Beginners Guide to Why is My Snake Plant Not Growing?

So, you’re doing everything right in terms of care for your snake plant. It looks healthy, it receives plenty of water and light, and there are no signs of pests or disease. So why is your snake plant not growing?

One of the prime reasons for snake plants not growing is they have been placed in a pot that is too large for the root system. Snake plants prefer to be pot bound, with a tight root system. When they have too much room in the soil, the root system needs to fill out before they shoot off new leaves. Unfortunately, to their doting parents, this appears like they are stunted and not growing.

There are other factors that can effect the growth rate of snake plants, like

• inappropriate environmental factors (lighting, temperature and humidity),
• pests and diseases, or
• natural growth cycle factors.

We’ll explore all of these factors in detail below. However, before we jump to any conclusions, let’s make sure we have our expectations set correctly by understanding the snake plant’s growth cycles.

Snake Plant: Growth Cycles & More

Like all plants, snake plants have periods of growth and dormancy.

You will usually see more active growth in the warmer seasons, like spring and summer. When we refer to active growth, the already established leaves may grow a bit, and you may see a few more leaves (or pups) spring up from the soil.

Snake plants actively grow during summer and spring.

Their dormant periods are during the colder periods of the year, through autumn and winter. During these months, you can expect to see very little activity from your snake plant.

And yes, as you may have guessed, this is when your beautiful indoor plant will appear like it isn’t growing.