I purchased a bucket of whale fin sansevieria a few weeks ago for a pretty penny and I've run into issues with root rot.

When I first got it there might have been a few blemishes but overall it looked good. The soil was fairly wet when I brought it home so I waited for it to dry out before watering it. I noticed a some brown spot on two of the fins that was starting to look worse. I thought root rot, so I went to repot it. Sure enough a good amount of roots were rotted. I removed the obvious rotted ones and repotted in new soil (75% cactus blend and 20% perlite and 5% orchid bark). Since the soil was moist, I waited about a week until it dried out. I then watered it thoroughly.

This morning (a few days later) I noticed one of the fins start to lean. I checked on the roots, and saw some rot again :/ I removed what I thought was rotted and tried to leave what I though looked okay. I rinse the roots/ends with some dish soap and water and now am letting them air dry (some advice I saw on youtube).

I am wondering if anyone had any other advice on how to save my plant and prevent a recurrence of root rot. How long should I let it air dry for? Should I repot it in the same soil mix or a different medium?








Everything looks dismantled right now and a slim chance of recovery. I feel sad :/

Thank you so much in advance!

Let everything sit dry on a shelf for 2 weeks.

It sounds like the soil of your Whale Fin Snake Plant (Dracaena masoniana) is remaining too wet and should be allowed to dry longer between watering.

I have this plant, I have been growing and propagating it for 15+ years. I agree with Gene and Lin. Let it sit unpotted and dry out and scar over. I might even treat those cut ends with fungicide. I know there are folks on the forum that do not like fungicide. But for me it is a useful thing. I use a powder called Captan. You can also use Cinnamon from the pantry. It has a natural antibacterial/antifungal property. When it looks like the rot has stopped and is scarred. repot it in a really well draining mix and don;t overwater it.

I use ground cinnamon as a natural fungicide; keep a container of it in my gardening supplies. Due to the extreme close up photo, I can't see the size of your original container but when you repot, I'd advise using a small pot.

I've heard of people using half cactus mix and half perlite OR course sand (not construction sand), if you tend to be an over-waterer. I have also heard all cactus mix, or maybe 75% cactus mix 25% perlite or course sand. But I've never heard of using orchid bark for Sansevieria or any other succulent. Hmm. I would have to look into that before forming an opinion.
I do agree to let it all dry out for a few weeks. I've had to do the same thing before with my Sans, back before I learned it was a succulent. Something about them seemed tropical to me, and I translated that to "loves water and misting". I made the mistake of giving all that extra liquid to my Sans while also potting it with regular miracle gro potting soil!
Good news is: they are tough plants and can recover from too much love and affection. Looks like you caught yours in time, too! After they are scarred and you have repotted them, I still wouldn't water them for a while just to be on the safe side. Another thing I've recently picked up around here is watch how high your soil is up around the leaves. You really only want to cover the roots and not pack soil up on the base of the leaves. Water just the soil and don't let those gorgeous leaves get wet at all!
There is an entire thread in this houseplants forum called "Sansevieria: greatest houseplants alive!". Read through that while yours are drying out. There's a ton of great info there on how to care for these awesome plants. Try not to stress too much- you may become addicted to these plants once you see how quick yours recovers from this!

Thank you so much for all the advice!

The nursery pot is between 12-14 inches- I am considering a smaller pot because I don't want to put it in the same pot again.

Just want to make sure, leaving everything air dry for 2 weeks will be okay? And then I put it in new soil after that correct?

Also, I was wondering did I remove enough the the "rotting" part or do I need to do more from what you can see in this photo?





Sorry for so many questions, I just want to make sure I set my whale fin up for success this time (I already tried once to save it from rot cause I think the nursery kept the soil too wet for too long)

I have become addicted to snake plants and recently got my hands on a bantel senesation from the same nursery and unfortunately the soil seemed like it was kept too wet for too long and I'm trying to save it from rot also- I let everything air dry but only for a day before reporting - so now I'm nervous that I didn't wait long enough to let it air dry before reporting- but I don't plane on watering it for a few weeks.

Thank you again everyone! I super appreciate all the help since I can only find so much info online and I'm still fairly new to indoor plants

codielane said:I've heard of people using half cactus mix and half perlite OR course sand (not construction sand), if you tend to be an over-waterer. I have also heard all cactus mix, or maybe 75% cactus mix 25% perlite or course sand. But I've never heard of using orchid bark for Sansevieria or any other succulent. Hmm. I would have to look into that before forming an opinion.
I do agree to let it all dry out for a few weeks. I've had to do the same thing before with my Sans, back before I learned it was a succulent. Something about them seemed tropical to me, and I translated that to "loves water and misting". I made the mistake of giving all that extra liquid to my Sans while also potting it with regular miracle gro potting soil!
Good news is: they are tough plants and can recover from too much love and affection. Looks like you caught yours in time, too! After they are scarred and you have repotted them, I still wouldn't water them for a while just to be on the safe side. Another thing I've recently picked up around here is watch how high your soil is up around the leaves. You really only want to cover the roots and not pack soil up on the base of the leaves. Water just the soil and don't let those gorgeous leaves get wet at all!
There is an entire thread in this houseplants forum called "Sansevieria: greatest houseplants alive!". Read through that while yours are drying out. There's a ton of great info there on how to care for these awesome plants. Try not to stress too much- you may become addicted to these plants once you see how quick yours recovers from this!

Who mentioned using orchid bark?

These are mine. The first is my original plant, which I bought about 15 years ago at the Fairchild Gardens Ramble in Miami. It was only 2 leaves then, it has been in the same 3 gallon container never repotted. When the container gets too crowded, I dissect out a few spears and fill in the hole with new mix. I sold some on eBay years ago when I was a licensed inspected nursery, after I quit that I traded them for other plants or gave them to friends

This is a propagation I made from this mother plant about 9-10 years ago. These are very slow growing, its why they are so expensive. This plant was a 2 spear prop each spear about 6" tall. Its kind of leggy right now because it was on the porch in a corner not getting enough light. So I stuck it with mama under the skylights inside



This is a variegated form of Masonia I bought as a 2-leaf barefoot prop at a garden festival at about the same time, so its also about 15 years old. I split the spears and potted up separately and now have these 2 mature pots of plant






I've propagated each of these mamas once and have these two baby pots that are about 5 years old now. As you can see on the variegated ones, the variegation is extremely variable. So if you spend the big bucks for a variegated one (usually sold by the single spear) and it looks extremely nice with a lot of white or cream and very little green, realize that as the plant grows and makes more spears it will have a variety of colors and patterns and even some 'normal' non-variegated leaves




These are all potted in a well draining mix that is made from Jungle Growth potting mix, chopped coco husk pieces, lots of perlite, and chopped styrofoam packing peanuts.

Gina1960 said:
Who mentioned using orchid bark?

The OP mentioned orchid bark in their first post (using 5% orchid bark).

Gina, did you notice the lizard on your window in your 2nd pic? On the bottom left hand corner of your window. Pretty neat. Your plants are absolutely beautiful.

Hoyahead, as Lin said-- definitely do a smaller pot. No question about it. When I am picking out a new pot for a Sansevieria, I consider the size of the roots and go with the smallest pot I can without the plants tipping over because they like to be root bound and a lot of extra dirt can certainly be the kiss of death. You could go ahead and use a tiny pot, even if your plant is wanting to tip over, and put that tiny pot into a much taller cover pot so the plants can lean on that. I hope that makes sense. I'll post a picture when I get a chance.
But from what I can see, I think you have done a good job getting the water logged roots off. When I had this problem with my plants, I didn't use scissors or anything to trim off the bad roots. I just gently pulled off the bad ones by hand. Because I tend to think that any decent, healthy roots will be difficult to pull off with a very gentle tug. (I'm no expert, mind you. But this is how my mom taught me with her snake plants.)
Here's a link to that other thread which is all about Sans:
The thread "Sansevieria, greatest house plants alive!!" in Houseplants forum
I learned a ton by just reading through other people's questions and ideas there. Have fun!

Hamwild said:

The OP mentioned orchid bark in their first post (using 5% orchid bark).

Ah I see. Ordinarily that would be a good mix but for sans night stay a bit too damp

codielane said:Gina, did you notice the lizard on your window in your 2nd pic? On the bottom left hand corner of your window. Pretty neat. Your plants are absolutely beautiful.

Oh yes they are regular inhabitants of our house. They get in here and there, Goddess knows we can't keep them out. They eat insects and seem happy so I don;t kick them out LOL unless they come to the attention of my Jack Russell. Then they go out to save their lives. Sometimes sans tail. The tree frogs that manage to infiltrate we do remove immediately, because they will desiccate and die in a matter of hours inside in the air conditioning.

Thank you all so much! I will continue letting it air dry for at least the next week and then pot it up in a smaller pot. Since soil is usually damp to begin with I will wait a while before I water.

THere are only a few roots left since most the rooting roots fell off- I tried to cut away most the rotting rhizome base but there are still darker parts but they aren't mushy so I'm hoping it will be okay.

I just really want to help this guy thrive make sure this I give him the best chance this time since I already went through the root rot once before with this guy (and I have only owned the plant for around a month)

I will definitely check out the sanseveria forum. Any other advice/input would be appreciated. Thank you all again

One last quick question- would you recommend that I try rooting hormone powder since I had to cut the majority of the roots off (the rhizomes are more or less intact). If so, any recommendations? Doing a quick search I found this option:


Thank you all in advance!

That's the brand of rooting hormone powder that I use... when I think about it. I've heard many people say that rooting hormone powder isn't necessary but I think it does help stimulate root growth. I moisten the plant stem and dip it in the powder before sticking it in soil.

I use rooting powder too. I think the one they have around here is RootOne. Most have a fungicide added, which is a plus. I have started a lot of single rhizome starts of things like heliconia, Etlingera elatior (big Torch Ginger), large leaved calatheas and to her stuff over the last 30 years. When you get those rhizomes through the mail the roots have always been completely removed. I have always used rooting hormone on them. I have also used it sometimes on Hoyas that have a reputation of being hard to root (some are very easy, others have a rep of being difficult)

I didn't read through all posts. Maybe somebody already mention this. As I remember correctly, you can propagate sansivieras by half leaf cutting. Just take a leaf cut it by several pieces and stick them to wet sand. I would try this method just in case. And don't be affraid to dry the roots. They will grow back in no time, if the plant can grow from a piece of leaf. Another thought from planted fish tank experience. You can disinfect with 3% bleach solution. Dip the rotten parts in the solution for 10 sec and immediately put in clean water to rinse. Aquarium plants usually fine after that. I would leave this method as a last reserve.

Gina1960
Aug 24, 2019 8:10 AM EDT this is for Gina, you are mentioning "Masonia" ? even google doesn't know it? Is it a variety? enjoy all the information..applying it where necessary. I'm In Georgia and this past month of August it has been the wettest on record. so having a water problem. My geraniums need a watchful eye..some are thriving, I have all kinds of plants and some are rotting and need moving to dry out. the one I am most worried about is a bulb acquired this spring. Cyclamen. Loved it, brought it home not knowing what it was (unlabeled home depot)
It has grown, lost its blooms, normal, now a bulb, letting it dry out rest? and being protected inside. Any hints on it, variety, would be appreciated. Meanwhile my "snake plant in my eastern window of my bath needs dividing, thanks for all the hints. Happy Labor Day!!!