How to Propagate a Snake Plant in Water or Soil

Snake plant (Sansevieria trifasciata) is one of the most common and low-maintenance houseplants. Also called Sansevieria plants, these succulents can grow from six inches to twelve feet tall. Snake plants have dark-green leaves that are sword-like in shape and often feature color variegation of yellow borders and light-green streaks.

The plant is a member of the Asparagaceae family—as in the vegetable asparagus—first cultivated in China. Snake plants make excellent indoor plants in part for their air purification qualities: They absorb pollutants like formaldehyde and benzene.

Although not deadly, snake plants contain toxins that can affect people and pets if consumed.

New snake plants are easy to propagate but are slow growers and take as many as eight weeks to sprout new root growth. In general, these plants propagate the fastest from rhizomatous division, which is a method of producing new plants by removing a portion of the rhizome—plant stem that grows underground—and replanting the new section to grow elsewhere.

However, the most hands-off methods for propagating this plant type are rooting the snake plant in water and planting a cutting.

One of the simplest ways to develop new Sansevierias is to root newly cut leaves through water propagation. Here is a quick guide to the propagation process of rooting a snake plant cutting in water:

• Choose a container. You will need a tall container to hold your snake plant leaf cutting upright. Depending on the size of the mother plant, a glass jar or vase works well.
• Make a cutting. Cut a healthy leaf from an established snake plant near its base using a sharp knife or gardening shears.
• Place the cutting in the container. Fill your container with enough water to cover the lower quarter of the snake plant cutting. Place the cutting into the water, and leave the container in a warm place that receives plenty of indirect light.
• Root the plant. Allow your plant to root, and change the water every two days. Small roots should begin sprouting from the base of the cutting after a while.
• Repot the cutting. Once your cutting has new root growth, move it from the water container to a new pot. Prepare your pot with a potting mix and peat moss or perlite. Choose a container with drainage holes to ensure the soil will drain well.

You can propagate snake plants by planting leaf cuttings directly into the soil. Follow these steps for a DIY guide for propagating snake plants from soil-rooted cuttings:

• Make a cutting. Cut a single leaf from the original plant near the base using a pair of gardening shears or a sharp knife.
• Prepare your cutting. Leave the cutting in a dry place for a day or two so that the cut end becomes callused. Use a rooting hormone on the cut end to encourage new growth.
• Plant the cutting in soil. Plant your callused-over cutting in a small pot filled with a well-draining soil mix made of coarse sand or peat moss and water it immediately. Your cutting should develop roots within a few weeks.
• Monitor for growth. New leaves are an indication that your cutting has developed its root system. You can also gently tug on the baby plant to check whether the roots have developed.

Follow these steps for caring for your snake plant to help this low-maintenance specimen thrive:

• Stage near indirect light. Established snake plants can survive in varying light conditions, making them excellent indoor plants. They prefer bright indirect light during the day but can survive low light conditions during shadier times of the day.
• Avoid overwatering. Refrain from watering your snake plants too much, as overwatering can lead to root rot. Spritz your snake plants with a little water from a spray bottle every few days instead of watering them deeply.
• Fertilize monthly for new growth. Snake plants don't need fertilizing. However, you can encourage your newly propagated plants to grow healthy leaves by applying diluted houseplant food to the potting soil once a month during the growing season.
• Allow the rhizomes to thrive: Sansevieria plants thrive when their rhizomes become crowded in the pot. It may look like the plant needs repotting, but it can survive crowding and becoming root-bound.

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