If your Snake plant has yellowing, drooping leaves standing atop the moldy soil, you have overwatered them.
So, read on for the full details on how I fixed it, and you can too.
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Common Mistakes That Causes Overwatering in Snake Plant
Sometimes, gardeners tend to overwater this drought-resistant plant doing more harm than good.
So, rather than sticking to a fixed watering regime, it would be best to operate the watering as per the plant’s requirement.
Below are a few of the common mistakes most make while watering Snake Plants. Be sure to keep an eye out for them.
- Frequent Watering: Watering the plant too frequently leads to waterlogged soil and root rot.
- Overlooking Drainage Issue: Small pebbles often clog the drain holes, accumulating water at the bottom of the pot or soil, causing overwatering.
- Inappropriate Potting Soil: Heavy soil like clay retains too much water but lacks proper drainage contributing to overwatering.
- Neglecting Environmental Conditions: Factors like humidity, temperature, and sunlight affect a plant’s watering needs. For instance, hot and dry summer requires more watering than the cool winter.
- Ignoring Plant’s Stree Sign: Snake plants exhibit symptoms like yellowing, wilting, and slow growth in response to stress. Overlooking the signs and continuing the regular watering regime may cause overwatering.
Signs of an Overwatered Snake Plant
Snake plants are generally low-maintenance house plants, known for their unique sword-like leaves, air-purifying quality, and other benefits.
The leaves are erect and grow with little watering and a moderately warm environment.
However, an overwatered Snake plant showcases several telltale signs to notify you immediately.
- Leaves of Snake plant fading its color and turning yellow
- Wrinkled droopy, and curling leaves
- Mushy root with a foul odor
- Brown tips and spots on Leaves
- Consistent soggy soil
- Increase in pest population
Is it Possible to Recover an Overwatered Snake Plant?
Excessive moisture in a plant doesn’t always mean the end of the plant life.
With proper care and alteration to the plant’s growing environment, you can recover your overwatered plant if the root is not entirely damaged.
Here are four ways to recover an overwatered snake plant, based on the stage of the plant.
1. Drying the Plant and Soil
If the soil on top has just started appearing soggy, you must first check the drain hole.
However, do not place the plant directly under the harsh sunlight as overwatered plants are weak and tend to get sunburned easily.
Follow up by checking if the plant recovers, especially if the yellowish color disappears and the welting stops.
Once the soil is completely dry, resume your normal watering schedule.
2. Repot the Overwatered Snake Plant
If the plant dries and does not recover from wilting, remove the plant and check for root rot.
You need to look for brown mushy roots with a foul odor and remove them before the rot spreads. If any, repotting them is the only solution.
Follow these steps to help the potential Snake plants revive.
- Take the plant out of the pot and bush off the excess soil.
- Now carefully look for the root rot.
- Cut the rotted roots just above the brown part of the root. Make sure not to harm healthy roots and leaves.
- Wash the remaining healthy roots with distilled water and replant them into a fresh well-draining potting mix like Miracle-Gro Tropical Media and Burpee Premium Potting Soil.
- Water the plant thoroughly such that the soil is moist but not drenched. Further, rewater the plant only after 2 inches of topsoil appears dry.
Tip: Use a fungicide to prevent the healthy roots from rotting.
In case more than 70% of the roots are completely dark, repotting may not be able to save your plant as it is tough to recover.
Needless to worry, you can use healthy leaves to propagate the Snake Plant either in water or soil medium.
For that, you need to make a V-shaped cut to the base of the leaves and plant them wither in water or soil after callusing.
But in a water medium, remember to change the water every 2-3 days to avoid the fungal infection.
Rooting in the leaves may take 40-50 days, and they continue growing into healthy plants under proper care.
From Editorial Team
Enjoy the Benefits With Minimum Care!
Snake Plant does not require constant care. Instead, Snake Plants take more care of your health than you need to care for this plant.
They can grow indoors with less lighting, take less space, look aesthetic, purify the room, and provide more oxygen to other plants. Hence, making Snake Plants an ideal indoor plant.
