So you have a snake plant (Sansevieria) and you’re not happy with how it’s growing so incredibly slow, if at all. You’re wanting it to grow taller, or grow faster than it has been, yes? The good news is that there are easy steps you can take to help your snake plant get on the fast road to growing taller.
Sidenote: Dwarf varieties of sansevieria usually only grow to about 10 inches and that is their maximum height. Other non-dwarf varieties, such as the Sansevieria trifasciata, can grow up to 4 feet tall at their mature size.
To help your snake plant grow tall you can:
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- Place in a brighter location
- Fertilize when needed
- Expose to warmer temperatures
- Repot into a larger pot
Place in a Brighter Location
This is by far the most important thing you can do for your snake plant to help it grow taller. Snake plants are commonly marketed as being plants that can be in low light, which is true, BUT when you place your snake plant in low light conditions it doesn’t give your snake plant a chance to get enough energy to grow quickly. We all know that plants need sunshine to grow, so when you place your snake plant in low-light conditions, you’re literally suppressing their growth.
Instead, try placing your snake plant in an area that gets bright indirect sunlight. No more living in those dark areas or corners of your home that don’t get much light. It needs just as much light as your other tropical houseplants. I’ve even had my snake plant get an hour or more of direct sun and haven’t had any problems at all.
By placing your snake plant in an area that gets more bright indirect sunlight, your snake plant will have the chance to absorb more energy via the sun and grow quicker and taller. Sometimes a snake plant will even bloom when it’s getting sufficient sunlight!
Fertilize When Needed
With more growth from the brighter light your plant will be getting, it’s going to need the nutrients to support the growth. Fertilizing isn’t something that will magically make your snake plant grow tall, but it will keep it healthy AS it starts growing more once it’s getting the sun it needs.
As a plant grows, it pulls nutrients from the soil to perform all of its basic functions. If the plant is growing faster, it’s pulling up more nutrients quicker and if it’s growing slow it pulls up nutrients more slowly. Soil can be depleted of accessible nutrients for a plant and that’s where fertilizer can step in and save the day. It can replenish the depleted nutrients and now your snake plant can pull them from the soil into its roots and use them to keep growing and staying healthy. Your fertilizer is basically supporting the faster growth your snake plant will be experiencing with the additional sunlight.
Snake plants prefer a fertilizer with a NPK value of 10-15-10 or 10-10-10. I personally use Schultz Liquid Plant Food and it’s worked great for me and my snake plants.
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Snake plants don’t need a lot of fertilizer so I’d say apply it every other month when it’s actively growing. Growth usually happens in the sunnier months of the year (spring-summer) but you know your plant best and when it’s growing. If you notice negative effects from the fertilizer like sudden yellow leaves or crisp leaf edges, go ahead and run water continuously through the soil and let it drain out through the drainage hole to wash out the excess fertilizer in the soil.
For a more detailed process of how to fertilize a snake plant, click here.
Expose to Warmer Temperatures
Snake plants prefer a temperature range of 70-90℉ and won’t survive with a temperature lower than 50℉. What’s not so well known is that when a plant is exposed to lower temperatures it grows slower. That’s one reason your houseplants start to slow down their growth in winter months. On the opposite side, when plants are exposed to warmer temperatures they grow more quickly.
If you’re really wanting your snake plant to grow tall quickly, make sure it’s not near any cold drafts or vents so that it can be in a warmer environment and grow faster. Of course, don’t go to any extremes and place it in an area that will be too hot as that could damage and permanently wilt your snake plant.
I’d recommend placing it away from any cold windows, vents, and also trying to surround it with other plants to create some sort of insulation from the cold. You can even try placing it outside your home as long as it doesn’t get too much direct sun and the outside temperature stays within 60-90℉.
Repot Into a Larger Pot
This is another step you can take to help your snake plant grow if done properly. First off, you don’t need to repot your snake plant unless it seems to be outgrowing the pot and you can see roots coming out of the bottom drainage holes or on top of the soil.
If you see roots and it seems like it’s needing a bigger pot, go ahead and repot your snake plant into a pot that’s only 1-2” bigger in diameter than your current pot. Going up to just a slightly bigger size allows your snake plant more room to grow without creating a lot of sitting wet soil. That sitting wet soil often leads to root rot because there are no plant roots in it to absorb the water.
And there you have it! By giving your snake plant sufficient sunlight, fertilizing it when it’s growing, placing it in a warm area, and repotting into a slightly bigger pot, you can encourage your snake plant to grow taller and to grow taller more quickly.