Expert: Greg Simpson - 1/13/2007

Question
I received a mother-in-laws tongue from my sister...at the time the plant was busting out of a plastic pot so I repotted her...I noticed some grayish wormy bugs on the bottom of the original pot and washed them away. Since then she has spread out a little and THAT looks better but the edges of some of her leaves are more yellow...is she getting sick?  What do I do as she is a beautiful plant-approx 4 ft tall. Right now she is getting medium light and our household is gas powered hot water heat kept at 66-67 degrees.  Good watering once per week.  Please help- I don't want her to die- she is from my dad's funeral and she is 11 1/2 yrs old.

Answer
Dear Sandra,

Yellow along the leaf edges are normal, however you are watering it way too much right now. According to everything I have read this plants needs almost no water in winter. I have attached a few different websites for information on this plant. It should be OK, just cut back on the watering. Good luck!

http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/Agavaceae/Sansevieria_trifasciata.html

http://www.flowers.org.uk/plants/plantfacts/motherinlawstongue.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sansevieria_trifasciata



Sincerely,

Greg