Easy Snake Plant care tips such as sun light, soil, water, temperature, & propagation. How to grow beautiful healthy Sansevieria plants indoors & outdoors!
So many things to love about Sansevierias! With many common names such as Snake Plant, Bowstring Hemp Plant, Mother In Law Tongue, or Devil’s Tongue, they are beautiful, super easy to grow, and some of the best plants to clean indoor air! Check out our guide on 12 best air purifying easy care indoor plants here if you are interested . 🙂
I also gathered some inspirations on how to use Sansevieria / Snake plants to decorate our homes. In case you want even more Snake plants after seeing these beautiful photos, I have good news for you: they are the easiest to propagate, see tutorial here!
Let’s look at some great benefits of Sansevieria, and Snake plant care tips such as light, soil, water, etc.
* Some resources in article are affiliate links. Full disclosure here .
Many beautiful Snake plant / Sansevieria varieties. ( Via ZZbotanical )
5 amazing benefits of Snake plants
- Snake plants are considered some of the best indoor plants to purify air, according to NASA Clean Air Study. Better air means better sleep, which makes them a popular plant for the bedroom.
- Easy care and low maintenance, Snake plants tolerate low light, irregular watering, and all kinds of neglect.
- Snake plants are slow growing and compact, great for small spaces and container plantings.
- Attractive and unique, Sansevieria plants will look beautiful in many style rooms such as modern, farmhouse, and bohemian.
- Easy to propagate, which means you can share them as gifts, or multiply them to decorate more spaces in your home.
Imagine all the rooms you can decorate and gifts you can give with a big Sansevieria collection like this by plant_momma?
Snake Plant care tip 1: Does Sansevieria need sun? How much light do Snake plants need?
Although snake plants can tolerate full sun and low light, bright shade or a little morning / evening sun is best for a snake plant. Sansevieria can get sunburn in hot noon sun.
Beautiful Sansevieria cylindrica and Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Laurentii’ by intotheplants.
Snake Plant care tip 2: How often should I water Snake plant?
Indoor Snake plant only needs to be watered once every 2 to 4 weeks. during winter it needs only one watering every couple of months.
Sansevieria zeylanica in modern white pot by UrbanLeaf.
Check if the top 2″-3″ of soil is dry. If not, you can wait another week. Don’t over-water snake plants, or let the plant sit in water for over a day, as the plant can easily rot. Check out more about the best ways to water indoor plants here.
Paradoxically, Sansevieria / snake plant can grow in water, like many of my favorite indoor plants! The reason is that soggy soil contains harmful bacteria that can cause root rot, while clean water with occasional liquid fertilizer is a good growing medium for many plants.
You can check out this tutorial on the best plants to grow in water.
Snake Plant care tip 3: Best Temperature to grow Snake plant
Sansevieria will suffer damage and rot in very cold Winter temperatures. If the soil is dry it may survive temperatures as low as 5°C / 41°F. The best temperature to grow snake plant is between 18°C – 27°C / 65°F – 80°F
Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Moonshine’, Sansevieria zeylanica, Sansevieria cylindrica and Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Laurentii’ by Wrosliny.
Snake Plant care tip 4: Soil and Fertilizer
Snake plant/ Sansevieria prefers soil that is well draining. Most potting soil will work well. They don’t need much fertilizer, but will grow a little more if it is fertilized a couple of times during the spring and summer. You can use any houseplant fertilizer that is good for foliage plants.
Sansevieria ‘Moonshine’, zeylanica, cylindrica and ‘Laurentii’ in modern farmhouse boho room by Flora and furnish.
Do I need to repot snake plant?
Snake plants don’t mind being pot bound. Because they are slow growing, you only need to repot them once every 3 to 5 years.
Beautiful Sansevieria ‘Jade’, cylindrica, and futura by intotheplants.
You can also divide bigger a snake plant to create more plants, see propagation tips below!
Sansevieria propagation
It is super easy to propagate snake plant in water or in soil! Here’s our detailed tutorial on 3 easy ways to propagate Sansevieria/ snake plants, and the pros and cons of each method.
You can even save a dying snake plant by propagating leaf cuttings from it!
Why is my Snake Plant dying?
If your Snake Plant is not shriveled in dry soil, the reason is likely over-watering or cold temperature, which can cause the roots or leaves to rot.
Extremely low light would also affect plant health. Make sure the plant gets some natural light. You can always rotate a few plants if you need one for that room without windows.
Healthy Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Black Coral’ by planted not buried.
There are over 70 beautiful Sansevieria varieties, many of them have variegated foliage with yellow or white stripes and interesting patterns, like shown in this chart below by Charming Plants.
Popular cultivars include Sansevieria ‘Moonshine’, ‘Compacta’, ‘Goldiana’, ‘Hahnii’, ‘Laurentii’, ‘Silbersee’, and ‘Silver Hahnii’.
Still here? 🙂 Come visit our indoor garden with our favorite plants here!
Can I propagate a “starfish” sansevieria in water? I have accidentally broken a leaf off from the middle.
Hi, Ananda; I remembered this article and came back for it when it was time to repot my snake plants! Thank you for this very helpful post!
I used to drive into work everyday, and I drove by this dry cleaners’ where they displayed all these perfect snake plants, all precisely the same height and same type… I always thought they must be interesting folks to spend so much time on their plants, they did a lovely job. Hope mine will continue to flourish! Thanks again!
Hi, my concern is bugs. My mom always had indoor plants and I just remember nat’s or little flies always around them.
hi Sylvia, one of the ways to control the little flies is to keep the soil surface dry with a layer of pebble or gravel, so they can lay eggs. 🙂
Hi Ananda,
There is some excellent advice here on how to care for Snake Plant.
Question: do you use a moisture meter to see when it’s time to water, or do you prefer to just run your hands through the soil to check if it’s dry?
hi! we just feel the soil by weight or touch. 🙂
Do you need to change the water when you are propagating a Sansevieria?
And If I want to grow it in water how often do I need to change it?
hi, i would only change water if it looks a bit cloudy. once roots start growing, the water stays quite clear 🙂
Como fica bonito este tipo de planta!