it seems like everyone has their own
name for this plant
starfish plant African spear spear
stance of the area whatever it is that
you call it let's learn a little bit
about it for now we'll call it
Sansevieria cylindrical me before we
start I wanted to take a minute and give
a shout out to all of the comments that
came in on my most recent video these
people came on and really just embodied
exactly what it is that I'm trying to
put out there and that is just love and
uplifting support of each other as
growers and as human beings so I was
just I was really really touched well it
just seemed like every comment that came
in on that last video was so sweet and
uplifting so I wanted to thank given to
grow Darci Oakley Christina eilers Steve
R Terry I'm sorry I can't say your name
you sweet thing you comment a lot and I
have a great time about communicating
back and forth with you and then Mandy's
tropicals everybody just had such sweet
things to say and it meant a lot and I
just wanted to give you a little shout
out because of that this plant is such a
good plant especially if you are a
beginning plant mommy or daddy and maybe
one who's not very talented yet because
a lot of people say that African spears
are a plant that thrives on neglect and
you may not always see it in this fan
shape like it is here some of them have
longer thinner Spears that kind of grow
more upward and not in a fan shape quite
so much and you may even see them like
braided together they're really
cool-looking anyhow let's talk about
what people mean when they say that this
plant thrives on neglect probably what
people are referring to when they say
this plant or another plant thrives on
neglect is its watering schedule for
this plant during the winter time it
really only needs to be watered about
one time a month and of course that can
vary always according to what your
climate conditions are within your house
wherever you're keeping it but generally
once a month is good they're kind of
like the euphorbia is in that way and
then once it gets into active growing it
really doesn't need to be watered more
than once every two weeks so it really
wants all a lot of water when you water
let it run through all the way out
through the pot and then let it sit
until it's completely dry till you reach
your finger down in there and you feel
no moisture whatsoever then it will be
time to reward your Sansevieria starfish
along with watering we should probably
talk about fertilizing and it probably
makes sense if you think about when you
cutback watering in the winter you also
do not fertilize that will be kept for
the active growing season so once winter
is over then you want to start adding
some fertilizer into your routine
basically follow the same pattern that
you would for the rest of your
houseplants maybe once a month maybe
twice a month this is this can be a
pretty heavy feeder so you're gonna be
ok to not burn out roots or anything
like that if you're fertilizing as much
as twice a month even I found some
conflicting information on the internet
about whether or not this is a fast
growing or a slow growing plant so first
let's talk about how it does grow this
is a rhizome plant so think along the
lines of an iris a member of the iris
family and what it does is actually
these can grow so many rhizomes that
they have been known to literally
shatter the pot that they're growing in
because they can create so much pressure
from the inside which i think is
fantastic in my personal experience I
think that they are fast growing and
definitely fast multiplying with the
little platelets that they will put out
other other websites said differently
now I think a
that may have to do with the kind of
light that you're providing for your
plant so let's talk about light next I
did want to head in really quickly that
you can divide these little baby starts
from the parent plant as soon as they
have several of their own Spears so this
one is probably big enough that it could
be divided for sure but I'm gonna leave
it in there one because I like the way
it looks and two I just want it to have
a little bit more maturity before I try
to divide it and you just go in with a
nice sharp knife or sharp scissors and
literally sever it from the parent plant
and put it in its own pot the reason I
think there are such conflicting stories
about how fast this grows is the amount
of light that you give it and one of the
big selling points for this and many
Sansevieria plants is that they are low
light tolerant and that's certainly true
that is not a lie but when these plants
are put in low light especially super
low light conditions
they almost if not completely stop
growing okay so they'll just hang out at
the size that they are and they won't
make any forward progress they won't be
making lots of new roots they won't be
putting out lots of little babies
because what they truly want is bright
indirect light like most of your
succulent plants don't misunderstand I
am NOT saying that if you have one of
these in a low light situation that you
should take it out absolutely not if you
have you know a place at your office or
a place in your home that is like a
really dark corner and you want some
green in there these plants can do it
it's you're not harming them per se it's
just that they're gonna shut down their
active growing until they have a
brighter light situation there's
required for your African speer plant
are very simple if it's a temperature
where you as a human being can grow and
thrive then it's a temperature where
your African sphere plant can grow and
thrive as well do you want to put out
one caution if you have young children
or animals that like to chew on plants
this one is a real nono
okay this is definitely toxic to humans
and to our doggies kitties whatever else
you have running around so if you are
planning to buy one that's fine just can
you find a place up high or in a place
where your animals or your young
children cannot reach them after giving
you that caution however let me give you
two really amazing reasons that you
should have this plant in your home
reason number one just like all of the
other sensitive areas I've ever
researched or kept in my home this
removes toxins from the air that we
breathe in our home it literally takes
formaldehyde toluene and xylene out of
the air and makes the air so much better
for people to breathe they these are one
of the plants that they actually take
into buildings and businesses and keep
to take the sick building syndrome I
think it's called to try and combat that
for their workers so it's so so good for
having in your home and reason number
two is this is a very long-lived plant I
absolutely love the idea that when I'm
long gone from this earth that some of
my plants will still be here with people
that I love especially my children but
you know others as well and plants are
so wonderful that way such a wonderful
gift if you have plants that you have
received from family members or friends
that you cared for deeply you know what
I mean it's such a gift it's a wonderful
thing and you will have it for a long
time so if you find one of these in a
garden center this spring
snatch it up don't think about it just
bring it home it's totally worthwhile I
hope you enjoyed this video I'll see you
in the next one have a great week
everybody
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