snake plants (sansevieria) are the perfect houseplant for beginners.
They are nearly impossible to kill, tolerate a wide variety of conditions, and handle missed watering surprisingly well. Plus, they make an impressive structural element in every corner of your home.
As easy as they are to maintain, you might struggle to grow these plants.
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Many of them are caused by a root-bound plant. Snake plants don’t mind being crowded in a pot, but will eventually need to be repotted.
Even if they are not too big for their pot, the quality of the soil deteriorates after a few years, forcing them to be filled in again.
Fortunately, transplanting your snake plant is an incredibly simple process. All you need is a new pot, some homemade potting soil and 15 minutes of free time.
5 signs your snake plant needs a transplant
First, let’s make sure your snake plant really needs a transplant. Repotting a plant that doesn’t need it can cause unnecessary stress. Always transplant only when absolutely necessary, indicated by these few signs.
1. The roots come out of the drainage holes.
This telltale sign applies to all houseplants. If you see roots coming out of the drainage holes, your plant definitely needs to be repotted.
This is a sign that the roots have nowhere to grow, pushing them out of the bottom of the pot. Most of the pot at this stage is likely to be taken up with roots that have no room to grow.
If you leave your pot in this state, it will struggle to absorb water and nutrients from the soil due to overcrowding. This will stunt the plant’s growth and eventually kill it. As soon as you see the roots coming out of the drainage holes, gather the materials and start transplanting.
2. The ground empties too quickly
A pot that empties too quickly, where water seems to drain from the bottom of the pot almost immediately instead of saturating the soil, will not produce a healthy plant. Snake plants don’t need a lot of water and thrive on neglect, but without water they will suffer for long periods of time.
Water that drains too quickly is a sign of poor soil quality. Over time, with frequent watering and root growth, the soil begins to crumble and lose its structure. It can no longer retain water or nutrients and therefore cannot bring them to the roots of the plant.
This can also be the case if the roots of the pot are overgrown. The roots begin to take up all the space, leaving less and less room for the soil. As it compacts or leaks from the pot, there is less soil to hold the water, causing it to run off to the sides.
Even if your snake plant hasn’t necessarily outgrown its pot, it’s a sign that it needs a soil refresh and would benefit from transplanting.
3. The jar bursts
Under extreme conditions, the snake plant can grow so vigorously and take up so much space that the pot it is in bursts open. You can tell if a pot is about to burst when the rhizomes push against the edges and distort the shape.
Although snake plants can handle a bit of overcrowding, they won’t survive in a broken pot. The moisture leaves the pot too quickly, and the roots begin to spread, crossing the boundaries of the soil. Before your plant has a chance to break through the pot it’s in, you need to repot it.
4. The plant has several young.
Snake plants propagate by producing new shoots, called pups, from the base of the plant. These look like little snake plants that emerge from the ground near the plant, connected by a rhizome. Although a single pup does not necessarily mean the plant should be transplanted, a plant with multiple pups will eventually grow taller and outgrow the pot it is currently in.
If so, you have the opportunity to propagate while transplanting. Sufficiently rooted pups can be pulled from the parent plant with a sharp knife and transplanted into individual pots to grow into even more mature plants.
Here’s a brilliant guide to propagating snake plants from pups, along with three other methods.
5. The plant keeps falling
Snake plants develop long, thick leaves and strong rhizomes which can make the plant too heavy. This, combined with rotting soil, can cause the pot to continually topple over. This disturbance is not good for the plant, but it also indicates that you want to give your snake plant a little more room to grow.
As a general rule, your plant should never be more than twice the size of the pot it’s in. When transplanting, choose a pot that is only one or two sizes larger. A pot with too much extra space will hold too much water, which will lead to root rot. These slow growing plants will only need to be transplanted in a few years to a pot a few sizes larger.
Related Reading: The Elusive Snake Plant Flower: How To Make Your Snake Plant Bloom
How to transplant a snake plant – step by step
prepare the ground
Start by preparing the base of all healthy plants: the soil.
Potted plants need different soil than plants in the ground. This is because garden soil is too dense for containers and packs down easily, holds too much water and does not drain well.
Garden soil can also harbor pests and diseases that can affect plants or contain weed seeds that continue to germinate and steal nutrients.
You can buy houseplant soil at your local nursery or make your own.
Making your own allows you to tailor the soil to your snake plant’s needs, which can be quite special compared to other houseplants.
Snake plants have similar leaves to succulents because they hold a lot of water. This is why they can tolerate a few missed waterings, but also require very well-drained soil.
These plants are very susceptible to root rot and over-watering will eventually damage the roots and leaves causing them to droop and become mushy.
The ideal soil for snake plants is coarse and very well drained.
To make your own mix, combine half a standard, high-quality potting soil with half river sand. This greatly improves drainage and better replicates the conditions preferred by snake plants.
remove the plant
With the soil set aside, you can focus on the plant. Before removing, squeeze the sides of the pot (if not already cracked) to loosen the soil from the sides.
It’s best not to water your plant for several days before you begin to make this elimination process much smoother.
Then turn the plant upside down and slowly remove it from the pot. If the soil quality is not great, you can now shake off the soil that is still attached to the roots to give it a fresh start.
If you see any signs of bacteria or fungus in the soil after digging it up, pull it out completely and wash the roots with water to remove any residue.
cut any puppy
Once the roots are visible, you should be able to see the rhizomes of all the puppies ready for breeding.
If there are not too many of them, you can leave them on the plant if you wish, but they will eventually grow into full plants which sooner or later will overload the pot, requiring transplanting. Additionally, it gives you the ability to grow even more Snake Plants. It’s a win-win situation.
Make sure the rhizomes are clearly visible and the roots are completely clean. Then cut the rhizome with a very sharp knife, making as clean a cut as possible.
Each section should have enough roots to establish themselves. If the pups don’t have enough roots, leave them on the plant to continue growing before pulling them out.
A rootless pup will not establish itself and will still need to gather nutrients from the parent plant to grow successfully.
Separate each pup from the mother plant. Keep all divisions aside to plant them in new pots at the same time.
fill the jar
Fill the pot about 1/3 full with potting soil. If the drainage holes in the pot are large, you can cover the bottom with a layer of pebbles before you start to prevent soil from falling out the bottom.
Do not compact the soil before planting, it should be as light and airy as possible.
Replant
Place the plant in the center of the pot above the bottom layer of soil. Hold it in place and fill around the roots with additional mix until it’s filled several inches below the top. Soil should not cover the crown of the plant, which can rot if left in wet soil.
Once filled, gently press the top layer of soil. This will hold the plant in place and eliminate large air pockets from the pot.
Water thoroughly immediately after planting to promote root growth. It also avoids shocks, because the roots do not like to be exposed to the air and dry out for a long time.
Bring the plant indoors to indirect sunlight to enjoy your new pot for years.
