Advice needed on #SnakePlant
Succulent people of Greg! I need your help! #succulentlove As you might know I am not a succulent person 🌿 but I am rather attached to my poor little snake plant that has been through the wringer with me. It was doing fine for so long and then I thought I was neglecting it so I smothered it with love…and overwatering. 😖
Several months ago I treated for root rot and downsized the pot but it has not been doing too well. The bigger leaves have not stopped being wrinkly and I’m thinking it has way too many leaves now for the root system it has left.
I got some bonsai jack’s today to amend my succulent soil so while I was taking it out I realized that the new growth it had is actually a pup (am I right?) 🌱
It does look like there’s some new root growth, but it also still looks like I didn’t get all the rot. I trimmed one leaf off before I stopped and thought I should seek advice. 📝 Should I remove all these larger old leaves and prop them? Do I prop the pup in water or soil? Or do I leave it attached and still try to prop it? Thank you in #SucculentSquad #advanceance #dreammachine
Several months ago I treated for root rot and downsized the pot but it has not been doing too well. The bigger leaves have not stopped being wrinkly and I’m thinking it has way too many leaves now for the root system it has left.
I got some bonsai jack’s today to amend my succulent soil so while I was taking it out I realized that the new growth it had is actually a pup (am I right?) 🌱
It does look like there’s some new root growth, but it also still looks like I didn’t get all the rot. I trimmed one leaf off before I stopped and thought I should seek advice. 📝 Should I remove all these larger old leaves and prop them? Do I prop the pup in water or soil? Or do I leave it attached and still try to prop it? Thank you in #SucculentSquad #advanceance #dreammachine
25
Best Answer
I would honestly leave it attached and then wait till it gets a little bigger till you try to separate it since it’s kind of struggling right now. Also, when you do decide to separate it or profit, I would recommend rooting it in soil not water. I’ve never propagated them from leaf cuttings. The bonsai jack should definitely help with the rot and will help with drainage in the future. Just ease up on the water right now while it’s trying to recover!
@RefinedSandwort @TidyTigerpear @DesertGreen You three sprang to mind, but anyone else is welcome!!
@princesspitstop I’m adding you after the fact Heidi! I either didn’t know or forgot you were so good with snake plants!! so I’m putting you here just in case anyone else searching can find you easily 💕
@princesspitstop I’m adding you after the fact Heidi! I either didn’t know or forgot you were so good with snake plants!! so I’m putting you here just in case anyone else searching can find you easily 💕
@DreamMachine I just lost a snake plant pup to root rot, so I don’t consider myself an expert on treating it!! I did try looking up some information before responding. One article mentioned removing any unhealthy leaves so the plant can focus its energy on new growth. When you repot, I would use a terracotta pot if you’ve had issues with overwatering.
For the pup, you can:
1. Put it directly in soil and wait a few days to water.
2. Something that’s worked for me lately. Seal a glass with plastic film sealer (the one you use in the kitchen), gently poke with a knife to create a hole with a knife, just big enough for your pup to fit through; then poke to create another hole, this second hole you can use to put some water in the glass. Just enough water to get to a level about half an inch below your cutting (it won’t be submerged). Put in indirect light. Change the water if it gets dirty. It should start growing roots soon and the. You can transplant to soil when your roots are about 2 inches long.
For the mother plant (and the cutting one it roots), I recommend leaving outside for a couple days so it can breathe (take a break from all that water) then put in a mix of 70% pon substrate and 30% any substrate that contains hummus and compost (they usually also contain perlite which is fine).
1. Put it directly in soil and wait a few days to water.
2. Something that’s worked for me lately. Seal a glass with plastic film sealer (the one you use in the kitchen), gently poke with a knife to create a hole with a knife, just big enough for your pup to fit through; then poke to create another hole, this second hole you can use to put some water in the glass. Just enough water to get to a level about half an inch below your cutting (it won’t be submerged). Put in indirect light. Change the water if it gets dirty. It should start growing roots soon and the. You can transplant to soil when your roots are about 2 inches long.
For the mother plant (and the cutting one it roots), I recommend leaving outside for a couple days so it can breathe (take a break from all that water) then put in a mix of 70% pon substrate and 30% any substrate that contains hummus and compost (they usually also contain perlite which is fine).
@RefinedSandwort well I’m glad I’m not alone 😂 Thank you!! I was just eyeing a few terracotta pots I have, so that will definitely go on my to do list 👍🏼 Much appreciated Joy ☺️
The mother plant doesn't look to be in terrible shape tbh. I brought one back from much worse with direct sunlight and half strength plant food, yours is even putting out aerial roots! I suggest mixing succulent soil with plain old Outside dirt 1:1 and putting it in a 8-10" pot, giving it a quick soak and drain to set the roots, then putting it in a sunny spot and letting the soil dry before watering with more diluted plant food. The leaf may very well just need to be pushed into the dirt. I had one fall over, cut it off, stuck it back in the pot and it's still doing great over a year later.
@SwiftLambsear interesting, I’d never heard about that technique before! But I suppose the idea is like making the roots their own little humidity growth chamber? Thank you for sharing!! 🫶🏼🌿
@CactusAdjacent thank you! I’m happy to hear you don’t think it looks that bad 😆 Especially with the pup’s aerial roots starting, I’m feeling optimistic. Much appreciated 🫶🏼🌿
@DreamMachine yeah, basically the bottom of the leaf will be attracted to the water at some point and develop roots to reach it. The second hole is for oxigenation and to refill with more water if needed (not my case so far). When doing this, at some point not only roots, but more leafs should start developing eventually.
@SwiftLambsear That totally makes sense. I was recently reading about a study some botanists did (I’ll come back with my source) that was basically this!! They put little plantlets at the top of a bifurcated test tube (like a test tube shaped like a pair of pants lol) and the roots always grew to the side that had the water in it. 👍🏼 🫶🏼🌿
@SwiftLambsear these pics are from the book “Light Eaters,” in which they talk about that experiment, and here’s an interesting article about the same scientist who claims these other experiments of hers actually resulted in a Pavlovian response from her plants 🌱
@SwiftLambsear Greg isn’t letting me post links 🔗 right now, but the article is called, “Pea plants conditioned like Pavlov's dog in research seeking to break new ground” and you can find several .edu sources on a search engine!
@DreamMachine that’s a very interesting article, I hadn’t read it before. I only came across that technique by watching some YouTube videos about leaf propagation and water culture.
@DreamMachine I went all the way to the bottom of the post and didn't see my tag and thought I had lost it for real this time 😂 I see it now 💚👍
@TidyTigerpear THANK YOU, this is exactly the kind of advice I was hoping for 👍🏼 Should I mix the bonsai jacks into succulent soil or just straight up?
@DreamMachine I usually mix the bonsai jack with miracle grow succulent soil and a bit of perlite. Because usually without any it can be a bit to well draining for most succulents I would use the straight bonsai jack with cactuses or strings of things or anything really prone to root rot
@TidyTigerpear awesome, thank you so much for your help. And that’s great to know on the strings of things!!
@PlantLadyyyP Yes you are totally right. Root rot needs to be treated anda a hydrogen peroxide solution works really well ☺️ I really hope I got all the rot this time, but there’s been a lot of new root growth too, so I’m feeling optimistic!! 🫶🏼🌿
My snake plant almost died due to me overwatering in soil… so I ended up switching it to water prop and it’s thrived ever since! I have not changed the water in this glass jar for over a year.. I just add water to it if it gets low. I also cut a piece of a snake leaf off and planted it in soil and only watered when dry. Now it has 2 babies growing and they have grown a lot more since this pic!
