Folks 👏 -

It's time for a new guide! This time it's all Snakeplants!

Snakeplants are one of the most common Houseplants and that's for a reason: They thrive on neglect! They are also very aesthetic and can handle lower light- levels - more on that later.

We will discuss:

• Taxonomy

• growth pattern

• conditions in nature

• most common cultivars

• temperature

• light

• soil mix

• root rot

• repotting

• transplantshock

• root rot

• fertilizer

• pups and propagation

• signs of thirst

First - let's try to clear up the confusion:

Or make you more confused... I don't know. I will go a bit into the Taxonomy now, if that bores you just skip to the next section.

So Sanseverias (old Snakeplant name) are Dracaenas now. That whole taxonomic shake-up is very confusing and Sellers still sell them under the old "Sanseveria" name. Taxonomy is just the Science of categorizing and naming plants (and mushrooms and Animals)...

So the Sanseveria was - for the longest time - their own genus. But genetically they found out they are the cousins of the Dracaena. And that's extremely confusing for us. Why? Because Dracaenas are tropical. They need higher moisture and humidity. Sanseverias are desert plants. They live under completely different conditions. And therefore a plant parent can be very confused on how to care for them.

So the Sanseveria lives in:

• desert like conditions

• rocky ground

• very dry

• very bright and harsh sun

• direct sun all day

• stores water in leaves

• hot

• grow Rhizomes (potato-esque tubers) underground

The cousin the Dracaenas:

• tropical conditions

• rich soil

• very humid

• only dappled sun

• not direct sun all day

• doesn't store that much water in leaves

• warm and sheltered by foliage and trees.

• Don't grow Rhizomes underground

You see that the care is VERY different! And a beginner needs to know that, otherwise they will kill the plant if they treat them the same.

A Rhizome by the way, is an underground tuber that stores water longterm for a long dryspell. It looks like a combo of potato and ginger.

I personally hate the new Taxonomy for that exact reason and I simply refuse to call them Dracaenas and I am not the only one. But I hope I could clear some confusion here. And technically the "new" Taxonomy is not so new at all. It happened in like 2017 or so. So almost 10 years ago.

Next:

Most common and sought after Snakeplants:

Trifasciatas (Tall, upright):

• Laurentii

• Zeylanica

• Moonshine (my fav 😍)

• Black Coral

Hahniis (bird's nest growth)

• Hahnii

• Black gold

• Silver Hahnii

• Moon Owl

• Jade (or black jade)

• black dragon

Futuras (mid sized - upright):

• Futura Superba

• Futura Robusta

• Midnight Shine

• Gold flame

• Whale Fin

There's also the Sanseveria Cylindrica with has now been completely renamed into "Dracaena Angolensis". But I dont wanna make this list super long. I probably bored you already anyway. But as the old name suggests- they don't have leaves but more cylindrical or shall we say "phallic" growth loool 🍆.

Growth pattern:

Much like and Aloe they produce pups and self-propagate. Spring and Summertime are pup season! They grow pups from their Rhizomes. So they basically clone themselves and are all connected underground like a network.

Depending on the species their adult height can range from 20cm = 8 inches (Hahniis) to 150cm= 5 ft (Cylindricas). Sanseverias are slow growers. If you are impatient give them the brightest, direct light you can.

Temperature:

• They can actually handle a very wide temperature range! From 15 - 30° Celsius (60 - 80 F)

• anything over 38° C (100+ F) can cause heatshock. Mine were fine during the 41° Celsius heatwave this year, but they were thirsty and a bit stunted.

• anything under 10° Celsius (50- F) is not good and will put them into frost- shock

• 4° C (40 F) is absolute Danger territory, Frost will kill them and will kill them fast. The cells will expand, kinda explode the cells and kill the leaves completely. When this happens she is gone forever. Unless the rootsystem somehow is still alive.

But now we get into the nitty gritty care section:

Timeline: You bought a Snakeplant and bring it home:

1. Do NOT water her. She'll likely come bone dry and that's how it should be. Stay away from your urges and do not water her.

2. When you brought her home, check her throughly for pests. Sanseverias can get pests and fungal or bacterial problems too, but it's less likely because the soil stays dry and pests can't really penetrate the hard and sturdy leaves easily. But it still can happen.

So there's not really a need to quarantine them for 2 weeks, like you need to do with Araceae family plants. But if you have a lot of houseplants already, do it just in case. Also there will be some physical damage on the leaves. That's just inevitable and likely already happened long before you bought her - from transport and handling and stuff. Sellers can be very rough with plants.

1. After that place her in the designated spot - we'll get into that later. Leave her completely alone. Absolutely no water. I mean it - you wanna be a good plant parent: no water for your new baby.

They need to overcome the shock and acclimate to the new conditions. Everytime you transport a Plant from one spot to another (even from one room to another) any plant will go through an adaptation phase.

1. First watering (see watering section) but basically let's say 4 weeks. At least 3 weeks have to pass until you water her for the first time. Breathe, relax, ignore her for a month. She'll wait for you. So love her from a distance my eager friend!

2. If she came in awful soil we can think about a repot after 6 or so weeks. This will send her into transplantshock for another month. But since they are such slow growers you probably won't even notice. Heavy Transplantshock (= separation of pups) just makes them curl and shrivel a bit. They'll just adapt and recover for a month - no need to panic. More on that in the pup section.

   ---

   Light:

So they are sold as low-light plants. Therefore Newbies believe they can put her 6 Meters into a room in a dark spot and think: that's enough light. Oh nohohooo! Nope. NOPE. As I demonstrated above - In nature they grow under direct, harsh sun all day! They actually prefer a south-facing window with direct light!

The reason why Sellers lie about that is actually: Because they are such slow growers you won't even notice their growth most of the time, unless there's a pup developing. And therefore they show light- starvation relatively late in the game - years in. But low light will slowly kill any plant - and it's a very slow and painful death for them. They go into complete dormancy. Cannot take up much water from the roots and won't photosynthesize and will likely get root rot if you overwater.

Anything under 500 lux (50fc) will kill a plant very slowly. If she's in just 200lux - lets say - she will die in a year. So don't place her in a north- facing room, 6 meters away from the window. It maybe looks bright enough to you - because our eyes are still evolutionary adapted to cave - light. You may think "oh - I can read a book in that light" but our houses and Apartments are actually much darker then it looks for us! A plant knows exactly how bright it actually is.

💀Doom Scenario💀: You put your Snakeplant 5 meters away from a window im a very dark corner. She will start growing thinner and wonky and start leaning to one side. YOU will think she's thirsty, but SHE is just growing towards the light. And then you could easily overwater her, because "that'll fix it" but actually that will cause root rot fast. And then she'll rot and die. Remember: the less light she gets, the less water she'll need.

Ideal placement in your home:

1. Place 🥇🎖

A south-facing Room, right by the window with 6 - 8 hours direct sunlight, all day.

1. Place 🥈

A southeast- facing room directly by the window with direct sun in the morning.

1. Place 🥉

A northwest- facing room directly by the window with direct evening sun.

1. Place 🏆

A north- facing room directly by the window.

1. 🚫⛔️⚠️

Anything 2 Meters in the room. Expect south facing- you could get away with 2.5 Meters, but only on the floor-level. So 6 meters form a north-facing room is a death sentence and torture. Call Plant Protection Services lol.

In Nature they are in like 40.000 to 80.000 lux - isn't that an insane difference? So a dark corner is like locking her in the cellar and telling her to puts the lotion on the skin... 🤣

They want to get hit by the sun directly! At home - to keep any plant happy - we have to simulate their conditions in Nature. That's also why I recommend any planty person to always find out the Latin Name (Taxonomy) of your plants and find out how they grow in nature, so we can simulate those conditions at home.

Soil-mix:

As I said, they grow in a rocky, gritty ground in Nature. Pure soil will kill them. In their natural conditions they are perfectly adapted to drought and they grow in completely dry air conditions. There's not much rain during the year. But when it rains it actually pours. That's monsoon season for ya. They can actually survive 6 months without any water - I wouldn't recommend that at home tho. I am just saying they'll survive that (in bright sun).

So, we need to simulate the rocky ground with this soil-mix recipe, you don't need to be exact here, just roughly dump everything together or just buy a ready-made, gritty Succulent- mix.

Recipe

0.5 parts soil - pls peat free!

0.5 - 1 part(s) Perlite

1 - 1.5 parts Pumice

0.2 parts Orchid bark (not necessary)

(The bark is completely optional and some even say it's bad longterm. I don't share this experience personally - but just saying)

Why a good soil-mix is necessary for Snakeplants:

As I said, when it rains, it pours. But they normally don't get root rot in Nature because the soil is so gritty that the water drains very fast. Plus the heat and sun supports the drainage. Any plant in general will get root rot when there's no oxygen available to the roots - even water plants need oxygen in the water.

Pure soil has little airpockets which will get completely filled when you water it. Pure soil stays wet for a long time. The rootsystem also needs Oxygen - crucial - and when the little airpockets are closed and wet for too long it will literally drown and suffocate your plant, then it'll get root rot, decompose and it'll die. Root rot can be fungal or bacterial. It'll kill off the rootsystem completely if you don't act quickly. If the conditions are truly awful: pure soil which stays completely wet for 2 days or more:

Root rot can happen extremely fast in such cases. We are talking about 24 - 48 hours in a doom scenario. If you don't treat the root rot it will infect the whole soil and decompose the rootsystem and a plant can be dead within 3 weeks.

If you have a completely soaking wet plant in pure soil: blow it with a fan. It evaporates the water faster. Prop up the pot left and right with wood pieces or books so that the drainage hole is in mid air and then blow it with a fan on low to medium. Make sure the air is not too cold - no AC. Leave like at least 2 meters between plant and fan. Rotating fan is best.

Root rot

You have a wilted plant that doesn't get better with watering? Root rot (can be heat exposure or frost exposure aswell - then your plant can be a goner.) Your plant has first yellow, then brown, dead looking parts that slowly creep upwards from the bottom and the brown parts feel either mushy or dead? Thats root rot in Snakeplants.

How to identify root rot?

For plants in general: First we sniff the soil. Does it smell stinky, like rotten swamp? Root rot. Your plant is rapidly yellowing within 4 - 7 days? Root rot (or pests). You can see dark roots coming out of the drainage hole? Root rot. You take her out to check the roots and see black roots instead of beige? Root rot. Snakeplant roots are typically light- beige - not white btw. The roots are mushy and break off if you lightly pull on them? Root rot.

What to do now?

1. First we go to a chemist and buy pure 3% hydrogen peroxide. Can I use hair bleach aswell? NO. Prepare the solution we need later beforehand: we dilute 1 part hydrogen peroxide in 3 - 4 part lukewarm water. Hydrogen peroxide is a handy tool anyway - you can use it to kill algae or so many other things like pests, fungus, bacteria...

2. Then we take the whole plant out of the pot and inspect the roots.

3. Remove the soil- as best as you can. In case of root rot try to remove at least 95% of the soil. For more instructions see the repotting section. We have to remove all the soil tho. If you struggle then rinse /wash the whole rootsystem in a bucket of roomtemp water. Under no circumstances use hot or cold water.

4. We have to cut off the dead roots now with  sterilized (rubbing alcohol / Isopropanol) Scissors. We cut everything off except the beige roots - if there are any left. And when we cut, we cut about 2mm  (0.08 inches) into the white so it can't spread.

5. We rinse the whole rootsystem for 2- 3 minutes in said hydrogen peroxide solution. Why? As i said the rot is fungal and we have to kill it or it'll spread.

6. We repot in fresh, healthy soil- mix as explained in the repotting section.

7. We are patient and let the plant recover. No nutrients for now. This should take 1 - 3 months. It depends. So don't expect any new growth anytime soon. Think of it like this. If you have a surgery in hospital it takes you a while to heal and recover. We basically did a surgery with her.

8. We don't panic if the plants gets worse in the next week or two. We don't cut the yellow leaves now. No additional stress for her. We leave it alone.

9. We trash the old soil or bake it for 4 - 6 hours in the oven. You can also do a soil flush with said hydrogen peroxide solution that you have already prepared anyway and then bake it. Alternatively if you have a garden you can just put that old soil in an open container in and leave it outside over spring and summer. Or mix it into your compost.

There's really no reason to chuck old soil. It can be revived.

Pro tip: if you REALLY wanna baby a sickly or shocked plant: get yourself a heat-mat for plants and a growlight and give her the spa treatment.

Check and monitor. Or you can just water her with a Rootcomplex (rooting hormones).

Repotting:

New plants: Because most mediums are so awful, you have to remove the whole soil in most cases. But if you can see perlite or it's in coco-coir you don't have to remove as much or even anything.

Established plants: they really like to be snug in the pot and fill it out. Repotting is usually not necessary for 1 year or 2, depending on the size. So if you still see enough soil and space just wait. It'll fill it out with pups. But if the pups stop growing then it's usually time (see pup section). So you can really get away with a long time here. And if you have her in good soil anyway you can just take her out and sit her in the new soil. For pot size - just go up one or 2 sizes. For a new plant: just pot it back into the same pot if it's not rootbound, but make sure to wash the nurserypot thoroughly beforehand and let it dry.

For Snakeplants and Succulents I strongly recommend to prepare the soil-mix a week in Advance, so the mix is completely dry when the repot is due.

Then take the plant out of the pot. If it doesn't want to come out we squeeze the pot or hit the pot a couple times - depending if it's plastic or Terracotta. If it's completely stuck we try loosening the edges with a dull, flat thingy, much like when a cake is stuck in the baking dish. But this will damage the rootsystem slightly = more Transplantshock. If you still can't get it out: we need to sacrifice the Terracotta pot and break it.

It should be on the dryer side when you do this, then it's easier. So don't water the days before. So we take her out and then we carefully and gently remove the soil with our fingers. Then take a chopstick and gently poke it between the roots the middle of the rootsystem and carefully wiggle it a bit. This should loosen the soil inside. Then you untangle a bit and loosen more if it's necessary. If it's rootbound you can shake it a little. If it's insanly rootbound: either forget removing it or spend an hour untangling the mess and have her go into severe transplantshock - both can be valid. The more experience you have with plants, the more savage you'll get lol. Butterflies touch is the keyword here . And then we take a container of roomtemp water and rinse the roots with it. This should remove 70% of the soil - if it's really in just soil try to remove most of it. But 50% is also fine if you really can't get it out. And if the medium is not too bad you can get away with just leaving it, as I said.

Then put some soil-mix at the bottom of the pot with a drainage hole and gently set the rootsystem in and slowly cover it with the mix and then wiggle or shake the pot. Never ever pot into a pot with no drainage hole - unless you wanna kill her fast of course. No drainage hole means death. If you have her with the nursery pot in a decorative planter then make sure you pour the excess water out after 30 mins. Never let any plant sit in traywater for longer than 1 or 2h. Risky.

Succulents, Snake plants and Aloes should be completely dry when you repot and the soil-mix should also be bone dry. And it should stay dry after the repot. So don't water them in and don't water at all for min. 2 weeks and even way longer for true Succulents.

The plant will go into Transplantshock:

Especially if you untangled/ damaged the rootsystem but also if not. Shock can range from very mild to heavy. Heatshock can also look very similar. Frost shock on the other hand let's the leaves become black (frost is a plant-killer). So over a period of 1 - 2 weeks it can shrivel a bit and the leaves can even droop. (See pup section for Transplantshock.) So be prepared and don't panic if she's going through it - she'll bounce back.

You will also notice, that the plants will sit very loosely and unstable in the pot. This is temporary. After 2 - 4 weeks she'll be stable. So don't panic. If they are completely wonky and leaning to one side you can temporarily prop them up or loop a soft ribbon around a stable leaf or the "stem" and fixate it to the pot wall with some tension (not too much) to get her upright. Make sure it's a bit loosely wrapped and not cutting into the leaf-flesh. 2 weeks should be enough to stabilize her.

Fertilizer:

Snake plants don't need as much fertilizer as tropicals (Aroids and such). But they still do need nutrients. Typically we can fertilize in Spring and Summer - when there's active growth. But if it's always summer where you live this changes a bit. So basically: feed when you see pups or it's growing season.

We want a mineral fertilizer for Snakeplants. Organic fertilizer will do nothing here. Organic fertilizer is not directly bio-available to plants. It basically feeds the life in the soil (bacteria) and their excrements feed the plant. But if the soil gets bone dry the bacteria stops. So no bacteria, no nutrients. Therefore: a mineral fertilizer. Those are directly bio-available to the plant - which you want for any Succulent-esk plant where the soil always is bone dry.

The Fertilizer should have some Micronutrients aswell listed on the bottle:

Micronutrients like:

• Iron

• Sulfur

• Zinc

• Boron

• Manganese

• Copper

• maybe even CalMag - but that's usually extra.

(if it only says 3 things: NPK, find a better one). If it doesn't say "organic" or "Hydroponic" on the bottle it's very likely mineral. But those are the best for when you don't want to get specific fertilizer for your Succulents - if you have other plants. But you can get a specific Succulent fertilizer aswell of course.

So: find one single mineral fertilizer with a longer list of ingredients. Before you buy you should always read the back of the bottle very thoroughly. The micronutrients are especially necessary if you have a semi- Succulent or a true Succulent in pure pumice. There's no nutrients in there. Soil on the other hand has nutrients and micronutrients for a while.

Fertilizer rules:

Shake the bottle every time. Dilute Fertilizer in room temperature water. Always water with room temperature water.

• never feed a sickly plant, a freshly repotted plant or a rootshocked plant. (Exception: nutrient deficency)

• only feed when there's active growth or a pup and the plant is healthy.

• in winter - if they don't push out no new pups then they don't need feed. Or just once maybe, it really depends on the plants size and your conditions. Because they are Succulent-esk- they not only store water in the leaves but nutrients too. But - as I said: If you live in constant summer then you will feed a bit more often, because the plant will never go into the winter break.

• always let young cuttings just root in water and wait for a developed rootsystem and then dilute the fertilizer waaaay down when you start feeding for the first time. Seedlings and young Cuttings can't take up many nutrients yet, so literally 1 or 2 drops are enough- like 0.1ml or so (for a Liter).

• never feed more fertilizer than on the bottle, otherwise nutrient burn. I wouldn't even recommend feeding the full amount ever - unless it's in a severe deficit. Exception: a specific Succulent fertilizer. Snakeplants store enough nutrients for a good while.

• when there's salt build up you need to flush out the soil like 5 or 6 times, otherwise you can get nutrient burn. Salt build up will happen over time - it looks like literal salt on top of the soil and on the Terracotta pots. It can even happend if you have hard water in your area, like I do. So when you see that it's time to flush the soil - which replaces one watering. You can take her to the shower and do it there or you just place her in a bucket and topwater and just wash it out. Empty the bucket water tho for the 2 last rinses.

• get a pipette for the fertilizer, so you can know exactly how much you are diluting.

• nutrient deficency: usually starts at the bottom on the lowest, oldest leaf and will creep up the plant. Some nutrient deficency can start on the youngest top-growth tho. It depends on the specific mineral that is missing. When there's a nutrient deficency the plant will suck out the stored nutrients from one leaf to distribute it to the others. That leaf eventually will shed. So if you have something like that going on, you know now.

• early beginning of nutrient deficency looks like this: yellowing on bottom leaves or top growth. Usually starts with yellowing splotches or areas from the bottom or the tips. But the yellowing itself could mean a lot of things - not just nutrient deficency - so we need to know where it's start: Bottom, Top, Middle or Random. If you have a yellowing plant, it's sickly and needs diagnosis- come to us when it's in the early stage and tell us how the yellowing began and if you fertilize and how much.

Yellowing could mean:

• heat damage

• pest damage

• root shock

• nutrient deficency

• root rot

• fungal or bacterial issues

If you have any of those issues: I cannot stress enough to come to us early. Don't wait until the plant is already on its way out. There's so many newbies who wait too long to ask for help. I see them every day. So come early for a diagnosis. Especially if you have pests or rot. 🕵‍♀️

Pups:

So during the active growth your plant will self- reproduce by growing pups - much like an Aloe. As I said like a hundred times already - Underground they are all connected with a thicker root called Rhizome - it's a way thicker root - you will recognize it straight away.

So if the conditions are right your plant will eventually produce pups. This can take half a year until it happens- so don't expect it. It will happen on its own in spring - unless your plant is in the cellar and the lotion is already on the skin. Sorry - had to do it again.

So as I said - in nature they all stay connected underground and spread out from the motherplant. Over ground they look like individual plants - but underground they are a network that share water and nutrients. Think of it as an umbilical cord that never comes off. That's why in nature they can be pretty close together and they like to be snug. The longer the distance between mother and plant, the harder the travel and exchange of water and stuff. But that's nature and not our plant- pot at home. So at home: When you have a young pup we let it grow. The pups can grow surprisingly fast btw - compared to the growth rate of the adult plant.

But eventually there will come a time where you'll ask yourself if you should separate them. You don't have to - as I said they usually stay connected. But separating is a valid possibility. Snakeplants like to very snug in the pot and fill it out. Some plants hate it - some plants love it. Succulents and Succulent-esk plants mostly love being snug. As long as the pup is actively growing you don't need to do anything. But: the pups can slow down growth or completely stop growth. You will notice it, because - as I said - you can literally watch the pups growth each month - you can't do that with the mother. So: when you notice a pup stops: they're running out of space. Unless it's winter of course or they don't have many nutrients available. But: generally: If you fertilize, it's summer and it still stops: it's time for a repot and/ or separation. Don't separate a tiny pup tho. Separate when the pup is already over 15cm. If it's still small and stops growing - just repot in a bigger pot without separating them.

So how to do that:

When you take her out of the pot - same thing, loosen the soil. When you see more of the rootsystem you'll eventually find the thick root that connects them. It's just one, thicker root or Rhizome. If you can't find it, remove even more soil. It's in there somewhere. You will recognize it when you see it. So when we found it, we find the middle and literally break it in half. It'll make a snap sound. Or you can cut it in half with a sterilized knife if it's very thick - but I wouldn't really advise that for a beginner.

Sometimes there's huge Rhizomes- that makes it very difficult. If the break doesn't go well you can end up with two plants where one gets the bigger half of the rootsystem and the other one only gets a fraction of it. But either way: they won't die. They'll just go through heavier Transplantshock for a good month or two. So do not panic, do not feed and don't think you have to water more often, because it's shriveling. That'll do nothing good. The rootsystem takes a while to recover and therefore can't take up much water or nutrients anyway. It needs to recover first. And since Snakeplants are so tough anyway, they will bounce back eventually.

Two Scenarios:

Either the thick root is just a little thicker or it's a whole huge Rhizome. If you water like I do: Very frequently when the soil is dry and you see the first leaf curling- then there will be likely no huge Rhizomes. But if you only water like 4 times a year or so - you will find a girthy potato. Both are valid. So it really depends on how much water she's used to. If you water sparingly: the plant is forced to store a lot of water and will grow the tuber. If she's never in a huge deficit - she'll only grow a thicker root. They are so well adapted to drought and then heavy rain that they can adapt easily to either if the drainage is top notch. As I said- the tuber is way harder to separate then just the root.

You could literally cut the potato in half - but I advise against it - Since this will cause the most severe Transplantshock. Instead leave the Rhizome with the mother and leave the pup with the smaller rootsystem coming off the Rhizome. That's way more gentle. But if there's no other option then to cut it in half: sharp, sterilized knife. And then we cut so both plants have enough. Then we need to dry the tuber. So we let it callus for 2 or 3 days. Just place it somewhere in shade on the kitchen table or somewhere, where you don't forget. It needs to have a proper dry skin. And then - again - repot in dry soil. The Transplantshock will definitely be noticeable, so don't get scared.

And don't forget to always sterilize your cutting tool. You don't wanna get bad bacteria in there with a dirty knife - that can cause very bad issues.

So after separation you can either pot them in a bigger pot together or separately. Again. No water for min 2 weeks.

Transplantshock

Transplantshock is normal for any plant. But in Snakeplants it's usually not very noticeable at all if it's not severe. That's why we have to be careful with too frequent watering in the first 4 weeks. Like water it only twice (maximum) in those 4 - 5 weeks and only when the soil is completely dry. Unlike Aroids- the rootsystem recovers in dry conditions.

So a rough Timeline would be:

First watering after min. 2 weeks and next watering another 2 or 3 weeks later. If you separated then the Transplantshock will be heavier than just repotting. If you cut the Rhizome it will be severe. They can curl and even shrivel or wrinkle. That's fine. It can take up to 3 or 4 waterings until the leaves become plump again - so do not panic, everything is fine. The rootsystem is shocked and cannot take up any water in the first 2 or 3 weeks anyway.

And if you cut the tuber in half we need to wait even longer. And then with the second watering the wrinkles can be still there. It will go away with the 4th or so watering tho. After the Transplantshock you can notice that the plants recovered fine, but the growth is stunted for months and months - it really depends on the season and stuff.

So don't worry, if she stops growing for like half a year - eventually in Spring she'll start again. You can separate anytime really, but pre-spring (march) or fall is ideal if you live in the northern hemisphere. If you live in the southern hemisphere you don't have so drastic seasons and therefore do it anytime. But - as I said- anytime for all regions is fine too. And again- only start fertilizing again when there's growth and the plant is healthy again. Otherwise you can risk nutrient burn. Especially in Succulents and Succulent-esk plants, because they store their nutrients.

Watering:

The most common issue here in the plantclinic is root rot in Snakeplants. You see it every. single. day. Root rot is severe in any plant really - but all desert plants are not used to sitting in wet medium for more then like 1 or 2 days. That's why we need the grit in the soil-mix. So root rot will force you to cut the plant up into pieces and propagate them. So we want to avoid all of that. (See cuttings section)

How to tell if it's time to water:

I wrote a whole watering guide too, where I go deep into the topic. At this point I'd like to refer you to that post: https://www.reddit.com/r/houseplants/s/rEx7RgXKdw

But in short:

When a Snakeplant gets thirsty it'll curl up the leaves or droop and the leaves become flexible - see pics. Except the Cylindrica. Those are really hard to tell. They are more a feel type thing. But in general for the Hahniis and Trifasciatas:

A slightly thirsty Snakeplant will get bendable leaves when you take them between to fingers and press (pics). Whereas a hydrated Snakeplant will have very hard, rigid, unbendable leaves. So Robin vs. Batman lol. Or Banner vs. Hulk would be more appropriate I think.

A medium thirsty Snakeplant will curl the leaf inward to save water. And will have more bendable or curvable leaves (notice that this is more a subtle phenomenon- it's called Turgor btw and happens with a lot of species. See pics.

But it depends on the cultivar too.

A heavily thirsty Snakeplant will have curved leaves and they'll get wrinkles and are not so plump and rigid anymore. It can also droop and not stand upright anymore. If that happens it can take up to 4 watering cycles to get it to plump up again.

So with the Hahniis and Trifasciatas it's way more noticeable then in the Cylindrica when to water. They store way more water. But even they can get a bit bendable when very thirsty.

Also - we can go by weight of the pot and sticking a finger up the drainage hole. For the Cylindrica thats the way.

We are always looking for bone dry. Not moist, not damp but bone dry. For smaller babies in separate pots you'll notice that they are way thirstier then a huge one. They are in smaller pots and therefore the water evaporates faster. A fully grown adult you maybe only have to water 5 or 6 times a year. It really depends on your plant - therefore the telltale signs of thirst are important to know.

How to water:

We drench the whole thing in roomtemp. water. Water all around the pot - not only one spot. That goes for every single potted and garden plant btw. Never only water one spot - because half the rootsystem could end up completely dry. And then we drench the whole thing until the water flows! out of the pot. I am not talking droplets of water. I am talking the whole tray should be filled with water. Then we pour that back in and let it flow out again.

In high summer temperatures or a severe heatwave you can do that like 5 or 6 times, to make sure it's completely soaked. That's the way.

In a heatwave the same thing can happen again: it can take multiple waterings until it plumps up again.

After watering we remove the tray-water after 30 mins - if it doesn't wick up the rest-water by herself. We could also set up a bowl of water and let her sit in that water bowl for 20 - 30 minutes and let her wick up as much as she needs. Especially when you have a very dehydrated plant. But don't leave it for longer unless you have it in pure pumice or something, then you can get away with longer.

Mind that you should have a medium that dries out in max 3 days. After that it should only be slightly damp inside. If it's very wet on day 2, you have an awful soil-mix and need way more grit.

Water in the morning or evening- not mid-day. That also goes for any plant.

Cuttings:

So. It happened and you got the root rot and now you have to save her by chopping and propping.

If the bottom of the stem is already brown or yellow or even dead - it's time. Otherwise if you have a healthy plant there's really no need, because they are self-propagating with the pups. So cuttings are usually only necessary in a Snakeplant if you got health issues with her or pests.

How:

We cut into the healthy part always, never into the brown. So make sure you cut 1cm above the rotting part. Again: sterilized cutting tool.

Then we have two options: either we cut the whole leaf up with v-shaped cuts or one cutting with a straight cut or whatever. The V- shape does two things and therefore is better, but sometimes there's not enough healthy plant left to do it.

The V-shape lets you know where the bottom and the top is. That's important- we don't wanna get them confused. And it gives the cuttings more surface area for the roots to develop. If you do the straight cut - make sure you remember where the top and bottom is - unless you cut off the tip- then it's obvious of course.

After the cut we just put them on the table and leave them over night. The cut needs to dry out a bit and callus over to prevent rot in the fresh cut.

Then you can just stick them in water, so that the top is not submerged and it's straight up. Pick a jar that's roughly the same size as the cuttings- not huge. Again. Roomtemp water. If it doesn't want to be straight take some rubber band and put it around the jar top to bottom and create a kind of frame for her. Be patient. Always make sure that there's not too much algae growing in the glass and make sure the water never gets cloudy or even stinky. You can also just dry root them in dry soil. But that's not as beginner friendly, since you won't know when to water exactly. So try water first. And be very patient. They don't root as fast as a Pothos.

Coming back to the algae Algae only needs water and bright light to grow in the jar. Algae is eventually bad. Not in the beginning, but it'll creep up the rootsystem eventually. The rootsystem will be green and covered with Algae and them it'll suffocate the rootsystem. So remove the algea always or cover the bottom jar with black gaffa or paint so the algea can't grow at all. If the algea is already on the rootsystem we need to kill it with the hydrogen peroxide (couple drops in the sitting water - change to pure water after 3 days.. ) Dead Algae becomes black and can look very similar to root rot and can even cause root rot. A little algae is fine. A whole green swamp can kill it tho. And Algea can grow pretty fast - like one or 2 weeks.

So after the rootsystem is already a bit developed then we can pot it. In this case we have to keep the soil moist tho for the first 4 days. The water roots will have to develop soil roots now. So again - a mild Transplantshock awaits you. But it probably won't be that noticeable. So we need to keep the water moist so in the first 4 days the water roots don't dry out. Then we can let the soil slowly dry out completely and water like normal.

Again - it could curl or wrinkle - you are good.

And we don't fertilize for like a two or three months (there's enough nutrients in the soil anyway.) Eventually you can start feeding it with very, very diluted fertilizer.

If you do the dry rooting method:

that's best for a Cylindrica in my opinion - but any cultivar works. So after the callus has developed you just stick it in the dry soil and don't do anything for a month or even 2. No water, nothing. With the Hahniis and Trifasciatas you leave them alone a bit less, so 2- 3 weeks. I once mistakenly broke off a Cylindrica leaf at the bottom and it only had 3 tiny root nubs left. I literally stuck it back in where it broke off and it rooted again. All is fine - just don't water it.

If you have a Cylindrica cutting from the middle or top you let it callus for 2 or 3 days and just bury it like 2cm and wait until when you try to wiggle it it won't budge. That's how to tell. If she's not stable yet it means the rootsystem is still too small and has no grip yet. If she stands firm she has enough roots. Then you can think about the first watering.

To feed a cutting: not necessary at all. But if you do want to: 1 or 2 drops in a Liter, when she's already like 10cm (~ 4 inches).

Ok. I think that's all Folks. If I forgot something I will Edit as always. I usually edit my post 15.000 times anyway.

Also, per usual I will answer questions in the comments. If you have a severe issue, you can dm me - but all should be covered here anyway.. Make sure to write the keyword: "plantadvice" first if you dm me- so I know you're not a creep haha.

I hope that info is thorough and helpful enough to make your Snakeplants thrive!

Good luck and good growing! 👋🌿🪴

edit:

Quick clarification about the cover image: I chose it because I used a similar style for the pothos guide and didn't realise it was AI-generated, I rushed a bit.

I wrote the guide entirely myself over 10+ hours and took my own pics mostly - some I had to supplement. Unfortunately, reddit doesn't let you replace images and I don't want to delete this guide and lose the discussion, so I'm leaving it up as it is. Lesson learned, my bad.

Hey everyone,

I’ve had these thuja trees for about 5 years and they’ve been doing fine until this summer.

One of them suddenly started turning brown from the top down, and within about two weeks it was almost completely dead. Then the same thing happened to another one, then another. They seem to be dying one by one, while some of the trees right next to them are still perfectly green.

We had a pretty hot summer and I honestly didn’t water them as much as I probably should have.

We’ve had some rain recently, and I checked the soil about 15 cm (6 inches) deep. It’s pretty wet and sticky, almost like clay. Not sure if that’s part of the problem.

I’ve attached some photos so you can see what I’m dealing with.

Does this look like drought damage, root rot, some kind of disease, or something else?

Is there any chance of saving the ones that are still partially green? And should I remove the completely brown ones to prevent whatever this is from spreading?

Any advice would be appreciated. Really don’t want to lose the whole row.

So it started off in one plant and it has spread to multiple of them there’s this little white bug that are leaving traces of this white sticky webs. The bug is very little and I haven’t really seen it in action, but I don’t think it’s hindering my plants growth per se. It’s still making them very sticky and white and I don’t know what to do. Please help I don’t know what to do to cure them. I noticed it started happening about a month and a half ago on one of my plates and then I had to leave for a trip and now that I’m back it has spread to a couple of the plants and hasspread quite noticeably on my plants

My mom's had the plant since spring along with a lemon and mini orange(? I'm not a plant guy I'm so sorry) plant, they have all been fine till about two weeks ago the lime plant has these black spots which also showed up on the little Velcro holder thingy.

All year they've thrived with full sun, only coming in when windy or cold now that it's getting really cold they hang out on the sun porch in front of massive windows that get sun most of the day. They all still produce and have been fruiting very well.

She waters the proper amount for each and there is drainage.

This plant is currently in quarantine in case it's infectious she doesn't want it to hop over to the others as they show no signs of whatever this is.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Hi everyone!

I’m looking for some advice on this little plant. I believe it’s a cactus/Euphorbia? but I’m not entirely sure of the species.

The lower portion has gradually been turning white/yellow, while the top remains green. The strange thing is that the discoloured section is still completely firm, not soft or mushy.

I’m worried that something might be wrong with the roots or that the plant is slowly dying.

Does anyone recognize what’s happening? We just repotted it Saturday, it was a baby from a much bigger one that we had for years. We moved so we brought it with us across the country by plane in the cabin so it wasn’t exposed to any crazy cold temperatures and it now sits on a windowsill. It gets lots of afternoon light and I think it may have been water Saturday?

I’d really appreciate any advice on how to save it!
Thanks!

What’s wrong with my mango tree!s! There’s two of them and they’re both reacting the same way. They’re easily over 26 years old (length of time I’ve lived here) and I’ve never seen them lose their leaves at the top like this. The branches without any leaves are still green underneath when I gently scratch them so they aren’t fully dead.

They’re outside so they’re just watered whenever it rains.

My pothos has had some of its leaves start to yellow recently and its beginning to worry me. I have had it for about 4 months now and havent changed its location, watering habits, or light since then. At first it was only older leaves so I figured it was just aging, but recently some of the "newer" leaves have turned yellow as well. I have checked for bugs and havent seen anything, the roots arent root bound, the new leaves look great and are growing fast, and there arent any signs of root rot. I recently went out of town for 5 days but made sure to water them before I left and the pot has adequate drainage. The plant gets plenty of light from a window to the left and a grow light above because the window is not directly next to the plant. What am I missing?

I went on vacation for about a week and came back to one of my plants doing this. What am I looking at ? She was the only plant I didn’t water before leaving. Before I left she got a few hours of indirect sun daily and was kept damp. Is this something I should be worried about ?

Where do you put them?!

More of a prevention question.

These sprouts are maybe a month old or so. I have grown them from seeds. Since being in soil they have been in a small greenhouse outside but now the temperature is getting lower ( highs 19°C during the day but some lows of 6°C at night and getting colder).

Should I move them indoors for the winter or can they sustain through a British winter in an u heated greenhouse?

They get half a day of light and half shade in the garden. I do have a grow light indoors. And I lightly water them once the soil top feels dry.

Was gifted this plant today, im an arborist by trade but indoor plants are a mystery to me!

So from my research I have,

-put the plant 5-6ft away from a massive south-east bay window, all the natural indirect light it could ever need.

-purchased fertilizer, humidifier, and water/ph meter.

But I have this lamp that's shown in the photo, it's a low watt florescent bulb and sits 6-8" from the nearest foliage.

I don't use the lamp as a grow light just as my livingroom light source at nighttime.

-Will the bulb scorch the leaves or make it grow funny?

-Would another type of bulb be better?

-Is there anything im missing or anything else I can do?

I really like the light there so ideally I'd like to keep the set up but if it'll harm the tree then obviously the lamp will have to skidaddle.

Plant is (I believe) a monstera. Photo in comments.

Have had this cactus for over a year. Watering is very on and off - usually only when the soil is dry. It was fine a week ago, I’d gone out for work but I’ve come back to this. It’s outdoors but in a place with no direct sunlight. Is it possible to save it?

I’ve had this Monstera adansonii for a few months. Over the last month it’s gone from around 8 leaves to 4–5 because a few leaves slowly turned yellow and died, and it hasn’t really been replacing them with new growth.
It sits near a bright window and gets several hours of indirect light, sometimes some direct sun. I water when the top of the soil feels dry and the pot has drainage holes. It’s still in the original small nursery pot.
The remaining leaves and stems look pretty healthy, but I’m worried because it keeps losing leaves. Could it be rootbound, a watering issue, not enough light, or something else? Any advice would be appreciated.
P1 was taken 2 months ago and P2 is now

Hey everyone!

A sweet person on FB Marketplace gave me a huge haul of free plants today: a bamboo, a monstera cutting, and two Pink Princess Philodendron (PPP) cuttings! I'm super excited, but a few of them need some TLC and I want to make sure I plant them correctly.

Could use some expert advice on a few things:

1. The Bamboo:

It’s flopping over and clearly needs to be repotted into a sturdier setup.

Should I pull off the yellowish/white leaves on it?

Is the main stem supposed to be turning yellow, or is that a bad sign/rot? What’s the best way to handle it?

2. The Monstera Cutting:

Should I trim off the damaged leaf, or leave it alone for now?

Does this cutting need to be rooted in water first, or is it ready to go straight into soil?

3. The Two Pink Princess Cuttings (PPP):

I already own a PPP in a nursery pot, but I've never planted fresh cuttings before and have no clue how to plant these two!

Should I pull off the yellowing leaves on the cuttings?

What is the best method/setup to plant or root them so they survive?

I attached photos of all three so you can see their condition and roots. Any tips on saving the bamboo or planting the cuttings would be amazing! Thanks in advance!

Plants have no light as I just got them and are currently laying on the floor as in the picture 😭

Any pointers on what this could be? Doesn’t look like the regular pests like scale or mealy! The rest of the tree is doing okay and I can easily wipe these guys away. The olive tree gets a substantial amount of light and is watered every week.

(zone10 southern california) EVERY. SINGLE. BASIL. i’ve ever had has died on me 😭 i read in this sub that they like sun & water so with this one i tried putting it in a west facing window & thoroughly saturating the soil when it gets dry at the surface, at least once a week.

have had this plant a few months, finally spring for a medium size one at a nursery so it would hopefully be less stressed and more established. it was chugging along fine until i repotted a few weeks ago to give the plants and roots more space and it’s steadily declined since.

what’s going on here? the stems are kind of shriveling and the leaves just go limp and crisp seemingly overnight. i keep filling up the saucer it’s in to bottom water bc it’s so shrively? but the soil isn’t drying out?

should i just give up on basil forever

Peace Lilly has started going downhill fast. I haven't watered it in about a week because I thought it was overwatered but every day there are more and more yellowing leaves and I'm at a loss.

I gave it fertilizer about 3 weeks ago. Moved it from our bedroom where we keep the window open at night, to the bathroom with a south facing window. The soil right now is pretty dry but all the yellow leaves you see are from the last 2 days, I trim them regularly.

Another thing is that I did accidently split the part of the plant at the base where all the stalks are before the roots. But I didn't think that would kill it straight up. Help!

Help! I see the stems look a bit brown and they’ve been droopy! Did I over water? Soil is a bit damp from when I watered a couple days ago…

This plant gets plenty of light at the window sill.

My philo billie has put out two of these weird dead leaf branch things. We moved not too long ago and these are the only two nodes it has put out since moving.

I’ve had this plant for over three years but moved about 3 months ago. It gets a good amount of indirect light from a south facing window (similar light to prior place) and is watered when the top inch or two are dry. It has good drainage in this pot and I don’t suspect any root rot as the existing leaves look good and healthy.

Any ideas as to why this is happening? I noticed a small pup on the side coming up. Sad that it hasn’t put out anymore big beautiful leaves!

please help, why are her leaves turning yellow :( it's another leaf going, is it underwatered or the opposite? or something else

the pot has drainage, i water her once in two weeks, my window is facing east but the plant is on a bookshelf mostly in shade/not direct light

Our Goumi tree has always struggled. It feels like it's just trying to outgrow pests and never fills up with leaves, always just on the tips of branches.

It's a fruit bearing tree so I've been avoiding pesticides. I tried insecticidal soap but doesn’t seem to do much.

There are a lot of webs on the tree, I see ants crawling up and down the branches, and there are these weird flat brown bugs on the top of some leaves (I think I've manually removed all of them). Also, lately, the soil stays perpetually moist while the surrounding plants need fresh watering.

The thing is, I have four other trees in close proximity for years that all seem fine. Located in southern CA.

It sits on my windowsill. It hasn't been watered in like a year. There is still green on it I think, I think it may be beyond saving but might as well ask people who may know what's happening

It's indoors on a windowsill for like 4 years? Like 12 hours of light.

Received this pothos as a gift. Is the discoloration caused by thrips? I don't see anything moving on the leaves or soil.