Snake Plant Root Rot: One of the most common reasons for your snake plant’s death is root rot; if you don’t provide snake plant care needs correctly, your Sansevieria will succumb. One of the main reasons for snake plants’ root rot is excessive watering. When your plant is overwatered, too much water and high humidity will cause oxygen deprivation and gradually lead to root rot.
Snake plant root rot
Oxygen deprivation and high soil humidity will bring about fungal diseases like Rhizoctonia and Fusarium. Therefore, the root and stem of the plants, especially Sansevieria, will lead to rottenness. The best place for fungus growth is a place with high humidity. After fungal disease infestation, when the roots are destroyed, the plant is not capable of receiving the required nutrition to survive. As a result, your plant will get closer and closer to death.
In this situation, you will see some signs—for example, wrinkled leaves, Sansevieria yellow leaves, and black spots on the leaves. If you don’t take care of this problem at the early stages, you can’t expect your plant to thrive or survive. In the following, we will look at all the signs and reasons for Snake Plant Root Rot and suggest possible solutions to snake plant root rot fix.
The main reason for snake plant root rot is overwatering; to overcome this problem, you should remove infected soft and rotten roots with sterilized and sharp garden shears. Then repot and fill it with new soil. To avoid standing water, ensure the pot and soil have proper drainage.
The Common cause of snake plant root rot?
As we mentioned, overwatering is the main reason for this problem. However, lack of proper drainage, fungal disease, and improper choice of pot can lead to snake plant root rot, which we will talk about all of them. Meanwhile, all of these factors can cause fungal disease in the snake plant’s roots.
Overwatered snake plant root rot
The main reason for a snake plant with root rot is excessive watering. Snake plants prefer normal or even low watering. Since snake plant has succulent leaves and saves water inside them, it doesn’t need too much water. So let at least one-third of the soil gets dry, then start watering snake plant. To check the soil’s dryness, you can use a Hygrometer sensor wooden stick or remove the soil around the root and see if the soil is dry. But the easiest way is to use a wooden stick.
Poor drainage and heavy soil
Always try to use light and well-drained soil. Snake plants can easily thrive in semi-light soils. When you water your plant, and the water stays more than 30 seconds on the surface of the soil, it indicates that the soil is not well-drained, and snake plants will face root rot. In this case, the soil around the roots becomes very hard and will not allow oxygen to reach the roots. It is recommended to use the ready soils that are a mixture of Coco Pit and perlite. If you want to make a mixture for yourself at home or work, it is better to use a mixture of garden soil (small amount) + perlite +Pete Moss and put sand on the bottom of the pot to create proper drainage.
After choosing a proper and well-drained pot, make sure that the pot has a drainage hole. Then fill pebbles or sand on the bottom of the pot to enhance the drainage. If you water the snake plant properly but the pot does not have good drainage, the same thing that happens with overwatering will happen again, and your snake plant will face root rot.
Inappropriate pot size?
Yes, it surely does. If you choose large or cylindrical pots for your snake plant, the chance of getting root rot will increase. As the pot’s size gets bigger, you should decrease the watering because the soil around the root will dry later. Also, when you use cylindrical pots, it is better not to fill the whole pot with soil and fill the bottom with sand or put a plastic pot so that the whole pot is not filled with soil.
Does the type of pot affect the sansevieria root rot?
Clay pots are more capable of draining excess water than plastic pots. Because Clay pots absorb water from their walls; in the other hand, plastic pots can’t do this. Therefore, if your plant is currently in a plastic pot, just make sure the pot has enough drainage holes.
Note that the water on the saucer can increase soil moisture and cause root rot. To avoid this, put some gravel on the saucer, so the water that comes out of the pot does not cause root rot.
Low Temperature
As the weather gets down, the amount of watering this plant should be reduced because during this season (growth season), due to low temperature, the snake plant does need much watering, and overwatering will lead to root rot. as the received light gets higher, the temperature will gets higher too; so, check the snake plants light .
What does snake plant root rot look like?
The first sign of snake plant root rot is that the plant will stop growing. In this situation, sansevieria’s lower leaves will start yellowing. If you do not save your snake plant during this time, more leaves will get yellow. During this period, if you put the plant out of the pot, you will see that parts of the root have gotten yellow, brown, and black. Another sign of sansevieria’s root rot is wrinkled leaves.
soft and mushy leaves of snake plant
As a result of overwatering, roots will get rotten, and the leaves will become droopy and mushy. Therefore, there is no root to absorb water and nutrition for the plant.
dark and soft spots on the leaves
If you see dark spots on the lower part of the plant (where it connects to the soil), or if the lower part is soft, it means that the roots are damaged, and you should fix it as soon as possible.
Leaves wilting
Leaves wilting are improper watering, low humidity, and root rot. If the watering and humidity levels are good, then you should check for root rot. Root rot will decrease the root’s ability to absorb water, and your plant will show symptoms similar to underwatering. Leaf wilting occurs when water does not reach the top of the plant, where it is needed most.
yellow and soft leaves
In addition to overwatering and underwatering, nutrient deficiency can lead snake plant leaves yellowing. However, are snake plant edges are getting yellow, it is due to overwatering or lack of drainage. The snake plant will face root rot if you do not take care of it. Also, remember that fungal disease happens when the humidity is high. Fungal infection is of the main reasons for root rot.
Snake plant roots are getting black and rotted.
When you notice black and mushy roots while repotting the snake plant, you should try to resuscitate the snake plant. If the number of damaged areas is too much, plant in water to strike root then plant it in soil.
How to fix snake plant root rot
If your sansevieria has 2 or 3 yellow leaves and the process of yellowing the leaves is from the bottom to the top, you don’t need to take the pot out of its pot. Just reduce the watering, then use soil disinfectant solutions and fungicides to control the diseases. Do not forget to remove the excess water from the saucer and make sure that one-third of the soil is dry, then start watering.
If the number of yellow leaves is more than three and the soil stinks, then it is better to report it to survive the snake plant and cut out all the damaged parts of the root. Make sure to use sterilized tools. After pruning snake plant root, buy new soil, and plant your sansevieria. Let me add this point that after cutting the roots, you should reduce the watering because roots cannot absorb water and nutrition as before. Also, you shouldn’t use houseplant fertilizers for about two months because this will change the PH of the soil and damage your plant. After two months, you can use chemical fertilizers to feed your plant.
how to repot snake plant with root rot
To repot when the root of the snake plant is rotting, you must first completely remove the root from the pot’s soil and pay attention to the amount of root rot. The blackening of the root colour or its sliminess is a sign of decay. If the number of rotten roots is high, it is better to put the plant in water or perlite, and after the roots return to their normal state, put it back in the pot. If the number of rotten roots is small (2-3), wash the root thoroughly and apply fungicide, then put it back into the soil.
After placing the plant in the soil, be sure to do the first two irrigations with fungicide. If the root of the plant was completely rotted, in this case, the plant cannot be returned to the soil, and a cutting should be taken from its leaf and replanted in the soil.
Can I use a fungicide to treat the snake plant root rot?
Yes. If the number of yellow leaves exceeds 3, you can use a chemical fungicide to treat the root rot. In this case, you don’t need to put the plant out of its pot and prune the root. fungicides like “Copper oxychloride” and “
Eprodion + Carbendazim” are good options for treating the mother-in-law’s tongue root rot. When using them, pay attention that the dosage should be the same as recommended by the product manufacturer.
Does hydrogen peroxide eliminate root rot?
Using hydrogen peroxide to kill fungus on plants is a good option. You can treat root rot resulting from fungal infection with hydrogen peroxide. In addition to killing bacteria and fungi, it releases oxygen into the soil as it decomposes.
Conclusion
In this article, we investigated the various causes that cause rotting of the roots of the snake plant. The most common causes of root rot include excessive watering, lack of drainage, and fungal diseases. Next, we discussed how to detect plant root rot, which includes the yellowing of snake plant leaves, browning of the plant stem, and the foul smell of the pot. Finally, we explained the method of solving this problem, which is different depending on the amount of root rot. Thank you for staying with us until the end of this article.
meanwhile you can check the articles about sansevieria toxic to cats and snake plants in feng shui.