Dan Dembicki - Author of Growth Mechanics

Dan Dembicki - Author of Growth Mechanics Author and horticultural researcher

Before Pinellas Park, there was a smaller bed in St. Pete where the pattern first appeared.The soil was packed hard, roo...
10/26/2025

Before Pinellas Park, there was a smaller bed in St. Pete where the pattern first appeared.

The soil was packed hard, roots stacked against each other, and the plants had started turning upward — pressure was literally shaping direction.

When part of the bed cracked after rain, new growth exploded from the opening within days.

It was the first sign that compression isn’t damage — it’s signal.

Field Notes • Growth Mechanics™

What started as a $10 Facebook Marketplace pickup turned into one of the most surprising field finds I’ve ever had.When ...
10/21/2025

What started as a $10 Facebook Marketplace pickup turned into one of the most surprising field finds I’ve ever had.

When I arrived in Pinellas Park, the “free-for-all” backyard turned out to be a meadow of snake plants — a full yard of Sansevieria, stretching in every direction. The owner told me they’d spent years trying to clear them out. The roots were thick as cables, and cutting through them with a shovel felt like sawing rope.

I filled every container I brought, spent an hour digging, and came home with what looked like treasure — until I identified it.

Sansevieria hyacinthoides, now reclassified as Dracaena hyacinthoides, is officially listed as invasive in central and southern Florida. It’s strong, stubborn, and nearly impossible to eradicate once established.

So my $10 discovery became a living lesson in persistence — and in knowing when to keep a plant contained.

From the field notes of Growth Mechanics™: The Hidden Life of Sansevieria.

Welcome to the Growth Mechanics™ project.I’ve spent the last several years studying how Sansevieria plants grow, adapt, ...
10/21/2025

Welcome to the Growth Mechanics™ project.

I’ve spent the last several years studying how Sansevieria plants grow, adapt, and sometimes defy expectations. This page documents that process — field finds, experiments, and the thinking that shaped my upcoming book, Growth Mechanics™: The Hidden Life of Sansevieria.

You’ll see stories pulled straight from the field, like the $10 jungle in Pinellas Park, alongside behind-the-scenes photos and ideas that challenge what we think we know about these plants.

Thanks for following along — and for being part of this discovery as it unfolds.

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