The most important aspect to master is watering your Snake Plant if you want it to stay healthy.
You would think with a plant this tough you can use a ‘let’s wing it’ method when it comes to watering. I’ve learned this the hard way.
It really isn’t difficult to water a snake plant correctly if you follow a few simple rules that we will cover in more detail during the course of this article.
Watering Snake Plants – How Much And How Often?
When the soil dries up, water your snake plant. When water is used less frequently and temperature is low, snake plant is able to survive long periods without watering.
- During the summer, water once a week
- In winter, 1-2 times per month
Watering Frequency Determination
Irrespective of the correct watering, the diseases of your snake plants may be a result of incorrect watering.
There are several incorrect watering scenarios for snake plants. Below are some examples:
- Overwatering
Plants suffer from incorrectly selected irrigation frequencies and the amount of water used in a single irrigation. This can lead to snake plant root rot.
- Drying out
Soil in snake plant containers dries out when the soil is lacking moisture. If a plant doesn’t have enough water, it struggles to continue normal growth. Read this article to know how to save a fish pond snake plant.
We have now solved the watering problem. Now we have to figure out the watering schedule. Let us discuss that.
Snake plant watering schedule
There would be one simple rule for watering a Snake Plant in an ideal world, and life would be sweet and simple as a result.
Oh, if only that were true. There are a number of different factors that will determine whether your plant needs to be watered or not, and we will discuss them now.
It doesn’t have to be this way. I’ll show you some simple tests that will allow you to find out for sure if or not you need to water.
Keeping the snake plant watered is as easy as checking the soil. This can be done by digging a finger up to two knuckles into the soil.
If you don’t want your fingers to get dirty, use a pencil or any kind of stick. If the soil is dry below the top two inches, you need to water your snake plant.
Snake plants can be left without water for more than a month, but you can not overwater them at one time. This will cause rotting of the roots and your snake plant could die as a result.
The Snake Plant’s water needs are mostly determined by the following factors.
Factors affecting Snake Plant Watering Frequency
Your snake plant requires certain environmental parameters. This will help you decide the right frequency of watering.
Seasons
The fact that a plant living inside responds to the weather and the season may seem counterintuitive, but that is absolutely the case.
When the spring comes, your plant will start to come out of its dormant phase and really start to grow.
The plant will need more water at this stage than during the rest of the year, so the gardener will have to adjust accordingly.
During the summer, this sudden burst of energy will slow down, but the plant will still need regular watering.
Once the autumn comes, this will slow down even more, and by the winter there will be little growth and watering will be virtually unnecessary.
This type of plant is grown for its sword-like foliage, although it will flower occasionally.
They occasionally give off a stem in the spring that produces a sweet-smelling, cream-colored flower at the top.
If the stem has finished flowering, you can cut it off at its base with a pair of secateurs.
Flowers require energy from the plant, so you may need to water more frequently during this period.
Temperature
It doesn’t matter what the temperature is – the Snake Plant thrives best in the 55° – 85°F range.
These plants have quite a broad range of tolerance, which demonstrates just how tough they are.
Let’s say that the temperatures drops below 50 degrees F (10 degrees Celsius), they will begin to become unhappy.
What you will discover is that at higher temperatures, you will have to water more frequently. This is due to a combination of factors.
- First of all, the leaves will release more moisture into the air.
- In addition, the soil will become drier faster as a result of increased evaporation.
Humidity Levels
As humidity and temperature often go hand-in-hand, your Snake Plant will begin to suffer if the air around it becomes too dry.
However, these are desert plants and will become susceptible to diseases like mold if there is too much humidity in the air. Under normal circumstances, the plant should not encounter this problem, because it is so robust.
Whenever you use central heating or air conditioning, it tends to dry the air and exacerbate humidification problems.
In case the humidity levels aren’t as high as it’s used to, the plant will be far better placed to handle the situation if it is correctly watered.
A Snake Plant will create a mini microclimate if you place it in a group of other plants.
All plants in the cluster are maintained at a tolerable humidity level.
The main thing to remember with humidity is that the more humid the conditions are, the less you should water.
After reading this article, you will learn to monitor the moisture levels in the soil. It is much easier than you think.
Location of Your Plant
It is always important to choose an ideal position for any house plant. The lighting of the plant as well as drafts and the position of central heating appliances must be considered.
With Snake Plants, you need to remember that they eventually grow tall, which may cause their center of gravity to be distorted.
Do not place your plant in a place where passing traffic may knock it over. Snake Plants grow well in most lighting conditions but you should avoid exposing them to direct sunlight.
As a result, they are more likely to be harmed by the sun and water needs will be more complicated. A windowsill facing east or west is the ideal location for these plants, but not a south-facing one.
A higher intensity of sunlight on the plant will result in an increased rate of evaporation. Watering more frequently will be a result.
Also, shadier positions will result in slower evaporation and transpiration. Neither of these situations indicate that the plant is unhappy.
Just be aware that as a gardener, you have to keep a closer eye on how much moisture the soil is absorbing.
Type of Potting Mix
The market offers a variety of potting mixes. They are mostly made of peat or coconut husk and to accomplish this, manufacturers include peat or coconut husk.
Both of these products act like blotting paper in that they absorb water and release it slowly.
Snake Plants require a potting mix that is moisture-retentive, but which also allows nutrients to be retained.
I like to use a standard cactus mix, which you can find freely in your local garden center.
I have found that on the odd occasion that I needed to pot up a snake plant but was unable to get my hands on a cactus mix, I simply made my own. It’s really easy, and here is my recipe.
Half potting soil and half water retaining or absorbing material such as peat moss, perlite, or pumice.
While potting soil will add nutrients to your plants, other products will help with drainage.
This recipe does not require exact measurements, so use whatever preparation method you prefer.
All gardeners have their own recipe, but the key takeaway here is that good drainage is essential.
The take-home message is that soils with higher moisture retention needs more water and can hold more water, due to which they require more water.
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