate of mine.

Enjoy!
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Re: Sanseveria pinguicula... I think I'm in love

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Post by Steph115 »

Brooks - your sans is so incredibly gorgeous. I plan to keep the one pictured in this thread whole. I got a second one for the purpose of separating pups for gifts! I have this one in my greenhouse window inside and my other in my shade structure outside. Both seem to be doing well. Thank you for the tips re watering through winter - I definitely wouldn't have watered enough based on what I've heard elsewhere. I look forward to having these for many years (a decade?!) as you have.
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Re: Sanseveria pinguicula... I think I'm in love

#19

Post by Steph115 »

Oh - I want to ask you - how big is your pot? And how deep? Most photos I've seen have shown these plants potted in very shallow containers, but I haven't been sure if this is how they are happiest or if it is a special potting for shows.
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Re: Sanseveria pinguicula... I think I'm in love

#20

Post by Spination »

Brooks, nice specimen, and easy now for me to understand you've been growing it for a decade or so.

Steph, watering is dependent upon the ambient conditions. Brook's plant is in an office, so presumably never gets cold. In that case, not letting it get totally dry in winter is not a mistake. I also agree with the watering in summer. I water the heck out of mine from spring to fall, as long as the day temps are warm and nights do not dip below 50. During winter, I use a heater to prevent drops below 40. Also, during this period, I pretty much don't water at all. The reason my winter regimen is different from Brook's is that his enjoys warmer lows (in an office). The reason I water more during the other seasons is the greenhouse kit I use heats up considerably once the temps are 65 and higher, and lows are not dipping down. I also prefer clay pots (easier to control rate of drying), because when the conditions here change abruptly, and nights get cold, plastic pots dry out too slowly and I run the risk of rot. Clay pots dry out fast, so I don't get stuck in nowhereman's land if I happened to have just watered and the warm weather is suddenly gone, gone, gone. :))
Essentially, it's all weather dependent. If warm weather persists late (Nov? even), then I'm still watering. Once the season has changed and lows too cold, I stop. I even try to keep up with the forecast. Once cold weather is predicted, I try to time my last watering so that the pots have a chance to dry before the cold hits. Same goes for spring. This last one, we had a late start, so I started watering again later than usual as well. The bottom line is these plants really don't like sitting water-logged, so it's essential that the temps are warm enough that the soil dries out quickly enough between watering, and once the cold lows hit, the plants have very little use for water, period.

Regarding pot size (depth), I'd be interested in Brook's opinion too, as his ping is obviously very happy. My rule of thumb for any succulent is to go by the size of the plant, so that it fits inside the diameter, and depth at least the size of the rosette, as root depth is often below the soil the type of dimension you see above the soil for the rosette. I wouldn't necessarily go too small, as when these start with rhizomes and propagation, it's good for them to have room to spread out a little.
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Re: Sanseveria pinguicula... I think I'm in love

#21

Post by Steph115 »

Totally understand Spiny. I guess I wasn't sure if dormancy was due wholly to temperature and not to lower light conditions of winter. I also plan to keep mine inside but even so was trying to figure out how often to water during the shorter days. Once a month seems like a very reasonable balance!
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Re: Sanseveria pinguicula... I think I'm in love

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Post by Spination »

Sure. My perception of it after several years of good results not having them bite the dust (mud?) in winter is that it's really the temps that matter. 2 things they don't like: cold, and being water-logged - especially when cold. In general, Gee mentions correctly somewhere that Sans are very hardy. This is true. They will endure low light (but will probably etiolate), and lack of water. They can be abused in this fashion and still survive, and revive very well and quickly. But, fungal and rot problems are pretty hard to combat once started. The trick is not to allow conditions to become conducive to those issues in the first place. Otherwise, they're pretty easy to care for.

For me, in my growing zone, winter is the problematic period. But, my solution works well. Don't let 'em freeze, or even get close to frost/freeze temps, and keep 'em dry during that time. :U

We can all share what works for us individually, but what matters is for each grower to tailor to their specific conditions, or... it's also possible to tailor the conditions to the needs of the plant (using a heater, and such).
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Re: Sanseveria pinguicula... I think I'm in love

#23

Post by Gee.S »

Long as they're kept warm and in a bright window, Sans will continue to grow through winter, and many are winter bloomers. I suspect a loss of light intensity can trigger dormancy, but not light duration. Though light duration apparently does trigger bloom cycles. I water indoor Sans lightly once per week through winter, but it is very dry here.
Agave
"American aloe plant," 1797, from Greek Agaue, proper name in mythology (mother of Pentheus), from agauos "noble," perhaps from agasthai "wonder at".

"Some talk the talk, others walk the walk, but I stalk the stalk"
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Re: Sanseveria pinguicula... I think I'm in love

#24

Post by Brooksphilly »

Thanks, Steph. Honestly, they are among the easiest plants I have ever grown, so I can't take much credit. The pot is a squat pot (maybe 5 inches deep? I'm not st work now) and 9 inches wide. I think you are right about shallow being better.
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Re: Sanseveria pinguicula... I think I'm in love

#25

Post by Brooksphilly »

Tom, good info. Makes total sense. I have never grown pinguicula outdoors so I defer to your expertise. I think I always water every 2-3 weeks, even in the winter. Yep, the office stays around 68 and with the angle of the sun lower and the southern exposure, they actually get light most of the day in the winter, more so than any other season.
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