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Apologies for a longer description, I’m very new to taking care of… | Pests, diseases and problems | Planta community

Mads

Apologies for a longer description, I’m very new to taking care of plants: Ive had this snake plant for a little while. You’ll notice a few bite marks from my cat, though she hasn’t tried to bite it lately. I’m noticing the leaf on the right is curling more, so I’m not sure if this means I need to water it more or if it’s okay to wait a few more days to let it process before watering it more. I guess my question is: is there anything looking unhealthy about this plant that I should take note of or change about its routine? I’ve spritzed it with small amounts of water every few days just to give it small amounts of hydration without soaking all of the soil too much, but I’m scared I’m doing too much/too little to take care of it. Any suggestions?

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12 comments

  1. GreenLeaf

    Downsize the pot. These like to be tight in their spaces. This pot looks way too big, you only want 1-2” larger than the root ball. They also like super well draining soil. Its hard to tell from your picture, but it looks like your soil is going to be way to moisture retentive. Tried adding perlite to your mix.

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    • Mads

      Oh okay thank you this is super helpful to know!

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  2. exitJiraffe

    Only real way to know what’s happening to your plant is to check the roots, don’t be afraid to take it out of the pot and inspect. It won’t damage it unless you’re insanely rough. Roots should be a nice white color, in ferns they can be red or brown. If you check and everything looks good, keep doing what you’ve been doing. Sometimes leaves do weird things while adapting to a repot, or a new location. Roots should never be soft and slimy or mushy. If your roots are mushy and your soil is very wet the leaves can be yellow, droopy, or soggy, this is due to over-watering. Trim the mushy parts and repot with less wet soil. Roots should also never be bone-dry, but they can still recover from it. If your soil pulls away from the sides of the pot, it dried out for too long and the plant will be unhappy (yellowing leaves, wilted and thin leaves, drooping.) Water immediately, and repot if necessary (usually when you can see roots growing out of drainage holes, if there’s seems to be more soil than roots, or if you’ve noticed you’re suddenly having the water the plant way more than usual). Hope this helps a little. :)

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    • Mads

      This is very helpful! I attached a photo of the root below, it’s looking really dry I think but I cut off the bits of root rot I found

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    • Mads

      Ok actually what do I do if the root is like about to fall off😭

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  3. Kat

    I have the same snake plant. So snake plants are part of the succulent/cacti family! They love to completely dry out before watering and they also love to be in tight pots. So I would definitely recommend downsizing your pot, checking the roots like above mentioned, and using a mixture of cacti/succulent soil, orchid bark and potting soil making sure it’s really chunky.

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    • Kat

      Also when you do check the roots out and if there is some root rot, after cutting off the rot spray the roots with 3% peroxide. You don’t have to dilute it or rinse it off! It will kill any bad bacteria growing on your roots and stop the root rot.

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    • Mads

      Sweet okay, I just trimmed off some pieces that looked like rot, the root looks pretty shriveled but I think it still has a chance, and I moved it to a smaller temporary pot. I’ll have to buy the peroxide next time I get the chance

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    • Kat

      Ooo it’s really shriveled. Is it mushy as well???

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    • Mads

      It’s not mushy, but it’s about to fall off and I’m really really scared, is there a way to save it do you think?

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    • Kat

      Honestly…I’m not sure. You could try cutting off the shriveled part and putting into water to grow roots. Snake plants take forever to prop, but I don’t know if it’ll work with this. Definitely worth a shot

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