There is a perception that it is really difficult to cause a dying snake plant, as they are so hardy, but I find people have problems with snake plants more often than you’d think.
I have spent years rescuing dying snake plants from the offices and dark living rooms of my friends and family, and I can say that Snake plants are not indestructible.
For us to undertsand why our snake plants are dying, we need to consider their native environment. They grow in West Africa (hot and relatively infrequent rainfall) under the canopy of trees (bright, indirect light) and often on quite gritty or sandy soil (very quick drainage).
So they like the warm temperatures of our homes, bright light (not direct sunlight), occasional watering and well-draining soil. If your snake plant is dying, it is because it is at odds with these conditions in some way.
It is important to note that a snake plant rarely dies all of a sudden but rather takes some time to rot or lean one way. By the time your leaves are drooping, turning yellow, rotting at the base, or falling over, the problem has probably been present for weeks.
The good news is that snake plants can often be revived.
I’ve personally brought someone’s snake plants back from a single healthy leaf and a partially rotted rhizome, so if yours looks like it’s dying, I’d say it’s still worth trying to save it.
Here is the step-by-step recovery process I use to save dying snake plants (through some trial and error).
Step 1: Check whether the snake plant is salvageable
The first thing I check on what appears to be a dying snake plant is the rhizome.
What is a rhizome, you may ask? The rhizome is the thick, swollen underground root that stores water and energy to cope with dry conditions. It often tells you more about the plant’s health than the leaves do, which can sometimes be misleading.
What to look for
- A rhizome should be Firm, pale, or orange-white. If so, the plant has potential.
- Is it a black, soft, slimy rhizome with a bad smell (as if something has gone off in the fridge) = the plant is in much worse shape, and propagation from a healthy leaf may be the better option.
My process is to remove the plant from its pot, shake off the soil, often running the roots under a tap to gently remove the soil rather than picking away at it and take a good look at the roots and rhizome closely.
If the roots are:
- dry and brittle, and break easily, which usually points to dehydration
- . Are they soft, brown, and falling apart? That suggests root rot.
I can tell you from experience that dry roots and underwatered plants are much easier to recover than rotting, overwatered succulents.
Step 2: Identify what’s causing the problem
Most dying snake plants fall into one of a few recognisable categories.
1. Is it Rotting and Turning Yellow?
This is easily the most common symptom that I see.
If the yellowing starts at the base of the leaf, the leaves feel soft and mushy to the touch, and the pot smells unpleasant (like the fridge), the plant is usually suffering from excess moisture around the roots due to the soil retaining too much water, overwatering and poor root oxygen.
In my experience, the real problem is rarely just too much water as such, and it’s usually too much moisture for too long in soil that prevents oxygen from reaching the roots for root respiration.
A lot of all-purpose pre-made potting soil stays damp for far too long for your snake plants to tolerate. Even many of the succulent mixes that I have bought online are more moisture-retentive than people realise, which causes problems.
My optimal soil mix
When I’m trying to save a rotting snake plant, I repot it into a much more open mix that replicates the soil structure of the snake plant’s native environment:
- 1 part normal houseplant soil
- 1 part coarse grit, perlite, or sometimes even sand (horticultural sand)
- 1 part pine bark chippings, like from an orchid potting mix
The bark is of particular importance here as it creates larger air pockets in the soil, which helps the remaining healthy roots access the oxygen they need for respiration.
Since I switched to this type of potting mix, I’ve found recovery is much more likely and rot is far less likely to continue spreading as it replicates the level of aeration in the soil in their African habitat.
2. Is your snake plant drooping, Leaning, or Falling Over?
If your snake plant leaves are falling one way, we have to determine whether it is…
- The leaf is structurally weak from rotting and feels mushy,
- underwatered, and lacking internal pressure to stay upright
- Leaning towards limited light
- or simply top-heavy and poorly anchored by roots.
The mushy-textured lean
If the leaf feels soft at the base, this is usually rot due to overwatering or sometimes due to cold temperatures. This specific rotting tissue has already broken down in the sense that the cells have ruptured and will not recover.
The dehydrated, drooping appearance
If the leaves are wrinkled in texture, the soil is extremely dry, and the plant feels loose but not mushy, severe underwatering is more likely. Does the pot feel lighter than expected?
In which case, a simple light watering usually isn’t sufficient as often the root ball has become hydrophobic, which means it repels water off the surface so taht it may simply run off the surface or down the sides of the pot and out of the drainage holes without infiltrating the soil properly and reaching the roots where it is required.
What I do in this specific scenario
For severely dry snake plants, I use a deep soak to rehydrate the root ball. I place the pot in a basin of lukewarm water for about an hour so the soil can absorb water from below through the drainage holes in the base.
Afterwards, the pot should feel nice and heavy as the rootball and soil are going to be evenly moist. The goal with watering should always be that the soil is evenly moist!
So pick up your pot and get a feel for the weight when it’s hydrated. Wait until it feels lighter before watering again, usually at least 7 days later, but judge it from the weight of the pot rather then the time period.
In my experience, leaves often begin to firm up within around 48 hours as the snake plant replenishes its moisture reserves if dehydration was the main issue.
3. Are the Leaves Turning Brown?
It’s confusing because Brown tissue can mean several different things, so I always check the texture of the leaf and location first.
Crispy brown leaf tips
These are often caused by:
- A mineral buildup from hard tap water
- long periods of dryness as discussed
- and the occasional fertiliser burn
Are there Large brown patches or bleached areas of the leaf?
This is often sunburn due to direct sunlight, particularly midday and afternoon sun.
I once moved my snake plant straight from a dark room to a room with a bright south-facing window, and it developed large brown sunburnt patches within less than two days (it was early summer). Snake plants can take some direct sun, but they need time to adjust gradually rather than be transported to intense sunlight.
What I personally do
- For sun scorch: You have to move the plant back into bright, indirect light. The scorched brown areas do not turn green again, but they don’t necessarily harm the plant, and the leaf can still grow. However, for aesthetic purposes, you may want to trim the leaf back to the base with a sharp pair of scissors.
- For a mineral buildup in the soil: Research whether your area has hard or soft tap water. If you’re in a hard tap water area, then you may need to flush the soil (by running it under a tap, which dissolves excess minerals) and switch to filtered water, rainwater, or you can leave water out overnight. However, my snake plants have never looked better than when I use rainwater.
Are the leaves drooping due to a lack of light?
Snake plants love bright indirect light, and ideally, you need to turn them once a month to prevent uneven and drooping leaves.
If they are in too dark a room, they may just lean towards the brightest source of light and then flop over due to weakness. Once the snake plant has flooped and there is a visible crease in the leaf, it does not stand up again of its own volition…the solution?
You can either plant a stake in your snake plant pot and use strong (as it is softer than wire) and tie your snake plant together so that all the leaves stand up, or you can snip the leaf off at the base. But I would only snip off less than a third of the leaves at one time, otherwise you risk shocking the plant.
Step 3: How to Remove Rot Properly
If you find rot, then get your skates on…
One of the most important lessons I’ve learned when rescuing houseplants is that you cannot leave partially rotted leaf tissue and just hope the plant grows out of it, and it goes away. Snake plant rot just keeps on spreading (and quickly if the soil is damp).
My process for revival
- Gently tease the plant from the pot
- Carefully wash the roots and rhizome under a gentle stream from the tap so I can clearly see and assess the damage
- Use a sterilized pruner to snip away all black, soft, or mushy parts all the way back to healthy growth.
- Keep only the firm (pinch it between your fingers) healthy root tissue
I sterilize the pruners with hand gel before making snips to avoid spreading any fungal or bacterial infection to otherwise healthy roots.
Step 4: Let the snipped roots and rhizomes dry off Before Repotting
This is one of the most important steps that a lot of people don’t realise and many people inadvertently skip.
After snipping away any rotting tissue, I never put the snake plant straight back into the soil…
Instead, what I do is leave the cleaned rhizome or leaf sections on a dry paper towel for a day or two, so the wounds can dry and callous over (do the parts where you snipped look dry?)
If freshly cut root and rhizome tissue is plonked straight into damp potting soil, it often rots again!
A dry callous rather then an open wound dramatically improves the odds of the snake plant’s recovery.
Step 5: Repot your snake plant into different soil
Once the plant has calloused over after about 2 days, I repot it into:
- a clean pot with drainage holes (I wash the pot with washing up liquid to clear away any bacteria).
- an open, fast-draining soil mix of pine bark, grit or sand and potting soil
- Ideally, a terracotta or clay pot, if overwatering was the issue, as these are porous and dry out more evenly.
I’ve found terracotta and clay particularly useful for growing snake plants because it allows moisture to dry out through the sides and helps the root ball dry more evenly, which is what you need for a plant that grows in dry conditions
If I’m dealing with a recovering succulent that I’ve recused, I always err on the side of a smaller pot rather than a larger one. This is because too much soil around damaged roots can hold moisture for too long for the snake plant to tolerate, so choose a pot that is proportionate to the size of the plant.
Step 6: Has the base of the leaf rotted and most of the roots/ rhizomes? Switch to the Propagation station
Sometimes the roots and rhizome are too far gone (soft, mushy, widespread bad smell) to save and you need a plan B.
If that happens, I check whether the upper part of any of the leaves is still green and healthy and viable for propagation.
How to do it…
- Snip a healthy leaf into 3-inch sections
- Keep track of which end is the base (I use tape as I have got my sections jumbled up before!)
- Let the cuttings dry for 2 days on a windowsill
- Dip the base of the leaf in rooting hormone if I have it
- Insert it the right way up into perlite or a very open bark-and-grit mix
I’ve gone through trial and error, using both water propagation and soil propagation.
Here’s what I’ve found
- Water propagation does give quicker visible root growth, however…
- Soil or perlite propagation is slow, but produces tougher, more resilient plant roots that transition more easily and grow much better.
I must admit that this method does take patience. I’ve had cuttings sit for months before finally producing growth.
As propagation is very visual, here is a YouTube video of how to do it.
Step 7: Be Realistic About the Recovery Prospects and Timeline
Here’s the cold, hard truth…Snake plants recover slowly!
That doesn’t mean they aren’t recovering per se, but rather it just means they recover on a longer timeline than fast-growing plants like peace lilies or pothos.
What to expect
For dyhdrated plants, this can be really quick, but for overwatered plants, it can be 6 months before new visible growth.
The best sign of success and recovery is new growth emerging healthy and green from the centre or from the rhizome.
Quick Snake Plant Recovery reference table
| Symptom | Likely underlying problem | What I do |
|---|---|---|
| Mushy, smelly base | Advanced root rot | Repot into an aerated mix and reduce watering |
| Wrinkled, leaning leaves | Severe dehydration | Bottom soak for 1 hour |
| Yellowing from the base | Overwatering and poor drainage | Move to a softer light or flush soil |
| Brown patches | Sun scorch or mineral buildup | No roots left, but healthy upper leaf |
| No roots left but healthy upper leaf | Base lost to rot | Propagate healthy leaf sections |
Rescuing your snake plant
As I said at the start, try to align your snake plant’s conditions with the conditions of its native environment, with well-draining soil, warmer temperatures, less frequent watering, and bright, indirect light.
Then your snake plant can recover and thrive.