If you are searching for the best snake plant soil or potting mix or what soil to use, what works best for me and what you should be using those soils specially made for succulent plant growth.
Snake plant soil should be well draining and packed with Nutrients. Nowadays Potting mix companies add everything a plant needs to sustain and grow in most environments. Potting Soil includes Perlite, Sand, Coco cair, Compost, Composed Wood Chips, Vermiculite etc. to get plenty of nutrients for their Soil mix. For Snake plant like succulent soil mix is even made from the Plant based Compost.
Soil for snake plants is necessary to avoid any root rot that causes yellow, browning of leaves. Bad Soil hardens and restricts the drainage which makes root to develop fungal infections. Using a terra cotta pot for snake plant will help with air circulation and timely drying of soil and even it is good for repotting purposes.
Sansevieria or mother-in-law’s tongue is Nasa’s recommended plant which not only produces oxygen at night though CAB but also has the ability to remove toxins from bad air environments. These plants are so easy to grow and care for, with their baby propagation you can mulltipe them again and again.
Snake plant can grow in poor soil but if you really want it to reach another level with large leaves and dark green foliage then follow my guide on snake plant soil mix.
What is the best soil mix for snake plants?
There are many companies making soil mix specially for snake plants because of its worldwide popularity. It is easy for them to make the best soil in the market but what are the ingredients they use and how much quantity they take to make a particular potting mix.
Before that lets Focus on 3 things that make a soil best in terms of everythings a plant requires to take advantage of. There are 3 basic properties that snake plant requires and these 3 factors play a vital role in producing healthy snake plant babies & dark green foliage.
Nutrients
Snake plant soil must have enough nutrients for their long sharp green foliage. Soil itself has nutrients but addition of some can make it more capable and best in the list. Every soil has 3 major nutrients that a plant needs like potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus with that you may also find little amount of magnesium, calcium, salfur.
You may ask how these nutrients are present in soil so to answer this every animal or plant waste when decomposes it forms it mixes with soil and this thing is used by plants again. Even you may have seen decomposed plant waste is also used in plant growth as fertilizer because it has every nutrient a plant needs.
From water, soil will get oxygen, hydrogen and many fertilizers have added manga snes, zinc, sulfur , NPK and many nutrients to make soil rich in all 19 essential nutrients for overall growth if used in poor soil.
Aeration
Potting mix for snake plant should not become compact and provide better aeration as it makes your plant happy and healthy as it opens soil pores to get oxygen inside the soil so your plant roots can get it. Aeration is also useful as it can make sure the soil does not become compact or solid which makes the draining problem for snake plants.
Even Aeration helps the water to flow to the roots so the supply of H20 won’t be restricted. Otherwise if roots can’t reach water it will dry up and die. Keeping your plant healthy is your own priority and what I do is use a chopstick to make hole near the roots so water can flow and contact with air. This way air and water can be provided to plants and they will thrive beautifully after that.
Draining or Smooth Flow
Whenever you choose a soil for a snake plant it should have good drainage so the water can flow to the bottom and drain. This way water cannot stick for days and at the same time roots of the snake plant get enough water to fulfill its requirement for day or 2.
Snake plants don’t like to be overwatered as it affects their roots in the long term and may result in yellowing of leaves. Snake plants can live for some days in dry soil than living with damp soil for 2 days. They highly dislike wet, sogginess.
In Human beings we also need daily vitamins, minerals, carbs and much more to get our body fit the same way plants need all nutrients that could make them healthy.
Below We will talk about the best soil mixes you can make for your snake plant.
How do I make potting soil for snake plant?
To make potting mix for snake plant, I have used and tested these mixes that works best. I am using these ingredients which of course I will describe below and mixed it in 3/4, 1/4 quantities that make my snake plant benefit from it. Now my Sansevieria is growing and doesn’t have any yellowing, drying , curling issues such as aeration, draining and nutrients all 3 they get with this formula.
So to make a Potting Soil for a snake plant- you need Formulated indoor plant potting soil. I use Wonder Soil or Ocean Forest. If you have flowering Plants then go for Burpee Premium Soil. Next you want a handful of Compost by Fishnure or One1 which has all natural compost. Lastly you can add some organic cacti and succulent mix for better draining and extra nutrients. You can also use worm compost that works great as well, I use it in small quantities.
RECIPE #1
3/4 Organic Potting Soil By Ocean Forest
Handful of All Natural Compost(ONE1)
Optional : Mix 20-50gm worm compost.
RECIPE #2
3/4 Potting Soil By Wonder Soil
1/4 Cactus soil
Handful of organic Compost(Fishnure)
RECIPE #3
1/2 coarse sand or perlite by Harris
1/4 Potting soil(Barpee, Wonder Soil or Ocean Forest any one)
1/4 peat moss
Optional : 20-40 grm worm compost.
This is the Recipe to Create the best soil for snake plant. The benefits of these soil mix is your soil may have improved drainage, Prevent Compacting, Moisture regain, Aerate soil easily & Boost to root development.
Can I use succulent soil for snake plant?
Yes you can use any succulent soil for snake plant as all succulents dislike wet soil that is too soggy and they can happily live when water draining is best. The best soil is cactus and succulent soil mix which I use as it has better drainage, air circulation, nutrients all are included in it.
For experimenting you can also take 1/4 miracle Gro Indoor potting mix with this cactus soil and 1/4 some compost and see if you get great results. I even tried perlite and peat moss but you have to check what potting mix you purchase as brands now add everything that a plant needs.
Peat moss and coarse sand can be used in 1/4 and 1/2 quantity with any potting mix and can also work for snake plants. You can try different variations in soil mixes.
Some of the similarity in ingredients is that Coarse sand and perlite works the same and peat moss and coco coir works the same for plants. generally if you have vegetables you can use coconut coir and if you have indoor plants you might be using peat moss.
For potting mix, either purchase it from the market or online store or you can also take garden soil then add things like perlite, peat moss, coarse sand. Generally garden soil is not recommended because of weed, grass growth. Potting Soil sold in the market is filtered and makes it good for any plant to grow. They don’t have any weed grass growing that would anger a customer.
Why Use Good Potting Mix For Snake Plant?
Snake plants can be grown with any soil but if you ever seen Snake plant having a length of 7 inches to 10 feet that is unbelievable but it’s true. Using a NUTRIENT RICH POTTING MIX not only packed with all 19 nutrients but it avoids from becoming Compact which results in better aeration and drainage.
This helps the plant to have dark, long and robust leaves. Otherwise You might end up with shorter sized foliage that is ok but not that great looking. These potting mix make sure roots absorb proper oxygen and water. I have given you the recipe above. You can check and try each of them. Sansevieria are perennial so it keeps growing every year if you provide proper watering.
Should You Consider Repotting a Snake Plant?
So how do you know if you need to repot your snake plant? There are some signs you may notice if your snake plant has those then i suggest immediately start repotting snake plants.
Signs
- Leaves turning yellow , browning
- Leaves Dried and Dying
- Leaf Spots Occurring
- Watery Leaf
- Roots Covered the whole Topsoil
Causes
- Soil become Soggy
- Drainage is poor.
- Too Much Watering
- Soil Compact
- No space for spreading roots.
If your plant is feeling any of these signs then I suggest you should repot your snake plant and change pot as well. I have written an In-depth Article on Snake Plant Pot, you can check that out.
How to Repot Snake Plant?
The best time to repot any variety of snake plant is early spring or giving it shade and more water can develop roots quicker. But The growth season for sansevieria is spring when they spread roots after they stopped growing in the winter cold every year.
Repotting the snake plant requires gloves, digging material, fresh potting mix and new pot. You need to carefully loosen the soil and pull off the snake plant or just hold your pot horizontally and pat 2-3 times to make the soil loosen up. This way you can take out the snake plant with a root ball safely.
Steps to Repot Snake Plant:
- Wear gloves and use a Trowel for digging the soil. Start from the corners of the soil and move to the middle where shoots exist. Corner is recommended because sometimes it is root bound by all the foliage and you can’t even see the soil clearly at that time you have to be careful. If you don’t have TROWEL Buy 3 in 1 SET .
- Secondly if you don’t like the above method try placing the pot horizontally and pat 2-4 times on the pot sides and keep doing it to all sides. It will definitely loosen up the soil and you can easily pull the snake plant.
- Now use a potting mix, above i have given you the best recipe to make potting soil use anyone of the recipe.
- Use a new Pot and put some potting soil first and place your whole snake plant inside the pot and now gently drop the soil by your hands(that’s why you need to wear gloves or use a trowel).
- Once all the soil is filled, pour water until it leaks out from the drainage hole at the bottom.
- Hurry, you just repotted a snake plant.
This is an easy process and anyone can do it, and Let me tell you snake plants are flexible so even if you make some mistake it will definitely grow back. So Stop thinking and do repotting.
Links to Shop Air Purifying Plants –
Snake Plant- Variegated(Sansevieria Laurentii)
Shop Pots –
Terra Cotta Pot With Saucer (4″) – Small
Terra Cotta Pots with Saucer (5.5″) – Medium
FINAL WORDS
I Hope you get the answer on “Snake Plant Soil Mix” and I may become a part of you finding the best soil for snake plant with that making your own soil with tweaks. I would update this article once I experiment with some more potting soil blends.
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