How to Propagate a Snake Plant

For many home gardeners and plant owners it's a joy to see their horticultural friends grow and thrive.

However, constant development can also result in a plant growing out of control, becoming too big for its own pot, or simply looking a bit overgrown or disheveled. A common houseplant that can often outgrow its pot is the snake plant (sansevieria).

Plenty can be done to maintain a healthy upkeep of overgrown plants, and one of the easiest ways to deal with the issue is by a process known as propagation.

Richard Cheshire, plant doctor at Patch Plants in London, summarized the process: "simply making more, smaller plants from one plant."

Newsweek spoke to experts to learn how to propagate a snake plant and keep it alive and thriving.

What Is Propagation?

Cheshire expanded on the process. "Propagation is a means of creating a new plant by taking a part of an already established one. There are many ways to propagate a plant such as dividing roots or by taking a leaf cutting but different plants will prefer different methods," he told Newsweek.

It is a straightforward method of rehousing plants and an easy process for home gardeners and amateur horticulturists.

Barbara Pleasant, horticulturist and author of The Complete Houseplant Survival Manual, detailed how to properly propagate a snake plant.

"When snake plants become crowded in their pots, you repot and propagate at the same time, because there will be a plantlet or two that can be cut away from the main clump and potted up to start a new one," she told Newsweek.

The process of propagation itself is straight forward, and there are three easy techniques you can follow.

Rooting a Snake Plant in Water

Chose a healthy leaf from your Snake Plant and use clean shears or scissors to cut it off. Find a tall container and place the cut leaf in it, then fill the container with water until you have covered the bottom quarter of the plant. Make sure you place the pot somewhere where it will receive indirect sunlight, and change the water every few days. The cutting will soon start to grow small roots, you can then plant it in soil and resume normal care.

Pleasant also explained why you would need to repot your snake plant, and recommended keeping an eye out for the soil the plant is potted in to ensure it remains healthy.

"After a time the roots become crowded and the planting medium breaks down, and you see white salt deposits on the surface and inside the rim that are left behind after surface water evaporates.

"Repotting cures these problems while making the plant look nicely groomed. Short of repotting, you can scrape off the top inch of soil and replace it with fresh potting soil," Pleasant stated.

She also highlighted the importance of watering the plant thoroughly before starting the propagation process and recommended household tools that will ease the process.

"Before repotting a sansevieria, it's important to soak the roots very well to help get them unstuck from the pot. You can use a table knife to loosen roots from the inside of the pot. Several sound taps may be needed as you pull the clump from the old pot.

"Use your fingers to loosen old potting soil, and scissors or a sharp knife to cut away divisions from the clump. Also clip off any black or rotten roots. Then repot in ordinary potting soil, setting the plants at the same depth they grew before," she said.

Propagation From Cuttings

Snake plants, also known as mother-in-law's tongue, are an easy and safe plant to propagate, as they are fairly low maintenance.

Find a healthy leaf and cut it off the main plant. Let the leaf rest for a few days to allow it to callus around the wound, which allows for healing and growth. Then plant it in a pot with moist soil, peat or sand. After a few weeks it should start growing its own roots.

Nonetheless, Cheshire pointed out that these plants "thrive on neglect and don't like water regularly" once repotted and established in their new home, making them a good option for even the most forgetful of plant owners.

This was echoed by Pleasant: "keeping the soil lightly moist is best, because it gives the injured roots a good environment to recover. Established snake plants can do with occasional drenches because they are so good at storing water in their leaves," she said.

Propagation From Division

Lift the whole plant out of its pot and use a sharp hand saw or gardening shears to cut the base apart into different sections. Snake Plants grown from organs known as rhizomes that lie beneath the soil.

Each new division should include at least three rhizomes and at least one healthy leaf to allow it to grow into a new plant of its own. Plant each new division in a fresh pot with soil.

Cheshire also added that propagation is most efficient in warmer months of the year.

"Some houseplants are easier to propagate than others and it is important to note that propagation is most successful when attempted during the growing season–spring and summer–when light levels and temperatures are higher," he said.

However, that does not mean that propagation is something that should necessarily be done every spring or summer as it depends on the state and growth of each individual snake plant.

"Sansevierias need repotting only every three years or so, because they are generally slow-growing houseplants," Pleasant said.