Snake Plant

Snake plant is the one to choose when you want something green in the corner that is still alive after a fortnight away. It grows to about 1m tall and 60cm across, with stiff upright leaves banded in grey, cream and deep green that store enough water to ride out weeks without a drink. Sansevieria species, now Dracaena trifasciata, is African, so heat and dry air barely register.

Why you'll love it

• It survives real neglect. Water every two to four weeks in the warm months, less over winter. Forgetting is fine. Overwatering is not.
• It copes with low light. Hallways, bathrooms and windowless offices all work, though growth is faster in bright indirect light.
• The shape is upright and architectural. At 1m tall and 60cm wide it fills a vertical space without crowding a room.
• The variegated foliage carries the year. Flowers are insignificant, and it is happiest left root bound in one pot for three or four years.

Where it works best

Indoors is where most snake plants end up, and it is the use they suit best: apartments, rentals, offices, bathrooms and dim hallways anywhere in the country. Inside, your climate stops mattering, which counts with a plant this frost tender.

Outdoors it needs a frost free garden: tropical, subtropical, warm temperate, arid or semi-arid. Use it as a feature clump or mass planting set about 500mm apart, or pot it for a balcony and shift it under cover in cooler southern gardens.

One caveat: the leaves are toxic to cats and dogs if chewed, so keep it off floor level in a home with pets.

Growing snake plant in Australia

Position. Bright indirect light gives the best growth and strongest variegation. Low light is tolerated. Avoid hot sun through glass, which bleaches the leaves.

Soil. A free draining cactus and succulent mix, or potting mix opened up with coarse sand. The pot needs a drainage hole. Poor soil is fine, wet soil is not.

Watering. Soak it, tip out the saucer, then let the mix dry right through: every two to four weeks from spring to autumn, every five to six in winter. If a finger finds damp, wait.

Feeding and pruning. Half strength liquid fertiliser twice over spring and summer is all it asks. Cut damaged leaves back at the base, since a leaf trimmed partway never regrows its tip.

What to expect when it arrives

Plants come as tube stock or established in 200mm pots, sold in packs of six. Tube stock is young, usually a few leaves, and fills a 200mm pot within a season or two. The 200mm plants can go straight into a decorative pot.

Few plants travel better than a snake plant. Thick leaves hold their own moisture, so they arrive in good order. Leave yours somewhere bright and indirect for a week before the first water, and expect a month of stillness before new growth.

Delivered Australia wide, delivery from $29.95, minimum order $300 before delivery. Every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• How to keep your indoor plants alive covers the watering and light mistakes behind most indoor failures.
• Best low light plants for the home, for rooms with very little natural light.
• Browse the wider indoor plants range for companions on the same schedule.
• Pair it with a pot or planter that drains properly.

Common questions

Is it safe around cats and dogs?

No. The leaves contain saponins, toxic to cats and dogs if eaten, and chewing brings on drooling, vomiting and mouth irritation. Rarely serious, but keep the plant off the floor if your pet chews foliage.

How do I know when to water?

Only once the mix is dry all the way through, roughly every two to four weeks in the warmer months. Soft yellow leaves at the base mean the opposite problem, so ease off and check the drainage hole.

Does it really purify the air?

It absorbs small amounts of some airborne compounds in laboratory conditions, but the effect in a normal room is very small. Buy it for the foliage and toughness.