If you own a Snake Plant ( Sansevieria trifasciata ) , then you own one of the sturdy houseplants there is .
With such a furrowed and forgiving plant , it is well-heeled to assume that no harm can come to it or that it will hold up any amount of neglect .
While it is true that this works is robust , we also need to recognize that it is still a industrial plant and that it is , therefore , subject to the force of nature . In other words , if you do n’t take tutelage of this plant , it will pall eventually .
Overwatering or underwatering is the most unwashed cause of Snake River plant demise . Although this plant life is as tough as they come , the main number you are likely to see is that you are giving it too much water system . In addition , keep an eye out for other issues such as plague infestations , disease , and improper maturate conditions .
In this article , we will be look at the problems you might come up against and shew how easy it is to either quash them all or rectify them if they do occur .
Contents
How to Know if Your Snake Plant is Dying
A good place to start up dealing with this job is to be able to recognize that there is a trouble in the first place .
You will know that your ophidian plant is front concluding precondition if it exhibits any of the following symptom .
Most of the problems that I have just listed will manifest themselves in the farewell , and measured reflection will start the plant owner to take activity before the problem becomes too critical .
Possible Causes That Your Snake Plant Might be Dying From
Overwatering
This is , without doubt , the most common problem that you will face if you are fresh to working with the Snake Plant . This is a plant that thrives in arid and semi - arid condition .
So you must reserve it to dry out between each and every watering . other warning signs to look out for are yellow leave-taking .
Then itbecomes soft and mushyand the leaves will droop shortly after that .
Although what is happen above earth is endure to be the first warning that you see , it is what is going on below earth that beat the peachy danger to the works .
There , the solution will be starting to rot and this mean that they finish to be able to supply nutrient and minerals which are so critical to the leave .
The first affair you will take to do if you distrust that overwatering is the problem dissemble your plant is to confirm your own diagnosing .
Feel the potting soil and if it is very dampish or waterlogged , it is safe to assume that your diagnosing is right .
In cases that are not too forward-looking , your plant will probably recover if you arrest watering and allow the potting soil to dry out .
You must ensure that it can debilitate any excess piddle that is in the territory . assure that there is a drain hole in the bottom of the container and that it is not standing is a saucer that is filled with water .
Allow the stain to dry out completely and then leave behind it for several more days before water again .
You should go for H2O to the top of the grime until it starts to drain out through the drain holes . After that grant body of water to drain away before placing the plant back into its plant life saucer .
Before you water again , ensure that the territory has become entirely ironic . You do this by forcing your finger into the grease until it is two inches cryptic . This is around your 2nd knuckle joint .
If the soil is definitely dry , then repeat the tearing method I have just mention . Do n’t go down into the all - too - common trap of lacrimation to a schedule .
Your plant misplace water at different speeds allot to fence in conditions , time of year , and size of it of the plant . Your best method is to get word to finger the soil and weewee only when it has become totally juiceless .
The potting mixing is potential to be slimly damp so do n’t be in a hurry to rewater your slight plant .
Allow it to adjust to its novel dwelling house and only when totally ironical will you need to water .
Snake plant are far less likely to hurt from under - watering than it is from overwatering .
During the growing season , you are unlikely to need to water this works more than once per fortnight .
In the dormant time of year , that will probably contract to once a calendar month , and possibly even less often than that .
Accept that feeling the stain is going to be the best way to judge whether or not to water .
Underwatering
If you are unaccustomed to working with snake plants , the augury , and symptom of underwatering and overwatering may sound quite similar .
The leaves may wilt , go yellowed and a more often than not unhealthful appearance will prevail .
The big remainder between underwatering and overwatering is that an under - water works does not have that maudlin texture to the leaf .
or else , they become crisper and more brittle . The reason for the similarity of symptoms is simple .
In both instances , the roots misplace the ability to transfer the requisite nutrients to the above - land sections of the plant .
Another indisputable planetary house that it is underwatering , rather than overwatering , that is the cause of your problem , will be the dirt . If it is desiccated and feels like junk , underwatering is the issue .
This flora is accustomed to long periods without moisture so it will bounce back speedily as presently as you introduce a sustainable watering authorities again .
Once that bechance , you could simply follow the same method as has just been applied .
One affair you will demand to check is that the soil has not become so degraded that it does n’t agree some wet after watering .
If the pee just flows straight through , and the soil is completely teetotal within hour , you should think about repotting into fresh potting territory .
Poor Drainage
This is always an progeny to look at carefully with all house plant , and not just when dealing with the Snake Plant .
If a grow culture medium does not drain freely , it becomes a man-made lake for the disease and other pathogens and the roots can effectively stifle .
It is a very common job , which is surprising when you understand how easy it is to forfend . There are a few sign that your dirt is not draining freely .
When get a new plant life , the first thing to curb for is a drain hole in the radix of the container . The hole should be large enough for you to get your digit into .
With the Snake Plant , feeling the grow medium through the drainage hole is yet another way in which you could see to it that the soil has dried out or not .
It is not enough for there to just be sufficient drainage through the yap in your plant container . The originate sensitive itself should also be very free draining .
The easiest way to see to it this is to purchase soil that is mixed explicitly for succulents or cactuses . you could find this at most garden marrow .
If your supplier ca n’t meet your requirements , you may make up a free - draining admixture of your own by combining three parts of ordinary potting dirt with two parts of perlite or grit .
Normally home plants are stood in a saucer . One common drainage mistake is to put the lot in its dish antenna before it has finish draining .
body of water fills the saucer and that decelerate further drain . stress to drain the soil completely after watering , but if you do notice the saucer is holding water then tip it aside before it induce problem .
Not Enough Sunlight
If your plant does not get sufficient light then it will struggle to photosynthesize properly . Without enough solid food formulation , the leaf will start turning yellow or brown .
This will be most noticeable on Snake Plants with a luck of colored diversification to their leaves .
These will begin to fade and turn fleeceable . It is not very critical but it does detract from the overall sweetheart of the plant .
as luck would have it , theSnake Plant is really broad in term of light requirement , which is one of the ground it makes such a good house Edgar Guest .
It will happily survive on a north - facing windowsill with collateral light , but will also survive in direct sunlight providing it is not too prolonged .
Ideally , you would seek to stand your flora in a positioning where it receives bright but indirect lightness .
If there is not enough natural collateral light in your apartment then essay contrived brightness for your serpent plant .
This will be the berth which your Snake Plant will gain from the most , and in return , it will deliver the healthiest growth .
If you are someone who likes to put their plant out of doors during the warm months , then you must make the transferee gradual .
Allow the plant to accommodate to its current environment by localise it out for a couple of hr each day so that it does not go into shock .
Bacterial Soft Rot
Soft rot in Snake Plants is identified by wet pear-shaped spots that look a small like magnanimous blisters .
Over time they become sunken and the leaf material below the spots becomes sunken and soupy . This problem is often related to overwatering or wretched drain .
Soft rot can enter the flora via root or leaf damage , and through the tiny holes made by suck in insects .
As soon as you become aware of the job , you should sequester your plant so that it does not spread to other plant life in your collection .
If the flora does not show sign of a recovery then you should incline of it and not strain to compost any of the flora material .
Pathogenic Infection
There are a number of pathogenic infections that could attack your industrial plant . If you see small reddish - dark-brown spots appear on the leaves of your Snake Plant this could well be a result of a pathogen .
solution bunk is also a consequence of fungous pathogenic contagion which can be disastrous for your snake plant .
Incorrect Soil pH
When the pH level of the soil is amiss it can do problems for some plants in terms of their power to take up minerals and nutrients .
Yellowing between vein , for example , may be a resultant role of insufficient iron uptake .
I should emphasize that the Snake Plant is tolerant of a broad range of pH level ranging from 4.5 to 8.5 .
Ideally , you would require the pH to oscillate somewhere between 5.5 and 7.5 . If you are using proprietary potting soil , it should settle into this range .
It is unremarkably when peat moss is include that the pH becomes too acidic , but as you do n’t desire too much water system retention , and are point for a cactus - type commixture , this should not become an government issue .
If you are concerned that incorrect pH is causing your plant problem , you may buy a soil examination outfit and curb the levels .
Low Temperature
snake in the grass flora do not wish to get even a touch of frost , and to do so could spell destruction for your plant . The leaves will quickly turn a blue - black color and prostration .
This is commonly only a problem that is experienced by people who move their Snake flora outside for the summer , and then forget to contribute them inside before the winter circle in .
The sodding temperature range for your Snake plant lies between 65 and 80 ° F ( 18 – 27 ° C ) which is not hard to maintain in an average house .
The plant life will part to become unhappy if you expose it to temperatures below 55 ° F ( 12 ° C ) .
Pest Problems
Because of the thick waxy cuticle that covers the leave of absence of the Snake Plant , it is not a dearie with insect pestis .
Those that may become an issue will be sapsuckers and the two that you are most likely to encounter are scale insects and mealybugs . Both of these guys bank on camo as their elementary means of defense .
Mealybugs look like little white piece of fluff and at first coup d’oeil , the inexperient gardener might not see it for an insect at all .
They sleep with to hide out in the crack and crevice at the base of the plant ’s parting . Scale insect are slightly more obvious , but they too do n’t look like worm at first .
Both of these pests can be kept at bay laurel by faithful reflexion so that they do n’t have a chance to become established .
even wiping of the leaves with a somewhat damp fabric will keep them in pristine precondition and aid discourage these plague .
It really should n’t be necessary to use pesticides if you keep up these principles . Always remember that a healthy plant is far less prone to round in the first place .
Low Humidity
Most plant like a certain amount of humidness and the Snake Plant is no exception .
Though these plants come from desiccate precondition , the humidity stage in some home can fall below their ideal essential , especially if you have some form of heat organisation in position .
There is no motive to be too horrify by this . You are not blend in to need to rush out and purchase a humidifier or a misting organization .
Dealing with Dormancy
All flora go through a dormant period when their metabolism slow up down and they grow far less rapidly . This period it seems like your snake plant life is perish .
Normally this submit place during the coolheaded wintertime months as is the case with the Snake Plant .
In the northerly cerebral hemisphere , expect your plant to slow up down between later October and mid - March .
It is authoritative to be mindful of dormancy because your industrial plant will command much less body of water and no plant food during this menstruation .
Lack of Nutrients in Soil
If your snake plant is in a pot , it is inevitable that sooner or later it will exhaust the nutrients that were originally in the soil .
This will eventually result in slower ontogenesis and a less healthy industrial plant . At some point , it may seem that your Snake River industrial plant is dying .
Root bound
A snake industrial plant becomes root bound when its antecedent ballock completely fill the pot that it is plant in .
This can impact the soil ’s ability to entertain moisture and nutrient . Slowly the signs of dying serpent plant will appear .
These plants do n’t require to be repotted often . They are felicitous even when the theme are quite taut .
sign that you should repot admit , source bug out through the drainage holes or over the brim of the pot , and bulging of the potty when in a plastic container . The only root to this trouble is to repot into a bigger smoke .
Repotting Your Snake Plant
If your flora has been showing signs of stress or has outgrown its potbelly , then you should repot into the next size container .
Do n’t find that you need to water the plant life immediately . The soil is probably holding enough wet to last for a few days , so allow the plant to settle in .
After that , palpate for moisture and water as previously described when the filth is dry .
It is important that at this stage you provide your works with optimal conditions , especially if it is find from a near - demise experience .
Keep it in hopeful but collateral light . Too much light could exacerbate focus at this fragile degree . assure the temperature is not too low and that humidity grade are optimum .
Now , what if your snake is severely infected with a black disease like root rot . then generation is the only way to relieve your dying ophidian plant .
Snake Plant Propagation
It is a sad fact that if root putrefaction has become established , you may not be able to lay aside the whole of your plant .
When cut away the rot root , if you may not ascertain salubrious material , you may find out the alarming fact that the rot has extended up into the leaves .
This is not necessarily the end of your flora . persist in cutting aside from the groundwork of each leafage one inch at a sentence .
Eventually , you should arrive at material that is hefty . You are now going to circulate using fabric above that cut .
think of that your secateurs are now carrying disease so you will postulate to cleanse them with alcohol before make one more shortened into levelheaded plant life material .
That plant life material is now the source material for your fresh plant or plants .
you may either use that leaf as a cutting or , if it is long enough , you may slew it into four - inch segments and grow several cutting .
It is important that you always know where the top section of each segment is so you do n’t start your press clipping off upside down .
The unexampled plant will finally grow but it will detain the process substantially .
Place your cutting , or carving , into a clear container of water so that the water covers about one - quarter of the film editing . Stand it in a bright position and replace the weewee with clean water supply once a week .
After four to six weeks , you will start to see the first rootage begin to look . Keep the flora in the container for another three to four week so that the root word become strong and large .
After that , your cuttings are ready to be imbed into pots using a cactus mix pot metier .
Keep the mix slimly moist but not plastered and digest the plant in a position that is promising , but not sunny .
The new plant will have on the nose the same scoring as the flora from which the cuttings were taken .
If you necessitate a step - by - step guide to broadcast a ophidian flora , read my other article here .
Conclusion
Snake River plants are very tough and what you have just take is often a worst - case scenario . In general , these plants will be hassle - free , but you must follow these precept .
share-out is care !
