How Often Should You Water Your Indoor Potted Snake Plant?

A majority of the indoor plant parent community usually always falls into two types. The first type is the people who wrongly assume that all indoor plant species need to be underwatered.

The second type is those who begin overwatering their house plants once they experience a plant death caused by dehydration.

However, in reality, the watering needs will depend on the species of the potted house plant.

For instance, while an indoor bamboo plant ideally grows in water, a snake plant has the unique ability to thrive even when not provided with a lot of water.

Hence, any time you buy an indoor potted snake plant, do not make the mistake of overwatering it if you’re looking to keep your plant alive for as long as possible.

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Why Should You Buy a Potted Indoor Snake Plant?

With more social media influencers and celebrities using online platforms to constantly brag about their unique indoor plant collection, the global demand for house plants continues to grow quickly.

As a result, almost 66% of the American population owns at least one potted indoor plant. However, why do people care to invest so much money and time in these indoor planters?

Apart from the obvious visual appeal of the potted house plants, people enjoy spending time caring for their planters as it helps decrease their stress and anxiety, improves their productivity, and allows them a chance to heal and re-energize from the free at-home therapy.

One such potted house plant that has gained a lot of worldwide popularity over the years for its beauty, calming ambiance, highly resistant and tolerant nature, and low-maintenance lifestyle is the snake plant.

This potted plant is ideal for anyone who either does not have the time to pay too much attention to their indoor plant or is usually never home due to the nature of their work.

Not only is the snake plant usually able to retain its beauty and health for almost a decade, but its incredible ability to thrive on deprivation and traces of water is what makes it a true winner.

Hence, anytime you buy a snake plant, just remember to never overwater it if you wish to enjoy your plant’s calming and healing company for a long time.

However, how much water is too much water?

Keep reading the remaining article below to learn more about how often you should water your indoor potted snake plant and what is the best way to go about your plant’s watering routine.

Moreover, the article also elaborates on what happens when you overwater or underwater an indoor potted snake plant.

Let’s get started!

How Often Should You Water Your Indoor Potted Snake Plant?

As mentioned above, a snake plant is loved and highly demanded for its ability to survive and thrive on traces of water.

Hence, anytime you overwater your indoor potted snake plant, you are actually doing your plant baby a disservice.

Once Every Two Weeks

Ideally, the best advice is to always water a medium-sized indoor potted snake plant at least once every two weeks; however, the exact water requirement will depend on the snake plant’s size, health, and the condition of its soil.

Since the goal is to wait at least two weeks before you water your potted snake plant just enough that its soil is sufficiently saturated, the amount of water you add will depend on the size of the plant and the amount of soil in the pot.

For instance, if your potted snake plant has multiple new growing pups and lots of healthy, tall, green leaves, it will need more water than a single-stem snake plant that is just beginning to grow out.

Similarly, if your indoor potted snake plant is not doing too well as you forgot to water it on time, you probably will have to add more water to dampen the super dry soil.

However, as mentioned above, the water should only be there to saturate the soil and fully dampen it. Anytime water begins to accumulate at the top of the pot’s soil, you need to drain it out in order to prevent the consequences of overwatering it.

Once in Every Week

If the external weather conditions are too dry, your potted snake plant may get dehydrated way before two weeks.

This happens because water molecules will begin to transpire and evaporate out of the snake plant’s leaves and into the external dry atmosphere, down a concentration gradient.

If too much water transpired, the leaves might start curling inwards and lose their deep green color. Hence, if the air in your living area or house lacks moisture, simply start watering your snake plant at least once a week.

Once in Sixteen to Twenty Days

Furthermore, if you live in a region where it rains a lot, causing the external atmosphere to become too moist, you need to control the amount of water you give to your indoor potted snake plant.

Since the moisture in the air will already dampen the soil of the potted snake plant, you might have to check the soil before you add any more water.

If the soil feels wet and sufficiently saturated to your fingers, you can either reduce the amount of water you add to the plant every two weeks or water it properly after sixteen to twenty days have passed.

Check here: Snake Plant Not Growing – 8 Reasons & How to Fix

What is the Best Way to Go About Your Indoor Potted Snake Plant’s Watering Routine?

Although a snake plant is popularly low-maintenance, the wrong watering routine will lead to premature plant death.

Hence, apart from knowing when to water your indoor potted snake plant, it is also important to water it correctly.

Some of the best ways to go about an indoor potted snake plant’s watering routine are as follows:

Always use a water spray bottle with a controllable spray size instead of pouring water out of a jug.
Once the top layer of the snake plant’s soil is sufficiently wet, use a wooden stick to stir around the soil in order to expose and water the dry layer.
Repeat this process until the wooden stick comes out wet, no matter how deep you push it into the soil.
However, remain gentle so that you do not damage any of the snake plant’s growing pups or roots.
Only use fresh and clean water so no hard metals can enter and contaminate the snake plant’s soil.
Lastly, tap the snake plant’s pot from all sides and give the entire pot a shake to ensure that water can move and reach around to every part of the soil.
Doing so also allows any excess water to drain out of the holes on the pot’s bottom.

The main tip to remember is that the snake plant should never be underwatered or overwatered, under any circumstances. However, what happens when either of the mistakes is made?

Keep reading to find out.

What Happens When You Overwater or Underwater an Indoor Potted Snake Plant?

When the Indoor potted Snake Plant is Overwatered

When you either add too much water at a time or make the mistake of watering your indoor potted snake plant every day, a series of damaging events begin to occur.

If the pot either lacks proper drainage or the amount of water added is too much, the water accumulates inside the snake plant’s pot.

These wet and damp conditions create the perfect medium for a fungal infection. If any fungal spores land on the snake plant’s runny soil, it will not take long before the fungus spreads all the way to the bottom of the plant’s soil.

When this happens, the fungus begins to spread across and fully cover the snake plant’s roots, causing them to decay.

Since a plant can only get its water supply through its roots, the decayed and non-functional roots will cause the potted snake plant to dehydrate.

As a result, the tall leaves will begin to droop, and the deep green color will change to yellow or brown. If these conditions continue, the plant will no longer be able to carry out photosynthesis and will eventually starve to death.

Click to read: Snake Plant Leaves Curling [9 Reasons & Fixes]

When the Indoor potted Snake Plant is Underwatered

Although a snake plant is able to grow and survive on very little amounts of water, one should never forget that, like any other plant, water is still a part of the plant’s primary needs.

Hence, if you forget to water the snake plant after one or two weeks, its soil will begin to dry out completely. With no more water to suck and pull up, the snake plant will lose its ability to remain tall and upright.

Eventually, the plant will lose color, and its leaves will dry up and fall off. If nothing is done to hydrate the plant, premature plant death will become unavoidable.

Final Thoughts

Although a snake plant is loved for its tolerant nature, it still needs water to survive and grow. However, unlike most indoor plants, you need not water your plant any more than once every one or two weeks. Hence, anytime you get a snake plant, make sure to also invest in a water spray bottle so that you can prevent overwatering your plant.