🌿 Snake Plant Leaves Turning Brown
Noticing your snake plant’s leaves turning brown? Don’t panic — it’s more common than you think, and in most cases, it’s totally fixable.
The first time I saw brown tips on my snake plant, I thought it was just a one-off.
A dry corner, maybe a bad watering day.
But then the brown kept creeping — tips shriveled, edges cracked, and eventually, whole leaves softened or collapsed.
I’ve since learned that brown leaves are your snake plant’s way of waving a flag.
Something’s off — and the plant’s trying to tell you.
The tricky part is, “brown” can mean different things depending on whether it’s dry, soft, patchy, or showing up at the base.
I’ll try to break down each type of browning I’ve encountered, what causes it, and exactly how I brought my plants back to life.
If your leaves are crispy, mushy, or just plain sad-looking, there’s probably a fix — and I’ll walk with you through it step by step.
When I first saw crispy brown edges on my Mother in Law Tongue Plant, I honestly thought it was sunburn — or maybe the plant was just “old.”
But within a few weeks, the leaf tips started curling, and the once-stiff leaves turned paper-thin and brittle.
That’s when I realized: this wasn’t cosmetic — it was a cry for help.
Crispy browning usually means your plant is losing moisture faster than it can take it in.
The environment is either too harsh, the roots are struggling, or your watering schedule is off.
It’s frustrating, I know — but the good news is, it’s rarely too late to fix.
Here’s what I check when this happens:
This sneaks up on me most often in winter.
Even if you’re watering normally, dry air can pull moisture out of the leaves faster than the roots can replace it.
You’ll notice this especially if the browning is at the tips and edges, and the leaves feel thin or slightly curled.
Here’s what works for me:
I made this mistake with a plant I placed in a west-facing window.
The afternoon sun hit the leaves for hours and slowly baked them.
The tips turned brown and crispy, and the damage crept downward.
Snake plants love bright light, but direct sun for long periods, especially through glass, can scorch them.
This is my approach:
Here’s the one I underestimated: even when I watered regularly, my soil was so dense and dry that water wasn’t reaching the roots. If the plant is root-bound or the soil has gone hydrophobic (repelling water), the leaves can get crispy from dehydration.
Steps I take:
If you’ve been feeding your plant or using tap water, salts can build up in the soil and burn the leaf tips. It starts slow — just a bit of browning — but over time, it leads to dry, crunchy edges.
My process is:
If your plant has several crispy leaves but the rest look healthy, don’t panic. Snake plants are resilient, and brown edges don’t mean you’ve failed — just that it’s time for a little care reset.
📌 Tip:
Snake plants don’t like their roots wet — make sure your pot has a drainage hole.
So, you’ve noticed the leaves aren’t just crispy at the edges — now they’re going full-on dry, discolored, and even hollow-feeling from top to bottom. That’s when I know I’ve got a deeper issue to tackle.
This happened to one of my older plants I thought was thriving.
The top looked fine for weeks, but slowly, the leaves started turning brown along the entire length.
When I squeezed one, it felt dry and papery — not just at the tip, but all the way through.
Dry browning like this is usually a sign of long-term water stress or root failure, sometimes paired with environmental triggers.
Let me walk you through what to check if this is what you’re seeing:
Snake plants are drought-tolerant — but they still need water.
If you go months without watering (especially in hot or dry seasons), the leaves can dry out from the inside.
This kind of dehydration isn’t just tip damage — it’s structural.
The leaf starts to collapse, lose color, and can eventually crack or break.
How I fix this:
Sometimes, it’s not a care mistake at all.
Snake plants naturally shed older leaves over time — and when they do, they often brown and dry slowly from the tip down.
How I handle it:
Dry leaves can also mean your plant’s roots can’t take up moisture, even if you’re watering normally.
I had one case where the soil looked fine, but when I finally pulled the plant out, the roots were compacted and wrapped in circles.
The leaves were dry because the roots weren’t doing their job anymore.
Steps I take:
Dry browning feels dramatic, but it’s not always a death sentence.
Snake plants are incredibly forgiving, and once you pinpoint the root cause, you’ll often see new pups or firm green growth within weeks.
🌞 Did You Know?
Direct sunlight can scorch snake plant leaves. Filtered light is best.
🧪 Reminder:
If your soil smells sour or earthy, it might be harboring root rot bacteria.
This one hits differently.
I’ll never forget the first time I touched a snake plant leaf and felt it squish near the base.
It wasn’t dry or crispy like the usual damage — it was soft, cold, and a little… gross. That was the moment I learned about rot.
When snake plant leaves turn soft and brown, it usually means one thing: too much water — either from overwatering, poor soil, or a pot that doesn’t drain well.
And while it feels like a death sentence, I promise you — you can save it, if you act fast.
So, what do I do when I spot this?
I gently press the base of the browning leaf — if it feels squishy, kind of mushy, or discolored with dark patches, that part of the leaf is likely starting to rot. Sometimes, when I tug on it, the leaf almost slips right out.
When that happens, I don’t wait — I cut the leaf above the soft area, where it still feels firm and green.
And no, I don’t just leave it be — leaving mushy parts in the pot can spread rot to the roots or other leaves. I
always remove anything that’s gone soft.
This is where I usually face the music.
More often than not, I realize I’ve been watering just a bit too frequently.
Snake plants don’t like “a little water every few days.”
They want a deep soak, then a dry spell.
If I water again too soon — even lightly — the roots never get to breathe.
I now let the soil dry completely before watering again.
Not just the top inch — I test deeper down with a wooden skewer or even my finger.
If I feel dampness halfway through the pot, I wait.
And if I ever suspect that the soil is just staying wet for too long — like in colder seasons — I check the mix.
Heavy, soggy soil is a big red flag.
That’s when I repot the plant using this kind of airy, fast-draining mix that actually lets the roots dry out properly between drinks.
If more than one leaf is soft or the whole plant feels wobbly, I gently unpot it and look at the roots.
This is where I’ve seen the real damage.
Black, slimy, or smelly roots = rot.
Here’s my go-to fix:
✅ I rinse off all the soil under lukewarm water.
✅ Then, I trim off any black or soft roots using clean, sharp scissors.
✅ I let the healthy roots air-dry for a few hours (just like I would for a succulent).
✅ Then, I repot in fresh, dry soil and wait a good 3–5 days before watering again.
Sometimes, if the rot is too far gone, I’ll cut off healthy leaves and propagate them.
It’s a last-resort move — but I’ve saved plants that way more than once.
Soft browning is a warning.
It means your snake plant is stressed, but it’s not over.
Once you catch it, trim it, and give it better airflow and soil, it can bounce back like nothing ever happened.
🪴 Fun Fact:
Snake plants can survive drought, but they’ll look much happier with just the right watering rhythm.
This one used to catch me off guard.
The leaves looked healthy — stiff, green, upright — but right where they met the soil?
A brown, soggy-looking ring was creeping in.
Sometimes it looked dry and cracked, other times soft and wet. But every time, it meant one thing: my snake plant was in trouble from below.
Browning at the base is like an early warning system. It can point to rot, dehydration, compacted roots, or even pests. The trick is figuring out which one before it spreads.
The first thing I do is gently move the leaves apart and inspect where they emerge from the soil. If it’s brown and mushy, I know I’ve likely been overwatering, or the pot isn’t draining right. I’ve made that mistake — using a stylish pot with no drainage hole — and it always ends in root issues. (That’s why I only use pots with proper drainage holes now.)
But sometimes, the base isn’t soft — just dry and shriveled. That’s usually a sign of chronic underwatering or root dehydration. If the roots have pulled away from the soil or the plant’s been in the same pot for too long, moisture just isn’t reaching the base like it should.
If the base is soft or rotting:
If the base is dry and shriveled:
Sometimes, I’ve also found pests or fungus gnats lurking around a browning base, especially if the soil stays damp for too long. I keep an eye out for that, too — and in bad cases, treat with neem oil or repot entirely.
The key takeaway?
Don’t ignore the base — even if the rest of the plant looks fine.
It’s where the problems start, and also where recovery begins.
🛑 Common Mistake:
People often mistake dry brown leaves for underwatering, when it’s actually compacted or old soil.
Embrace the spirit of horticulture and spread the seeds of wisdom
One Response
Great breakdown on the different causes of browning snake plant leaves! I’ve found that mine tends to get crispy edges whenever it’s too close to a sunny window—moving it a few feet back made a huge difference. It’s always interesting how sensitive these ‘low-maintenance’ plants can be to lighting changes.