How often should I water a snake plant?

Light

Sansevieria, now classed as Dracaena trifasciata, tolerates dim corners, but it barely grows there and uses very little water, which is exactly when overwatering catches people out. In bright, indirect light, or even some direct sun, it grows steadily, and the calculator’s summer figure near a window is every 11–17 days.

Pot and soil

Use a gritty cactus or succulent mix, a pot only slightly wider than the root mass, and ideally terracotta, which lets the soil dry from the sides. Snake plants are happy crowded and tall ones tip over easily, so a heavy clay pot helps on both counts. Water onto the soil, not into the centre of the rosette, where water can sit and rot the crown.

Through the year

In medium light the calculator starts at every 14–21 days in spring and summer, 18–27 in autumn and 22–34 in winter. In low light in winter that becomes 29–44 days, and many growers water only once a month or less through the coldest weeks. Push a wooden skewer to the bottom of the pot: if it comes out damp, wait.

Too much or too little

Overwatering shows at the base first. Leaves turn soft and mushy where they meet the soil, yellow from the bottom up, and fall over or pull out with no resistance. By then the rhizome is often rotting, and the healthy upper sections of leaf are better saved as cuttings. Underwatering is rare and mild: leaves wrinkle, curl lengthways or develop dry brown tips, and firm up again after watering.