Snake plants can reach impressive heights of over four feet if you let them, and the plant will spread as new leaves sprout from the underground rhizome. At some point you may need to clean things up and knowing how to prune a snake plant properly is important to keep your plant healthy and beautiful.
How to prune a snake plant: Inspect the plant for signs of damage or poor health. Prune to restore shape, reduce size and improve the appearance of your snake plant. Use sharp, sterile pruners or a sharp knife to cut off the chosen leaves at ground level. Remove damaged and mature leaves, preferably above the new leaves.
Contents
When to prune a snake plant?
Snake plants are notoriously hardy and quite slow growing, so they will likely tolerate pruning just fine at any time of the year. However, to give your plant the best chance of thriving after pruning, it’s best to do it when the plant is actively growing, preferably in the spring or early summer.
Pruning puts stress on a snake plant, so if your snake plant is in poor health, it’s best to improve general care measures first, encourage healthy new growth, and then prune your plant. snake to facilitate a quick recovery. .
Why prune your snake plant?
Snake plants don’t need to be pruned as frequently as some plants, but there are three main reasons why you should prune yours from time to time;
Preserve the size of your snake plant.
Snake plants grow by spreading from an underground rhizome. The new leaves will gradually increase the spread of the plant and soon you will find it completely filling the container it is in. This can cause your plant to stick to the roots, which will affect the health and stunt the growth of your snake plant.
The roots of snake plants can be quite large in relation to the size of the plant as a whole. A plant that looks quite comfortable in the pot may have very tight roots around the inside of the pot.
If you want to keep your plant in size without having to repot it in a larger pot, regular pruning is important.
Additionally, the leaves of a snake plant continue to grow in height for some time, and a plant that is relatively small when purchased can quickly grow leaves several feet tall. One way to counter this is to prune the taller leaves. This helps maintain a more moderate altitude.
Remove damaged or old foliage
The leaves of a snake plant are a very attractive feature and the individual leaves can last for years. However, any damage that develops on them will remain on the leaves permanently. Minor care deficiencies, such as too much sun, overwatering, or pest infestation, can lead to damaged leaves that start to look unsightly after a while.
Luckily, you can restore your snake plant’s beauty by pruning back leaves that look a bit unsightly, and perfectly formed new leaves will quickly sprout to replace them, provided you take good care of your snake plant.
To improve the shape of your plant
Although snake plants have a reputation for being difficult to kill, they are relatively difficult to maintain in pristine condition. Leaves tend to curl, hang down, or bend in different directions, which can affect the appearance of your plant.
If your snake plant is starting to look like the leaves are doing their thing, pruning is a great opportunity to clean it up, restore some symmetry, and fix some problems quickly and easily.
Read my article on why snake plants have curled leaves for more information and how to avoid this problem.
What equipment do I need?
Fortunately very few. This is what I use to make the process as easy as possible.
A sharp knife, secateurs or scissors. I usually have a knife and a pair of scissors or pruners ready for this job, as the blade helps me cut leaves right at ground level, and pruners are easier to cut leaves in the middle part of the plant. prune.
Use alcohol or boiling water to sterilize your toolseven if they look cosmetically clean. Your tools should be sterilized because it is very easy to spread disease from plant to plant when pruning houseplants.
Choose a clean surface with plenty of space to prune your snake plant. Pruning can be a bit tricky because you’ll probably disturb some of the ground and also end up with a lot of cut leaves. A clean sofa or counter is fine, but lay down a few sheets of newspaper if you’re cutting your snake pants on a surface that might stain or damage it.
How to prune a snake plant?
Pruning a snake plant is a fairly simple process. Start by inspecting your plant for health, shape, and size. Think about the shape and size you want your snake plant to be at the end of the process. This will help you determine which leaves to prune.
I normally follow these three steps to prune a snake plant;
Reduce the spread of your snake plant
Start trimming the leaves around the edge of the plant, assuming you want to reduce the size of the plant by trimming rather than simply removing damaged leaves. Use a sharp knife to cut each leaf as close to the soil line as possible. Removing foliage as close to the base as possible will improve the appearance of your snake plant. Stumpy leaf stumps are usually not pretty, so it pays to cut the leaves as low as possible.
The best way to do this is to hold the top of the blade, apply some upward pressure, keep the blade parallel to the ground, and make a single horizontal cut through the blade.
The leaves of snake plants can be quite tough, so cutting them all off can take a bit of effort. Try to make a clean cut instead of a series of jagged cuts. A frayed leaf margin can increase the risk of disease entering the cut leaf stump.
Using a knife, remove the outer leaves at the baseReduce the height of your snake plant
When you have successfully removed the outer leaves, focus on the height of the plant. Aim for leaves larger than you would like and cut them off.
For the leaves inside the plant, it will be easier for you to use secateurs or scissors than a knife, but it is more difficult to cut the leaf at the base. Don’t worry about this because no one will see the leaf stumps inside the plant, so your plant will still look good.
Remove damaged leaves
Once you have pruned your snake plant to the required size, identify any damaged or distorted leaves that you wish to prune to improve the aesthetic appearance of your plant. Make sure that removing them doesn’t make your plant look unbalanced or skimpy. It’s okay to have a houseplant that doesn’t look perfect, so don’t worry about removing any leaves that have a little spot.
When pruning your snake, try not to shrink the plant more than a third at a time. Pruning is a stressful experience for your snake plant, and over-pruning can leave it susceptible to disease or struggle for several months after pruning if you go too far.
Another thing I would advise against is pruning parts of the leaves. It is very tempting to cut off the brown tips and leave the rest of the leaves, but this is usually not effective because the cut tip often turns brown on its own and increases the risk of disease to the plant.
How often should I prune my snake plant?
Assuming you cut back your snake plant by a third or less, you can expect it to be pruned again in 2-3 years. Snake plants do not grow particularly fast and it depends on the conditions you are growing your plant in. Many people grow snake plants indoors in low light conditions, which will slow their growth considerably.
There are no hard and fast rules as to how often you should prune your snake plant. In fact, if you want to grow your snake plant to its full potential, you can transplant it into a bigger pot as it grows, and as long as the plant looks nice, you don’t have to need to prune it.
Can I grow new snake plants from the cuttings?
Absolute. Snake plants are very easy to propagate in soil or water from leaf cuttings. It takes time, but it’s really very simple. Read my article on propagating snake plant cuttings for more information. This is a great opportunity to grow additional snake plants for your home or to share with friends and family.
If you found this article helpful, you may want to read my other snake plant care articles for more information.
- How to care for a snake plant.
- Why do snake plant leaves fall off?
- Why do snake plants have curled leaves?
- Why is my snake plant dying?
- Why do snake plants have brown tips on their leaves?
- How to propagate a snake plant.