Mother-in-law's Tongue

September 10, 2016

I have a mother-in-law’s-tongue plant which I have had for years.  For the first time it produced some unusual growth in the center.  Is it a flower and if so, why did I get one. I have never seen it before.

Sanseveria or Mother-in-laws-tongue is a tough houseplant. It will tolerate extremely low light or intensely bright light and it thrives on neglect.  It is one of a few houseplants that can bloom indoors if it gets bright light and even moisture. The bloom spike comes up in the middle of the plant and has small white spiky-tufted balls of flowers.  Usually once you your plant has bloomed, it often does every year thereafter as long as the growing conditions remain the same.

 (November 2010)

I have a beautiful variegated sansevieria that grew on my front porch all season. Our porch gets bright/diffused light and I was careful not to over water and the plant has thrived. Now it is indoors, however the information that I have read indicates to water only once per month. Does this sound correct to you?

 Sansevieria or ‘Mother-in-law's tongue’ or ‘snake plant’, is a tough houseplant. Watering it once a month should suffice. It has a very tough, leathery leaf and prefers it on the dry side. Indoors, your plant is growing slowly, so the key is not to overwater.

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