Snake Plant Care & 5 Amazing Benefits of Sansevieria

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.

Native to tropical and sub-tropical regions of Europe, Africa, and Asia, they are all evergreen, beautiful with dramatic sword-like leaves, 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.

Many different species of beautiful Snake plant / Sansevieria varieties. ( Via ZZbotanical )

5 amazing benefits of Snake plants

1. Snake plants are considered some of the best indoor plants to purify air, along with spider plants and peace lilies, are very effective at cleaning the air, removing toxins such as formaldehyde, according to NASA Clean Air Study.
2. Easy care and low maintenance, Sansevieria plants tolerate low light, irregular watering, and all kinds of neglect.
3. Snake plants are slow growing and compact, great for small spaces such as a bedroom, and container plantings on a porch or balcony.
4. Attractive and unique, there are many species of snake plants, some have dark-green leaves, some have white vertical stripes, all will look beautiful in any interior styles such as modern, farmhouse, and bohemian.
5. 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 direct sunlight? 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. Overwatering or using pots without drainage holes can kill your plants fast.

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 root 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 

Similar to succulents, Snake plant/ Sansevieria prefers soil or potting mix 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, they only need repotting once every 3 to 5 years.

Beautiful species of snake plant: Sansevieria ‘Jade’, cylindrica, and futura by intotheplants.

You can also divide bigger a snake plant to create more plants, see propagation tips below! 

Pests

Healthy Snake plants rarely attract pests. When Snake plants are stressed, they can get mealybugs and spider mites. The best solution is to remove these pests with a damp cloth, and give the plants better growing conditions as listed above.

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’.

Is Snake Plant safe for pets?

Snake plant contain saponins, which can cause gastrointestinal upset in pets such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea if consumed, says the ASPCA.

Still here? 🙂 Come visit our indoor garden with our favorite plants here!