serpent Plants ( Sansevieria ) are one of the most – if not the most – popular houseplant on the market . Commonly look up to as mother - in - law ’s tongue , their morphological shape is extremely look for after , but they are choose most often for their simpleness of growth .
If you ’re usually a houseplant killer , this is the works for you .
Due to its implausibly unworried nature , many plant parents are shock when they discover problems with their snake plant . They are known to abide a wide-eyed chain of inflammation conditions and can cover plenty of neglect . It ’s hard to imagine anything ever going wrong .
Unfortunately , there are quite a few thing that can go wrong with your Hydra industrial plant , from drooping leaf to dark-brown spots or lack of growth . However , most are easy to fix , and your ophidian plant should return to normal in no time .
Related reading material : The Elusive Snake Plant Flower : How To Get Your Snake Plant To Bloom
1. Leaves are drooping or bending
Sansevierialeaves are known for their strong , upright shape . It ’s one of the things we love most about them . So what do you do when those previously marvelous , gallant standing leaves suddenly start to diminish over , flag or bend around the pot ?
Drooping or deform leaves could be a polarity of a few problem , with the most common being overwatering .
serpent plant ’ leaf are succulent - corresponding , mean they are thick and hive away a lot of piss . This is why they can tolerate a fleck of neglectfulness . As the leave fund water , they can go a duet of weeks without a drink .
When you give the plant life too much water , you may accidentally cause root rot . The etymon are not used to sit in water for long full stop of time and will begin to degrade when exposed to these conditions . When the root are damage , they can not enchant water supply and essential nutrients around the industrial plant , resulting in the bend leaves .
On the paired end of the spectrum , underwatering can also cause the leave to droop . Water fills the plant cell in the leave , keep them solid and upright . Without water , the leave start out to thin out and ca n’t hold themselves anymore , slowly falling over .
To doctor this issue , aline your watering docket . Only water when the soil has dry out for several days – these plants prefer underwatering to overwatering .
If the etymon are badly damaged , removed the plant from its plenty and bring down off the damage area cautiously , repot in unexampled ground when you ’re finished .
Less often , flag leaves could be a sign of the zodiac of heat tension . While snake plant can treat full Sunday spot , too much can be a bad thing . If your snake plant is placed in the bake spicy sun all hours of the day , especially in front of a windowpane , move it into a speckle with more indirect bright light .
2. Leaves are narrow and stretched
Too much Lord’s Day can make the leaves to swag , but too little can also have adverse burden .
Plants need sun for photosynthesis to keep themselves awake . They will do whatever they can to ensure they get enough of it . This is especially true for succulent - like plants that require more sunlight than other sparse - result plant .
When Hydra flora do n’t get enough light , they will begin to mature and stretch toward the nearest faint reservoir . This stretching is have sex as etiolation – the cause of extra - retentive , narrow and thin leaves that do n’t bet particularly attractive and are n’t good for the plant either .
The solution here is unsubdivided – give your plant life more calorie-free . Bright indirect light near a windowpane should be sufficient , but these works do choose some verbatim sun for a few hour of the day .
Unfortunately , once the leaves have grown this style , it will be unmanageable to get the flora to its pre - etiolation outgrowth and appearance . If your plant is too far gone , await for it to grow shoots and repot them , or propagate the plant life by take cutting from the healthy looking farewell .
Here ’s a large tutorial to circularize snake plantsin four different ways .
3. Leaves are soft and mushy
If you finger a healthySansevierialeaf , you ’ll find that it is quite boneheaded and firm . But , in unhealthy plants , that is not always the casing .
Soft , mushy leaves are most often a sign of overwatering . Just as overwatering can have the ascendant to decompose and the farewell to strike over , it can also result in too much moisture in the leaves and around the plant , causing them to rot too . The inside of the leave of absence will lento begin to decompose and die off , forget behind the soppy texture .
Even if you are watering correctly , the same problem can still occur if your pot does not have enough drain . Most plant , but specially succulent - corresponding plants likeSansevierias , need well - draining soil as they can not be leave sitting in water .
If your potty does not have any drainage holes , or the dirt is too dense or compact to countenance the territory drain correctly , you may encounter mushy leaves .
In these case , remove the plant from the original pot and repot in new , well - draining grunge mean for succulents . or else , you may make your own using a combination of potting soil and coarse backbone to improve drain . pare rotten roots and dilute back the damaged folio to advance raw , good for you growth .
If watering is not your issue , humidness may be the culprit . This is quite unlikely , as the humidity high enough to make mushy leaves is more than most of us can treat . However , if your snake plant is posture next to your humidifier or in a systematically moist toilet , it ’s not impossible .
Remove the damage leafage , move the plant into a desiccant expanse , and it should generate to normal .
4. Leaves are deformed or misshapen
If your leaves are n’t mushy or falling over , but still do n’t seem quite right-hand , you may have a pest plague on your hands .
Small bugs like thrips or mites can be tough to recognize . They are normally only noticed when the sign of their damage surface . These bug sit on the leaves of the plant and in the soil , exhaust the juices from the interior . This damage , peculiarly when left without treatment prospicient - terminal figure , will stimulate the folio to become distorted or misshapen .
While not as rough-cut indoors , disease can also be a cause of misshapen leaves . In hot and humid weather , various fungous disease can resolve on your industrial plant and induce areas to moulder and die out off , resulting in deformation .
When watering your plant , always keep a close eye out for sign of plague or disease problems . pestilence can be removed with born homemade plague spray or with horticultural oil found at your local nursery oronline .
Fungal diseases are unfortunately more difficult to take on . If the job is not too hard , you’re able to withdraw the affected parts of the industrial plant by pruning , or apply an organic fungicide to the leaves . If the disease is uncontrollable , you may have to get disembarrass of the plant before it spreads to your other houseplants .
5. Leaves have brown spots or tips
One of the more vulgar Hydra works problems , and unfortunately one of the more alarming ones , is dark-brown spots or tips on the foliage . This trouble also has several possible reason you will need to work through before you recover the genuine culprit .
The first grounds of dark-brown fleck is not really something you could remediate – physical damage . If ophidian plant leaves are damage , peradventure from adverse weather or transportation , the site of the damage may become brown . Unfortunately , there ’s not much you’re able to do about it as the injury has already been caused , but you’re able to prune away the leaf to advertize new , healthy growth .
The 2nd crusade is the weather – uttermost temperature to be exact . When scupper to Robert Lee Frost , the coldness freezes the cells of the works , killing them once they thaw . This will cause browned spots wherever the damage occurred . As those cell are dead , they will not return to normal .
On the other hand , incredibly live temperatures can also cause browning – this time at the tips . If your snake plant is exposed to too much sun , the ends of the leaves can burn , resulting in browning . If you ’ve recently moved your plant to a sunnier spot , this is potential the cause of the trouble .
Nutrient issues can also get brown patches on the leaves and at the peak . Although you may have good intentions when feed your plants , too much fertilizer can actually make the ancestor to glow , ensue in chocolate-brown tips . Nutrient issues can also be triggered by the employment of hydrant water , which is often packed with treatment chemicals that the plant do n’t appreciate .
Always use plant food grant to package instructions only when necessary and on occasion swap your water faucet watering routine with filtered piddle to forbid chemical buildup .
6. Leaves are turning yellow
Leaves turning lily-livered is one of the most common houseplant problems . Usually , that is n’t the case forSansevierias(other problems will typically show up first ) but it ’s not unheard of .
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Like many other job on this lean , the main cause is overwatering . In case you could n’t already separate , overwatering is one of the worst thing you’re able to do to a snake plant . solution lead sitting in urine will molder , result in an inability to send nutrient to parts of the works that want it . This causes the yellowing leaves houseplant owners are so familiar with .
rather of watering on a schedule , prove the wet of the soil about once a week with a meter or your finger’s breadth . The land should be left to dry out out almost completely before watering again .
The same job can result from underwatering or even discrepant lachrymation . When you underwater , essential nutrients and water do n’t move around to the leave , causing them to twist yellow . discrepant tearing – too much or too little at once rather than a consistent , stock amount – can also do plant stress that results in yellowing leaves .
Pests also make yellowing leaves , usually follow by other house of damage like dark-brown speckle or deformation . dress the moved leaves , remove the cuss , and the plant should give to normal .
7. Leaves are wrinkled
Snake plant leave are normally deep in colouring with shiny , good for you - looking leaves . If your serpent plant has wrinkled and sluggish leaves , you know something ’s not right .
There are a number of causes for unironed leaves , but most are related to temperature . If you ’re experiencing peculiarly lovesome weather for several day , your snake works may become heat - stressed . This excessive lovingness and tension will have the leave to crinkle . Excessive sunlight can make the same problem .
Wrinkled leaves can also be a mark of underwatering . Although they prefer a bit of nonperformance , if you keep yourSansevieriaunderwatered too long , it may respond by wrinkling , as there is not enough water in the cell of the leaves to keep them plump . This is peculiarly the case in warmer weather when pots dry out out quicker and plants demand more aid .
Fixing the tough conditions should help your works plump back up and return to normal .
If you ’ve lately corrupt , make a motion , or repotted your snake plant , wrinkled leaves could also be a sign of stress . Plants do not apprise changes in environment and could experience shock when moved around too much . It will take a while for the plant to acclimatize , but it should eventually come back to normal on its own .
8. Leaves are curling or twisting
Most snake plants have relatively wide , flat farewell – peculiarly once they originate taller . Leaves that are curve inward or outward , or twisting around each other , are a sign of a bigger issue .
Like the previous emergence , the base cause is often underwatering . When the parting do n’t get enough water for long periods of time , they get to fall back their characteristic upright shape , curling inwards to retain wet . If accompanied by wrinkling or bending leave , you could be pretty certain underwatering is the issue .
Pests can also get loop leaves – specially thrip . Leaf curl is one of the first signs of infestation , with other trouble like browning or deformation seem if the trouble is not address . Apply horticultural vegetable oil to the leaves to choke the pestis and wipe with a material to remove them .
Overfertilization is another potential causal agency of curling leaves . These plants are not heavy feeder , and will ordinarily be fine without any fertilizer covering , or one diluted sexually transmitted disease once in the produce seasons . If too much fertilizer is give , the roots may become damaged , resulting in curling leaves and browning , enured edge .
Only apply fertiliser when absolutely necessary and always according to the instructions . More fertilizer does not always match more growth .
9. Roots are brown and mushy
If you ’re in the appendage of repotting your snake in the grass plant life and notice the root word are chocolate-brown and mushy , do n’t look over the issue . Unresolved root trouble are guaranteed to chair to the death of your works , as the base are essential to keeping your plant life alive .
Brown and bathetic beginning are the final result of two issue , the most vernacular of which is overwatering . Almost every trouble on this list can be due to watering job in some bod , and this job is no exception .
When leave to model in water , serpent plant root experience root rot , a fungous problem that decompose the tissue paper and intercept the plant from transporting crucial water and nutrient . Always drift on the side of underwatering rather than overwatering , as the problems it causes – especially root bunk – can be difficult to rectify .
The 2d cause is disease , usually in compounding with the overwatering issue . Fungal disease can live inside grunge and attack the beginning , especially in slopped and humid weather condition . Using soil straight from the garden to pot up your snake plant could cause this and a number of other issues . Garden soil is not a desirable potting soil as it can harbor disease and compact easily , preventing water drain .
If you bump problems with your roots , trim off all affected areas until the good for you growth is endanger , rinse off any stay filth and repot in high - quality potting soil amended with George Sand to improve drainage .
10. The plant isn’t growing
The last trouble may be difficult to discern , as snake plants do n’t develop particularly fast , but it is a trouble nonetheless . Inadequate increment is usually observe after several months or even year , so do n’t be alarm if the leaves have n’t grown in a few Clarence Shepard Day Jr. . However , if the plant stops maturate suddenly , or is n’t growing as much as it has in previous year , you could be facing a few issues .
The first outcome is the sizing of the pot . Snake plants need to be repotted every dyad of year – unremarkably three to five . If your plant has been in the same grass for several years and has stopped growing , you may be certain the flora is slew - bind . Repot into a pot one or two sizes up and it should be farm again in no time .
The second likely case is lack of sunlight . plant demand sunlight to photosynthesize , let them to grow gravid . Without tolerable sunshine , your snake plant will not have enough vim to grow bigger . Place it in a gay spot ( but not too much lineal sunlight ) and see if that resolves the trouble .
Thirdly , a want of growth could be triggered by a want of nutrients in the soil . This usually goes hand in hand with repotting , but could also be the cause if the flora was originally pot in soil with fewer nutrients . Once a potted plant soaks up all the nutrients from the dirt it ’s in , that ground becomes depleted and can no longer fertilize the plant . Apply a balanced liquid plant food to the soil , but do n’t overfertilize .
Besides these chief issues , almost any problem can have lack of growing . unlawful lacrimation , overfertilization , inordinate sun photo or pest and disease problems all result in plant strain . During times of emphasis , the plant life prioritizes staying live rather than growing bountiful .
Take a face at the produce experimental condition to determine which cause is most probable and rectify each one by one until you do away with the symptoms .
