How to Grow Snake Plants? Detailed Guide to Cultivation Methods and Precautions
The snake plant is very attractive in appearance, and paired with a plain, elegant flower pot it is a plant that can greatly improve the home environment. Although growing snake plants is generally not very difficult and its environmental requirements are not high, properly mastering some cultivation techniques is very beneficial to the healthy growth of the snake plant.
How to Grow Snake Plants
Snake plants can reach a height of about 1 m, with leaves growing in clusters and standing upright, thick and leathery, with irregular dark green cloud-like horizontal stripes on both sides, hence the name "snake plant" (tiger tail). The leaves are basal, usually 1 to 2, sometimes 3 to 6 in a cluster, upright, hard and leathery, flat, but when grown indoors they often do not bloom, and are mainly appreciated for their leaves.
Snake plants are highly adaptable, prefer warmth and humidity, tolerate drought, and like light while also tolerating shade. They are not demanding about soil, and sandy loam with good drainage is better.
The optimum growth temperature for snake plants is 20 to 30°C, and the overwintering temperature is 10°C. Snake plants can be propagated by division and by cuttings.
Snake Plant Cultivation Methods and Precautions
1. Choosing a flower pot
Pot material requirements: clay pots, plastic pots, porcelain pots, or ceramic pots can be used for cultivation.
Pot size: snake plants can be planted in clusters in pots with a diameter of 16 to 30 cm. The root system of the snake plant is not deep, but choosing a tall-footed pot is good for the beauty of the plant's shape.
2. Preparing the potting soil
Snake plants like loose, moderately fertile, well-drained sandy soil, but they are not demanding about soil, as long as drainage is good. At home you can use the following formulas: garden soil : leaf mold : sand in a ratio of 5:2:3, or peat soil : leaf mold : sandy soil : perlite in a ratio of 4:2:2:2.
3. Environmental requirements
Sunlight: snake plants like light, so it is best to place the plant where sunlight can directly reach it; if conditions do not allow, it can also be placed somewhere close to sunlight. Being placed in a shady spot for a long time will cause the plant's leaves to turn yellow.
Temperature: snake plants have relatively high requirements for growing temperature; the most suitable growing temperature is 20 to 30°C, and in winter it must not go below 10°C, so in northern regions pay attention to keeping it warm.
4. Watering method
Snake plants like soil that is moist but on the dry side, and are relatively drought-tolerant.
Spring is the growing season for new leaves, and new buds will grow at the root crown, so the water requirement is slightly higher and the potting soil can be kept moist. After the leaves have grown, it is better for the potting soil to be moist but on the dry side, that is, water after the surface soil has dried out completely.
When the winter temperature is relatively low, keep the potting soil dry but not parched; in winter it is best to water along the edge of the pot, so as to avoid water getting into the leaf cluster and causing rot.
5. Fertilizing method
Snake plants are not demanding about fertilizer. After new leaves grow in spring, apply decomposed liquid fertilizer, or choose a 1000-fold diluted general-purpose fertilizer 1 to 2 times, fertilizing once every 10 to 15 days.
When fertilizing, note that you should use a fine-spouted watering can to pour evenly along the rim of the pot, and do not pour the liquid fertilizer into the leaf cluster, otherwise it will cause leaf rot and affect growth.
Snake Plant Division Propagation Method
1. Cutting
Sparse ones do not need to be dealt with; here the main task is to cut overly dense snake plant leaf clusters into several clusters. Each divided leaf cluster must have not only leaves but also rhizomes and suckers; only in this way can the snake plant survive.
2. Potting and planting
First, spread a layer of potting soil on the bottom of the flower pot, then starting from one side of the pot place the snake plant's leaf clusters evenly in the pot, and finally fill the empty spaces in the pot with potting soil.
3. Care
After potting and planting, do not just leave it alone; water thoroughly the first time, and afterward the amount of water should be controlled.
What to Do If Snake Plants Do Not Grow Tall
It is important to maintain suitable light and temperature, because suitable light and temperature will give the snake plant a good growing environment, will not slow down its growth rate, and will let it grow well.
Reasonable water and fertilizer management is also indispensable. Watering should be moderate, and waterlogging of the soil that causes root rot should be avoided, so that it can grow healthily and avoid dying. Fertilizing also needs to be reasonable; fertilizer should be mainly nitrogen fertilizer, so that the snake plant has enough nutrients to grow tall.
Although snake plants are not difficult to grow, if you want them to grow tall and then produce new plants, you need to care for them according to the proper procedures, so that they will repay us well. So friends who have this in mind must not just wash their hands of them.