Are you planning to create new plants from your existing snake plants? If yes, you are in right place.
You can easily grow new plants from snake plant propagation. You don’t need to go out and purchase new plants. This saves your time and money.
In this article, we see different ways to propagate snake plant.
4 Methods – Snake Plant Propagation
There are 4 different methods using which snake plant can be propagated. These methods are used worldwide to grow new plants from existing plants.
The methods are as follows
- Snake plant propagation in soil
- Snake plant propagation in water
- Snake plant propagation by division
- Snake plant propagation from a rhizome
We will see each method in detail and discussed the special needs require in these methods.
Snake plant propagation in soil
It is the easiest method to grow new snake plant from existing one. You have to put plant leaves cutting in the soil. But there are some points you should keep in mind to follow this method.
You need few things before starting propagation i.e.
- Scissors or sharp knife
- Soil mixture (succulent soil mixture) or cocopeat
- Root hormone (not mandatory)
Step-1: Choose the leaf from the snake plant from which you make new plants. Make sure to choose healthy leaves. Don’t choose leaves that are old.
Step-2: Cut the leaf with scissors or a sharp knife nearer to the top of the soil. Cut the leaf in a single time.
Step-3: Now cut the leaf into pieces approximately 6 inches long. You will get 2-3 pieces.
Step-4: The cut pieces should be kept in such a position that you remember the position of the upper and bottom parts of each piece. It is better to write upper and bottom on the pieces.
Step-5: Now left these pieces for 2-3 days in a shady place to let cuttings callus over.
Step-6: Now it’s time to bury the pieces into a succulent mix or cocopeat. You can apply rooting hormone to the bottom part of cuttings. It will help in root growth. Though it is not mandatory to use rooting hormone. You can also directly use cuttings without rooting hormones.
Just put the bottom part of the pieces into the above mixture. Make sure you wet the succulent soil or cocopeat before adding cuttings.
Roots will take about 5-8 weeks to appear. When the roots develop at the bottom of the cutting, plant in a pot. This is how a new plant is grown.
Snake plant propagation in water
This is another method of growing new snake plants from cutting. You have to follow few steps to propagate plant in water. You need few things before you start propagation.
- Scissors or sharp knife
- Transparent glass jar
- Root hormone (not mandatory)
Step-1: Choose a fresh leaf of snake plant from which you want new plants.
Step-2: Cut the leaf from the portion nearer to the soil using scissors or a knife. If the leaf is long then cut into pieces approximately 6 inches long.
Step-3: Mark the bottom and upper sides of the pieces. This will not confuse which part is upper or bottom. This is a very crucial point to keep in mind.
Step-4: Make a notched upside down V cut at the bottom part of leaf cuttings.
Step-5: Fill the fresh water in the glass jar. Make sure glass must be transparent.
Step-6: Now put the leaf in the jar in such a position that the bottom portion (where V cut present) dip in the water. Only 25% of the leaf-cutting should be in the water. Rest should above the water.
It takes 6-8 weeks for roots to appear. So be patient. Keep changing jar water every twice or thrice day. Place the glass jar in indirect bright light for fast root growth.
Once the roots appear and grow bigger, its time to pot the cuttings. Take a normal succulent mixture and put the cuttings in that. It will take another 4-5 weeks to properly grow and adjust with the pot.
Snake plant propagation by division
This is the fastest way to propagate snake plants. It is assumed that your existing snake plant has more than 3 plants beside the main plant.
Step-1: Gentilly lay the pot and tap on the side so that soil should detach from the pot.
Step-2: Once the soil is loosened then slide the plant outside the pot. Please use the newspaper if you are doing this indoor. So that you don’t unclean space.
Step-3: Now pick the plants you want to separate from the main plant. Grab their leaves and see to which rhizomes (thick ginger-like part) they are attached.
Step-4: Now you can cut or pull those rhizomes from the main plant. You will get new plants with roots attached to rhizomes.
Step-5: Now it’s time to put the new plants in new pots. You should use a succulent soil mixture in the pot.
Step-6: Add water to the snake plant thoroughly and placed it in a shady place. Make sure there are enough hours of indirect bright light. Please forgot to add water until the pot is completely dried.
Note: There is no need to use rooting hormone in this method.
Snake plant propagation from a rhizome
You can also use rhizomes to create new plants. It is a stem that can grow horizontally under the soil. It is the part from which new pups grow.
Lay the pot and slide the plant from the pot. You can cut rhizomes (thick ginger-like white-colored parts). Make sure rhizomes have roots.
Now put these rhizomes in a shady place for 2-3 days and let them callous over.
You can put rhizomes in a new pot with a succulent soil mixture. Add little water (not thoroughly) so that soil becomes wet. Keep the pot in a shady place and wait for new growth.
When to propagate snake plant?
If you are planning to propagate snake plants, you must know which time is good to do so.
Now you would be interested to know best time to propagate snake plant.
The best time to propagate snake plants is the spring season. If you propagate your plant at this time, you will see good results.
Although you can also do propagation in summer and fall also.
Please avoid snake plant propagation in winter. This is because the plant remains dormant in this season. The plant does not grow in winter.
How long does it take for a snake plant to propagate?
Once you propagate a snake plant by cutting, you are curious to know how long does it take for snake plant to root?
Snake plant cutting takes 5 to 8 weeks for roots to appear. This is the average time between which you will be able to see your cutting’s root growth.
How fast the roots grow depends upon where cuttings are planted and placed. If it is kept in a low light area then it may take up to 3 months to see roots growing from the bottom of snake plant cuttings.