Benefits of Snake Plant: How to Grow and Care for Snake Plant

Snake plant is one of the easiest plant that any new gardener can grow and take care of. This is one of the great indoor plants that can provide oxygen even at night time and purifies the harmful air pollutants. The good part of this plant is hard to kill that’s why everyone can easily grow and maintain at home. In this article, let’s see how to grow and take care of the snake plant.

Introduction

There are many houseplants that are used for decoration in the house. A selection of good plants provides freshness and positives vibes around your surroundings. Snake pant is one of them.

The snake plant can be recognized by its sword-shaped evergreen leaves. They act as a great indoor as well as outside décor plants. People love to have these plants as they require very little care and attention in comparison to other plants.

Types of Snake Plant:

There are different types of snake plants that can be used for the decoration. Some of them are mentioned below:

• Sansevieria trifasciata- They are a native plant of West Africa. These plants can grow up to a height of 3 feet. They are the great pick for the beginner’s gardener. It requires moderate light or low light environment for survival.

• Sansevieria trifasciata‘Laurenti’- These type of snake plants has green leaves with golden edges. These plants can grow as tall as 4 feet in height. They require moderate sunlight and can do well with less water as well.

• Sansevieria cylindrical- They are known as cylinder snake plants because their leaves grow round and form the shape of the crown. They require a warm place to survive. The planting location should be chosen carefully as they are mildly toxic.

• Sansevieria masoniana- They are also known as shark’s fin plant as their shape resembles just like shark fins. Their leaves can reach up to four feet and requires enough sunlight to survive.

How to grow/propagate snake plant?

Once you have one snake plant at your home you can grow more with the same plant. You can grow snake plants in two different ways i.e. through rhizomes or through leaves cutting technique. In this article let’s see how we can grow this beautiful plant through rhizomes.

In order to propagate through rhizomes or baby plants, you need a mother snake plant that has some baby plants grown at its base.

When the baby plant has 2-3 leaves on them, it is now ready to migrate into another pot and grow separately.

Choose a pot with a good drainage system because you don’t want to ruin your plant with excess water.

Fill the pot with the potting mixture of “cacti and succulents” as it contains all the necessary nutrients and can hold the moisture for a long time.

Soil can be

• Peatmoss and pear light mixture (good draining soil)
• Ordinary garden soil, sand and compost in equal 3 proportion,
• if nothing is available  go with the soil you have at your garden.

Now place the plant near bright light windows where it can get indirect sunlight all the time.

How to care for a snake plant?

Snake plant doesn’t require much attention to survive. With little knowledge, you can easily grow a snake plant in your garden. The following are the two conditions you should be looking after:

• Moderate Sunlight: Snake plant can easily grow in darker sunlight or near the bright window. Bright sunlight may affect the plant and complete darkness also may affect the plant. So moderate sunlight is recommended for the healthy growth of this plant.

• Avoid Overwater: Overwatering snake plants may lead to rotting of the root. The snake plant does not require much water so only water the plant when the soil is completely dry.

What are the benefits of a snake plant?

Some of the health benefits of snake plants are:

• It helps to filter the indoor air and regulate the healthy airflow. The most unique characteristic of this plant is that it can convert carbon dioxide into oxygen even at night time.
• It helps to remove the toxic air pollutant. That means it can absorb cancer-causing pollutants, benzene, xylene, toluene, CO2, and formaldehyde.

Toxic if consumed

There are almost 70 varieties of snake plants. They are very attractive as well as toxic. Every part of the snake plant is toxic.

For both humans and pets, it is mildly toxic if consumed in high amount.

High consumption of snake plant cause swelling and numbness of the tongue. It may also cause nausea, throat irritation, and vomiting as well.

It is always a good idea to keep the plants out of the reach of the children and pets.

Some frequently asked questions

What kind of soil we should use for the propagation?

I will recommend using the mixture of cacti and succulents as it holds the water for a long time and thus you don’t have to water the plant frequently.

Which season is best to propagate a snake plant?

As snake plants can withstand any season but to propagate it should be done in spring when the growth is very active and the results are imminent.

What is the ideal temperature for a snake plant to survive?

The snake plant can survive if the temperature is above 50°F (10°C). During winter season don’t place this plant near drafty windows as the chill breeze may kill this plant leaves leading to death of the plant.

How to select a healthy snake plant while buying?

Look for the plant with more green leaves and more shoots. Do not choose the plant with pale leaves as they may not survive for long.

The takeaway

Snake plant is a great indoor plant for decoration. It’s beautiful as well as there are many health benefits that we can get from this plant. The only thing you need to consider is that choose a secure place for plantation where children or pets cannot reach.