Snake Plants Have Only Two Weak Points - Once You Know Them, It's Hard to Kill Them

1. Snake plants have only two weaknesses: getting too cold and being overwatered.

If you forget about your snake plant in a corner for a few months, it will probably still be alive and well when you find it. But if you water it every day, it may take only a few days before its stems and roots start to rot.

(Collect all 8 kinds of snake plants above and you will have really achieved something.)

This plant is almost impossible to kill. A year ago, my younger brother put his snake plant under the south-facing window, and from spring to summer he never watered it once. When he found it in the corner in autumn, apart from the leaves looking a bit pale, it was completely fine.

In winter, if the temperature where you are is below 5 degrees, it can easily freeze to death. These are the plant's only two weaknesses.

2. Three common problems with snake plants reported by growers:

1. Rot at the base of the stem, or leaves turning yellow and soft

It is very likely root rot, which is usually caused by overwatering, especially watering too much in winter, when the plant is particularly prone to it (in winter you must water very sparingly - simply not watering at all is fine).

Once root rot sets in there is no saving the plant as it is; you can only cut off the rotten part. If it is not severe, wash it, soak it in carbendazim, let it dry and then plant it - it might survive.

If the root rot is severe, then the only option is to cut off the healthy, thick leaves and use them for leaf cuttings (as shown in the picture above).

The method is simple: cut the leaves into segments 5 to 7 cm long and keep them warm and humid while they root.

Keep the top end of each leaf segment facing up, make sure the scissors are sharp and sterilised, and keep the soil slightly moist.

2. Winter cold damage (do not water too much in winter)

Many growers' snake plants freeze to death, because 5 ° C is the lowest safe temperature for a snake plant. Above that threshold it can still be easily damaged by cold, and cold damage can only be nursed back slowly; in severe cases there is no saving it.

3. Brown spots on the leaves

Random, irregular spots on the leaves are usually caused by sunlight that is too strong, scorching the leaves.

For example, many growers keep their snake plants indoors in a shaded spot for a long time, where the light is gentle, and then one day on a whim they take the snake plant outside into the sun. This is when scorching is most likely, and if it is the midday sun, it is even worse.

If the leaf spots are at the tip of the leaf, it does not matter much, but no one knows how to fix them except by cutting the leaf off entirely.

This is because the exact cause of this condition in snake plants is not yet well understood, so there is no very good way to deal with it. However, this kind of leaf spot is extremely rare.