How To Fix Broken Snake Plant Leaf

Do you see a broken leaf on your Snake plant?

When you’re into gardening, you get to experience these things quite often in your garden.

And there’s very little you can do to prevent such things.

The good thing about this indoor plant, though, is you can revive the leaf in many ways.

Yes, it’s quite possible!

In the following guide, I have talked about the ways you can address this problem in your Snake plant.

So, let’s dive right in!

How To Fix Broken Snake Plant Leaf

In the beginning, let’s learn the ways to fix the broken leaf.

Here’s a list of things you can do –

1. Check The Damage On The Leaf

This should be your first step while attending to the broken leaf issue.

When the leaf breaks from the plant, it won’t break from the stem entirely.

In most cases, it will get damaged from the middle, which is quite common to see in this type of plant.

Also, if you have pets in the house, they may only bite a small section of the Snake plant leaf.

Overall, you will have to examine the plant well. Make sure there are no other leaves damaged on the plant.

2. Try To Support The Damaged Leaf

This should be the next step of action once you are done with the primary inspection of the plant.

As I said earlier, the Snake plant leaf won’t break entirely in general.

So, if it’s still hanging on to the base of the leaf or leaning downward, you can simply provide support to it.

It can be done using stakes or threads, depending on the availability.

You may also use a wall or window as a support for this type of damaged leaf.

If there are many damaged leaves on the plant, you should try to use threads to tie them upward.

This should help in reviving the leaves.

It might take a couple of weeks or more, so don’t remove the support in a hurry.

Note: If the leaves don’t seem to be doing well, you can try some of the other alternatives suggested below.

3. Remove The Leaf From Your Snake Plant

What if the leaves are already broken into pieces?

In that case, you will have to cut them from the plant.

The reason for doing this task is the leaf won’t survive on the plant.

Over the period, the plant will stop providing nutrients to the damaged leaf, and it will fall off eventually.

Hence, there is no point in keeping such leaves on the plant for long.

Instead, you should just cut them off and think of reviving them through propagation methods.

This is generally a great idea to get new plants from the leaves.

And more importantly, you don’t have to throw them away completely.

4. Propagate The Broken Leaf In A New Pot

Removed the leaf?

Now, it’s time to propagate it!

The Snake plant leaves can be propagated through two distinct methods.

1. Water Propagation
2. Soil Propagation

Both these methods work great, and you can use either of them to revive the leaf.

Tip: While propagating, you should select the leaves that look relatively fresh.

Do not choose the ones that appear dull and skinny.

These leaves may not propagate well.

One more thing, try to propagate as many leaves as possible.

It will increase the chances of getting at least a few leaves propagated successfully.

But how do you go about this whole process?

Do you want to know more about it?

Let’s find out in the following section!

7 Things To Remember While Propagating Broken Snake Plant Leaf

Even though the propagation techniques are fairly easy, these are the things you have to keep in mind while performing this task –

1. Try To Cut The Entire Leaf From The Plant

As you know, the damaged leaves have less probability of surviving on the plant.

Therefore, you should go ahead and take them off the plant.

Now, when you perform this task, try to get the entire leaf from the plant.

The Snake plant’s leaves are attached to the main stem, and they are slightly difficult to remove from it.

So, use pruning shears or sharp scissors to make a nice cut at the base.

If you can’t get the entire leaf, this is the best method for this task.

Once you remove the broken leaf, rinse it thoroughly.

There shouldn’t be any dirt on the leaf.

2. Allow Some Time To Form A Callus Around The Broken Part

When you are using the soil propagation method, you should wait after cutting the leaf from the plant.

The part where you’ve cut the leaf will form a callus in some time.

This should take about 2-3 days.

The exposed part will turn hard, which is a sign that the leaf is ready for propagation. 

3. Place The Leaf In The Soil

Now that the leaf is ready to transplant, you can get a small pot with a regular potting mix.

You don’t need to add fertilizers to this soil, as the only motive of this task is to propagate the leaves.

However, do add some cocopeat or peat moss if you can.

Both of them can hold the water for long, which is essential in the propagation method.

Once the pot is ready, place the leaves in the soil.

You can put 2-3 leaves in the same soil.

The leaves should stand upright in the pot, so make sure you push them firmly.

Note: If you are using the water propagation method, you will have to move the propagated leaves to the soil later.

For this method, you can just wait till you see a couple of leaves coming out of the base of the broken leaf.

4. Water The Leaf Every Few Days

Yes, the broken leaf will need water to grow roots underneath the soil.

Once you put the leaves in the pot, you can water them for the first time.

For the next round, you should wait for 7-10 days, depending on the moisture level in the soil.

If the soil doesn’t dry out quickly, you shouldn’t water your plant.

Moreover, you will have to follow this process for a few weeks without expecting too much from the planted leaves.

5. Wait For A Few Weeks To See New Roots On The Leaf

I know this is the most boring part of this process, but you don’t have any choice here.

Let nature do its job.

The new root formation takes anywhere from 2-5 weeks.

So, just be patient and keep watering the pot.

6. Do Not Remove The Leaf From Soil

Although the whole waiting period seems like a difficult task, you shouldn’t remove the leaf from the soil.

The root formation is a slow process.

If you keep on removing the leaf, it will disturb the process.

Ultimately, you won’t see any roots under the ground.

7. Transplant The Propagated Leaf In A New Pot

This is the last step in this process.

After a couple of weeks of root formation, you can move the propagated leaf to a bigger pot.

This is specifically required for the water propagation method, as the plant will not grow entirely in water.

For the soil propagation method, you can either leave the new plant as it is in the same pot or move it to another pot.

Ideally, you should wait till the leaf formation on the newly propagated plant.

Well, that’s pretty much about this propagation task!

Hopefully, it will help in reviving your broken Snake plant leaf.

In the next section, I have shared some answers to commonly asked questions.

You can check them out below if you have any such questions as well.

FAQs