Snake plant
Sources last read 14 September 2026.
Forgiving Among the more tolerant plants here.
Also called Golden Birds Nest, Good Luck Plant, mother-in-law's nose, Mother-in-law's Tongue, three-striped dragon tree and viper's bowstring hemp.
Snake plant is toxic
What the sources say about its care
Sources file this plant under other names: Sansevieria Trifasciata (RHS). Citations below point at the name its source uses.
- Light
- Low light 100 fcClemson Extension, filed as Sansevieria trifasciata · read 11 September 2026Full sun, Partial shadeRHS · read 11 September 2026
- Water
- Well-drainedRHS · read 11 September 2026
- Humidity
No source read publishes a humidity figure for any plant on this site. What follows is general guidance for foliage plants.
ASHRAE recommends indoor relative humidity between 30% and 60% 30–60%Penn State Extension · read 11 September 2026- Temperature
How cold this tolerates, not what it prefers. No source read for this site publishes a preferred range for a plant indoors.
H1C — 5–10°C 5–10 °CRHS · read 11 September 2026- Soil
- Loam, Sand; pH Alkaline or NeutralRHS · read 11 September 2026
- Toxic to cats
- ToxicASPCA, filed as Sansevieria trifasciata · read 11 September 2026
- Toxic to dogs
- ToxicASPCA, filed as Sansevieria trifasciata · read 11 September 2026
- Harmful to people
- Harmful when eaten. Use gloves and protective gear when handling it.RHS · read 11 September 2026
How it usually goes wrong
- Blades hang and feel thin between the fingers
The plant droops as a whole rather than losing particular blades, and the soil surface has gone pale and hard.
With well-drained soil taken past dry, there is nothing left for the roots to move, and the plant gives up its shape before it gives up its colour.
Telling it apart: Lift the pot. A plant that is light and sagging is thirsty; one that is heavy and sagging is not.
RHSSnake plant leggy, leaning growth: causes- Brown brittle margins with a green centre
On a snake plant the browning starts furthest from the midrib and works inward, and it crumbles rather than smears. The centre of each blade is untouched.
Leaf margins are the end of the water supply, so they are the first tissue to run short when the air takes more than the roots can send. Penn State Extension cites 30% to 60% as the recommended indoor range, and a heated room in winter sits below it.
Telling it apart: Whether the soil is dry too. Crisp edges with damp soil point at the air; with dry soil, at the watering.
Penn State ExtensionSnake plant brown leaf tips and edges: causes- Long bare stretches of stem between blades
Nothing browns and nothing drops; the snake plant simply makes less, and what it makes is stretched and thin.
Its source places it in low light. In less light than that the plant cannot fund full-sized blades, so it makes smaller ones and spends the difference on stem.
Telling it apart: Compare the colour of the newest leaf with one grown last year. Paler and smaller together is light; paler at the same size is more often feeding.
Clemson ExtensionSnake plant leggy, leaning growth: causes
Not sure which it is? Ask the diagnosis questions for Snake plant.
Routine care
- Watering
- It needs soil that drains well and careful watering; avoid overwatering, which rots the roots. From spring to autumn, let the soil dry between waterings.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- Repotting
- Move to a larger pot only once it is pot bound.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Propagation
- By division or stem cuttings.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Increase by leaf cuttings, division or suckers.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pruning
- Pruning is not needed.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pests and diseases
- Can be troubled by banded greenhouse thrips, fern scale and longtailed mealybug.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Vine weevil can attack it. Disease is uncommon.RHS · read 13 September 2026
Move something and watch
Loading the simulator. It needs JavaScript; the care table above does not.
Photographs
About the plant
Dracaena trifasciata is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to tropical West Africa from Nigeria east to the Congo. It is most commonly known as the snake plant, Saint George's sword, mother-in-law's tongue, and viper's bowstring hemp, among other names. Until 2017, it was known under the synonym Sansevieria trifasciata. This plant is often kept as a houseplant due to its non-demanding maintenance; they can survive with very little water and sun.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · read 13 September 2026
- Native range
- S. Nigeria to WC. Trop. Africa, TanzaniaWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026West and West Central AfricaNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026C AfricaRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Climate
- seasonally dry tropicalWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- Growth form
- rhizomatous geophyteWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026Herbaceous Perennial, Succulent; habit clumping, erectNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Clump forming (evergreen)RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Size
- Height 36–48 inNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Height 1-1.5 metres; spread 0.1-0.5 metres after 5–10 yearsRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Flowering
- Flowers green, white; blooms in springNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Flowers green in summer and autumn; white in summer and autumn; cream in summer and autumnRHS · read 13 September 2026
Common problems with Snake plant
Other Dracaena
DracaenaBrown tips on the newest blades first
Lucky bambooCrisp margins that appear in winter
African SpearSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Dracaena bacularisSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Dracaena reflexaSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Gold Dust DracaenaSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
More of the Asparagaceae family
Asparagus fernBrown brittle margins with a green centre
Cast iron plantBlade tips go crisp and brown
HyacinthFlowering stops while the foliage carries on
Ponytail palmBlades hang and feel thin between the fingers
Spider plantEdges of the blades brown while the middle stays sound
Spineless yuccaBlade tips go crisp and brown
Plants with similar care
Sources
- ASPCA · read 11 September 2026
- Clemson Extension · read 11 September 2026
- Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- Penn State Extension · read 11 September 2026
- RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Wikipedia · read 13 September 2026
What this does not cover
The figures above are what published sources say, not measurements of the plant in your room. They say nothing about your pot size, your water, the season, or how far from the glass the plant stands, and those decide more than any figure here does.
Humidity has no species figure because no source read for this site publishes one, and the only temperature published for this plant is a cold floor. The simulator fills those gaps with general figures for its kind of plant, marked as general and listed on how we read sources. Where a toxicity row says the plant was not assessed, that is the absence of a finding and not a finding of safety.
If something is already wrong, the diagnosis tool asks about the soil, the window and the watering, which is where the answer usually is.