Snake plant

The snake plant is the one to recommend to anyone who says they kill everything. It grows wild in the dry rocky grassland of western and central Africa, storing water in thick upright leaves and holding a waxy skin over them so that almost nothing evaporates. It is one of a small group of plants that open their pores at night rather than in the heat of the day, which is part of why it copes so well with dry indoor air. Botanists moved it out of Sansevieria and into Dracaena in 2017, and most labels still carry the old name.

Light

It will live in low light for years, though it grows slowly there and the cross banding fades. Bright indirect light produces faster growth and much stronger markings, and a few hours of direct sun is fine once the plant is used to it. Move it into full sun over a couple of weeks rather than in one afternoon, because leaves grown in shade scorch to a pale papery brown that never recovers.

Turn the pot occasionally. A snake plant against a wall leans towards the window and, being tall and narrow, eventually tips itself over.

Water

Treat it as a succulent, because that is effectively what it is. Let the compost dry right through, then water thoroughly until it runs from the base and let it drain completely. In a warm bright room that is roughly every three weeks in summer; in a cool room in winter it can be once a month or less. Lift the pot to judge it: a plant that needs water is obviously light.

Two rules matter more than the interval. Never let water sit in the crown between the leaves, because it rots there and the whole fan comes away in your hand. And never leave the pot standing in a full saucer, because the rhizomes below the surface are the first thing to go soft.

Feeding and repotting

Feed is close to optional. A weak cactus or house plant feed two or three times across spring and summer is ample, and nothing at all in autumn and winter.

It is happiest slightly potbound and only needs moving on every three years or so, when the rhizomes are pushing the plant up out of the compost or bowing the sides of the pot. Repot in spring, one size up, into a gritty free draining mix. A heavy pot is worth having, because a tall snake plant in a light plastic one is permanently on the edge of falling over.

Pruning and propagation

There is no pruning as such. Cut a damaged or bent leaf right out at soil level rather than trimming its top, because a cut leaf never regrows a tip and the flat end stays visible for years.

Division is the reliable way to increase it, and the only way to keep a variegated form true. At repotting, pull or cut the clump apart so each piece has at least one leaf fan and a section of rhizome, and pot the pieces separately. Leaf cuttings work as well: cut a leaf into sections five to eight centimetres long, keep track of which end was the bottom, let the cuts callus for a day or two, and stand them the right way up in barely damp gritty mix. They root in a month or two, though every plant grown this way from a yellow edged variety comes up plain green.

Ailments

A snake plant that is failing is almost always too wet. Soft, mushy leaf bases and a fan that lifts away from the compost are the signature, and by the time you see them the rhizome is usually gone. Wrinkled or curling leaves are the opposite and are fixed by a proper soak. The ledger below covers the rest, and there is very little of it, because there is not much you can do to this plant short of drowning it.