Do your snake plant leaves fall over? We will now explain why this happened. Here are some tips on how to prune and propagate snake plants using leaf cuttings.
My obsession with snake plants is undoubtedly a mania. What about you? Other names for them include sasevierias and mother-in-law tongues. The snake plant is among the easiest and toughest houseplants that you can find.
There aren’t a lot of leaves here; just one or two every now and then. The leaves of snake plants may be falling over from overwatering if they’re falling over a lot.
Each leaf, root, and rhizome (the horizontal underground stem which spreads the plant) stores its own water.
“Mushing out” occurs at the base, and then the leaves crease and crumble.
How Do Snake Plant Leaves Falling Over?
I have been asked to explain why random leaves fall over.
Seeing as this was happening to two of my plants, I thought it was a good time to strike while the iron was hot and in case you were wondering too.
Fortunately, my Snake plants only have to deal with this occasionally.
These situations arise in my experience with taller growing plants like Sansevieria trifasciata “Laurentii,” which has a yellow edge.
If the leaf base pinches in (some can reach five feet), the weight of the middle and top lifts the leaf upwards.
It is just the nature of this wonderful plant to have random leaves fall or lean over.
What Can You Do?
It’s a pretty simple process. Pruning and propagating are all you need to do. I always take the route below even if you can cut the leaf into smaller sections.
How to Fix Snake Plant Leaves
Leaves should be cut all the way down to the soil line. To avoid jagged cuts and/or infections, make sure you use clean and sharp pruners.
Leaf bottoms are cut off between 5 and 10 inches. The amount depends on how thin the bases of the leaves are.
Remove the weak parts of your lower body. Make clean, straight cuts across the board.
Lower leaf sections can always be propagated if you like. Don’t include the back end that you cut off when you removed the top portion. You only need the ends that grew out of the soil.I allowed the bottoms of those leaves to heal for 2 days before planting, since they contain a lot of water. It’s fine to wait anywhere from 3-7 days.
As the stems heal off, the cut ends will callus over and protect them from rotting while propagating.
The heat in Tucson is so intense that I only needed to heal my wounds for a few days. The leaves have been allowed to heal over for a month or so and have propagated successfully.
There won’t be any roots to see. Planting them will result in their formation.
Time to Propagate
Propagation is best done in spring and summer.
It’s easiest for me to place it back in the pot with the mother plant from which it was taken. It can also be planted in another pot filled with succulent and cactus mix or propagation mix if you choose.
If you stake the leaf, the leaves will stay upright while the roots form and the leaves will be able to stay upright by themselves.
It is best to let the mix stay dry for 3-5 days before watering.
How to Repair Snake Plant Leaves
It has been my experience that the outer leaves fall over the most. Several middle leaves can support one another if they grow densely.
Snake plants can fall over a few times a year as they grow.Your leaf may need to be tied to the stake to keep it anchored; depending on its size and weight.Because it’s inexpensive, strong and non-obtrusive, I prefer using jute string.
Likewise, I apply the same technique to my plants outdoors; I prune, heal, and reattach to them.
Snake plant leaf cuttings of various sizes are taken from me. Everything is fine with the roots.
With this propagation method, the leaves that have variegation will lose most or all of it.
Divide the plant if you want it to remain variegated.