Dracaena Trifasciata(Mother in Law's Tongue)

This plant is renowned for being sturdy, and can thrive even in the care of the most laissez-faire gardener.

If this is you, then this plant could be just what you need to bring some natural tones to your home.

Rather than requiring plenty of tending and delicate care, the snake plant is happy to be bunged on a windowsill and pretty much forgotten about.

In this guide, we’ll outline how best to take care of your plant.

D. trifasciata, as it’s formally known, goes by many other names, too.

Some of these include ‘Mother-In-Law’s Tongue’ and ‘George’s Sword’.

The plant originally hails from tropical regions of West Africa, ranging from Nigeria to the Congo.¹Dracaena trifasciata. (n.d.). Kew Royal Botanic Gardens. Retrieved March 15, 2023, from https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77164235-1

Thanks to growing up in these tough conditions, the plant is incredibly hardy, and can easily hold its own inside a temperate living room.

Why Grow A Snake Plant?

One of the most compelling reasons to grow a snake plant is to bring a little nature into your home, without requiring much effort.

Houseplants can transform a room, and many people favour those which don’t need much looking after.

Just the occasional drink of water, and enough vigilance to ensure the plant isn’t left to bake above a hot radiator, for example.

“Houseplants have undergone a surge in popularity but people are always asking me for recommendations of houseplants that are ‘hard to kill’,” says Master Horticulturist Colin Skelly.

“Dracaena trifasciata is one I often recommend for its resilience to most household conditions and a degree of neglect (there are limits!).”

The snake plant is a popular choice as a houseplant thanks to its hardiness and ability to tolerate significant neglect.

It’s also visually distinctive, offering something a little different from the succulents and rubber plants so many of us have dotted around the house.

How To Grow A Snake Plant

Most people will opt to buy a fully-grown plant from their local garden centre or online retailer.

You can grow snake plant from seed, although seeds are harder to come by and less reliable than easy-to-grow cuttings.

In fact, there are three common methods of propagation you might consider –

Growing A Cutting In Water

Growing from a cutting is simple – just whack the cutting in a container with a shallow layer of water covering about a quarter of it.

Then leave this in full sun, changing the water every two days, and wait until roots appear.

Once the roots have been visible for a few days, gently transfer the cutting into a pot with soil, and you should be good to go.

Growing A Cutting In Soil

If you’ve got a cutting, you don’t have to put it in water and wait for roots to appear.

Instead, you can simply wait until the site where you removed the cutting from the main plant has ‘healed’, then plant the cutting callous-down into some soil.

After a few weeks, it should begin to take root.

One of the drawbacks of this method is that you have to trust the roots will appear, rather than being able to see them before planting.

Whichever option you go for, bear in mind that baby snake plants make fantastic gifts – and because you can take cuttings over and over again, this plant really can be the gift that keeps on giving.

Dividing The Roots

If you’ve got access to a mature snake plant, especially one that’s beginning to outgrow the pot it lives in, then division may be your best bet.

Here you remove the plant from the soil, gently brush away as much soil from the roots as possible, then look for places where you can tease apart the root system into two or more plants.

There’s a bit of a knack to this, and it can feel like you’re destroying the plant rather than propagating it, but if you’re gentle and take care to ensure that each new plant has a sufficient number of roots to allow it to grow, you should be OK.

Once you’ve teased apart the root system into two or more plants, just plant each back into its own pot, and wait to see whether they take hold.

While it doesn’t require much special care, here’s what you need to know to keep your snake plant healthy.

Sunlight

Thanks to its tropical origins, this plant prefers full sun and a south- or east-facing aspect.

Soil Requirements

It prefers loamy or sandy soil, and it’s paramount that the soil is able to drain well. Your snake plant won’t thrive in soggy soil!

You’re looking for soil that drains fully every few days.

A soil mix designed for succulents should provide the ideal conditions for your snake plant.

Watering

During the summer months, your snake plant will be a very thirsty customer.

Expect to water it weekly, gradually dialling back to monthly (or maybe even less frequently) as winter sets in.

A good rule of thumb is to push your finger into the soil; if it’s dry at about an inch below the surface, it’s time to add water.

(It should be called a rule of finger, really, shouldn’t it?)

Fertilising

It may not be necessary to fertilise your snake plant, as it’s a fairly rugged specimen.

If you notice your plant looking unhealthy, or you’re aware that it’s been a particularly long time since it was fed, though, you can give it a top-up.

This plant needs the nutrients found in a cactus or succulent fertiliser.

During the peak growing season you can apply fertiliser monthly.

Dilute the succulent fertiliser mix so it’s about half mix and half water, and this should satisfy the nutritional needs of your snake plant.

Common Problems

Snake plants are generally trouble-free, but they do appeal to one type of critter in particular.

Vine Weevils

Adult vine weevils like to eat leaves and lay eggs, with the resulting grubs then moving on to eat the roots of your plant – all in all, it’s a visit you could do without.

Because weevils are quite commonplace in the UK, and because most people grow snake plants indoors where predators can’t keep them in check, you may well find a few.

The first step is to stay vigilant, and to manually remove any weevils from the plant.

Check for grubs as well as grown-ups – you can then place sticky barriers around the perimeter of your plant, as a means to stop their advancement.

If these two methods don’t work, however, you’ll most likely need to move onto pesticides or nematodes (a natural parasite of vine weevil).