Why Is My Snake Plant Turning Yellow?

Snake plants are household favorites for many reasons: they’re beautiful, resilient, and so easy to care for. However, that doesn’t mean that these plants don’t occasionally experience issues of their own. 

One of the most common problems with these plants is the leaves, or the whole plant, turning yellow.

If this is something that you have noticed in your own plant – don’t worry! It isn’t too late, and there are things you can do to save your plant.

In this article, we will go through nine of the most common reasons for your snake plant’s leaves to be turning yellow. By the end of this, you should know exactly what to check for!

Why Is My Snake Plant Turning Yellow?

1. Your Plant is Old

Your plant won’t live forever, and leaves will always come and go. It’s common for the old leaves on a plant to turn yellow as they die and fall off.

These leaves will be replaced with new growth, and this is nothing to worry about – it’s normal! 

If your plant looks otherwise healthy, with a few of its leaves turning yellow, this could be the reason for it. Give it a little time to see if you can notice anything else. 

2. Unsuitable Lighting Conditions

While snake plants are known for their ability to survive in low light conditions, this is not recommended. Like most plants, the snake plant will do much better in bright but indirect lighting.

Luckily, if this is the issue, it’s a very easy fix – just move the plant into a brighter room!

Places like bedrooms are often darker compared to spots in the house.

Try moving your snake plant to a bright bathroom or living room, but make sure it isn’t sitting in direct light that will burn it!

3. Not Enough Water

Under watering is another common issue, and it isn’t unique to snake plants. Rather, this is a universal issue that many plant owners will experience.

If you are having trouble with watering your plant, there is an easy way to make your life easier. 

Instead of trying to stick to a watering schedule for your plant, you should instead feel the soil in the pot.

If the first 3–4 inches of the soil are dry, then your plant needs to be watered. If the soil is still damp in any way, then your plant doesn’t need more water. 

4. Too Much Water 

Just like too little water can be a killer, too much can, as well! Snake plants prefer to be given some time to dry out between watering, which makes it super easy to overwater these beautiful plants. 

When a plant is given too much water and the soil remains damp constantly, root rot can develop – which can kill your plant.

You might notice yellowing leaves, a soft base, and a few other signs that will point to root rot. If it’s bad enough, then your plant has no chance of surviving. 

However, if it looks like your plant may pull through, you can either leave the plant alive for an extended period of time, or very carefully re-pot it. Leaving it to dry out would likely be the easiest and safest option.  

5. Not Enough Nutrients

Snake plants need magnesium, potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorus in order to stay healthy, but they don’t need a lot of it.

You should be giving your plant the fertilizer it needs every few months, but be sure to follow the instructions on your specific fertilizer.

A balanced houseplant fertilizer will work, but there are other options, too – like coffee grounds.

You should only need to fertilize your snake plane in the early spring and summer. Fertilizing should not occur in winter, or even the fall, as it could burn the plant. 

6. Overfertilization

Too much of a good thing is bad, and too much fertilizer can kill a plant very easily. This is especially the case if you feed your plant the fertilizer at the wrong time of year. 

Be sure to check how diluted the fertilizer should be and keep track of when you apply it. You should never use a concentrated fertilizer or apply too much, or too often, or your plant will suffer.

7. Bad Drainage

Bad drainage will cause the soil to remain moist. This can cause root rot, and your plant can die.

Snake plants need to be able to drain properly, so you need to have adequate drainage holes to allow excess water to leave the soil. 

This is simple – just ensure that your plant pot has drainage holes at the bottom! Not only that, but you need to make sure that you are using the correct potting mix for the plant.

A potting mix designed for succulents will work well. Alternatively, you can get a regular potting mix and add pumice or perlite to aid with draining. 

8. Unsuitable Temperatures

Snake plants do not like the cold. They prefer temperatures between 60-90ºF, and are likely to suffer if they are exposed to anything above or below that.

If you want your snake plant to thrive, try to keep it in a warm area of the house, away from cold drafts. 

If your snake plant gets too cold, it will become stressed, and the leaves will quickly turn yellow. 

9. Pests

Finally, pests could also be causing your snake plant to get yellow leaves. Specifically, sap-sucking pests like spider mites, mealybugs, thrips, and aphids.

These can quickly remove the sap from a plant and lead to stippling. 

This can lead to the plant drooping significantly, or even falling over due to imbalance. Use a damp, soapy cloth to wipe the insects away as soon as you notice them.

You may also want to use a horticultural oil, or something similar, to prevent these pests from being an issue. 

Final Thoughts

A yellowing snake plant can be alarming, but the cause is usually something simple.

Keep an eye out for the above causes, and see what you can do about them by thoroughly inspecting your plant and taking note of where it is in the house. 

Once you take care of the issue, the yellowing should fade or resolve itself in another way, depending on the cause. Just be vigilant, and have some patience!