Propagation of Snake Plants

Propagation of snake plants is easy as long as you let them callous over first to avoid the common issue of rot, and keep the cuttings right way up.

Here’s our guide to Propagation of Snake Plants… Snake Plants aka dracaena trifasciata are really easy and quick to propagate, we run down various methods below. There are many types of snake plant, these methods will work for all of them. Some other types include sansevieria ‘black gold’ and sansevieria masoniana ‘whalefin’ which are really popular at the moment.

See also: our snake plant category page, can snake plants live outside?, Succulent Soil, Whale Fin Plant, Snake Plant Care, Coral Cactus, Aloe Vera Care.

Propagation Of Snake Plants

How To Propagate Snake Plant In Water

Here’s how to propagate a snake plant leaf cutting and get it to root in water…

• Get a glass jar, but don’t put water in it yet.
• Find a healthy green leaf and cut it off the plant (it does not matter where, but near the bottom is good).
• Put the cutting in the jar, with the cut end downwards.
• Leave it for 2 days for the cut to heal.
• Fill the jar with filtered tap water, and put it in a good amount of indirect sunlight.
• Leave it for a month or two for the roots to start growing.
• Once it has a good amount of roots you can pot it up in soil.

This is my favorite method, as it is so easy and you can monitor root growth. I pot them up into soil when they have established roots, and often they already have a pup growing.

See also: Succulent Propagation (with pictures).

Tip: use a pencil to draw arrows on the cuttings before you cut them from the main plant so you know which way is up when you plant them.

How To Propagate Snake Plant In Soil

I like the soil method as you can get getaway with smaller cuttings so you get more cuttings in total. For example if you had one leaf and cut it into 2 for water prop, you might be able to make them into 3 or 4 cuttings for soil, as they can be smaller.

To propagate a snake plant in soil:

• Cut the tops off the ‘snakes’ – you can even cut them a few times to get more cuttings.
• Leave them to dry out and callous over for two days (this reduces the chance of rot). Keep them the same way up they were on the plant.
• Get a plant pot and fill it with soil.
• Arrange the cuttings in the pot bottom down, about an inch or a few centimeters down. They must be bottom down, this is important or they will not grow. Make sure it is in a good amount of indirect sunlight.
• The roots should develop well over two months or so.

For more on which cactus and succulent compost to buy or how to make you own, see our guide: Succulent Soil.

How To Divide A Snake Plant

A good time to divide a snake plant is when you repot the plants as you’ll need to take it out of it’s pot anyway.

• Take the plant out of the pot and pull as much of the soil off the roots as possible.
• Spilt the plants as best you can without damaging the roots. You may well have to damage some, as they can be packed tight and some have huge phat tuber-like roots. But do your best to give each pup it’s fair share of the root system and causing as little damage as possible.
• Pot the plants up separately.

Propagation of Snake Plants Frequently Asked Questions…

How To Cut A Snake Plant To Propagate

It is important when cutting a snake plant to keep them the way up they ere on the plant or they will not propagate. You want to get sections about one and a half inch (3 cms) in length, so before you cut, get a pencil and mark these section from the top of one or two blades. Then put an arrow on them so you know the direction to plant them in. Then you can cut them. You want to let them callous over for a few days before putting the cuttings in the propagating medium.

How Long Does It Take Snake Plant To Propagate?

A snake plant can take 2 months to fully root from a cutting but you can get good results inside a month sometimes depending on how much light it gets.

Snake Plant Propagation Rotting?

Snake plant cuttings can be susceptible to rot, you can start to get a translucent patch that begins to spread. The best way to avoid this is to let the plant callous over for 2 or 3 days before putting them in soil or water. This dramatically reduces the chance of them getting soggy and rotting. On top of this top up the water once a week to keep it fresh.

What Do I Do With Broken Snake Plant Leaves?

Use broken leaves as cuttings. With snake plants the smallest sections can be used a cutting, just put them in soil or water to root.

Some Other Articles You Might Like

Hope you found this guide useful. You might also like our other propagation articles, specifically on Water Propagation, Pothos Propagation, Monstera Propagation.

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