How to care for/water Snake's Plant (Mother-In-Law Tongue Plant) indoor potted plant?

Question

I have several indoor potted Snake's plants. One pot has several kinds of plants in it, and is reasonably large - probably 16" diameter. It is filled with Prayer plants, another plant (the name escapes me at the moment), and two varieties of Snake's Tongue. One of them looks like S. trifasciata (Snakeskin Plant), and the other one looks like S. trifasciata laurentii (Mother-in-Law's Tongue). I have had trouble knowing how to water the pot. The latter Snake's plant I mentioned loses leaves when they become soft and bend over. I lost about 18" of one leaf to that, and it looks like I'm about to lose 4" of another leaf due to that. The first variety mentioned doesn't seem to have that problem.

I don't remember when I fertilized it last, but it's been a while. The Prayer plant and the other plant variety don't seem to mind less water, they just don't grow as fast, and may drop a few leaves - usually nothing major. I usually let the soil get reasonably dry before watering it. The pot is a clay pot if it matters, and it is on the south side of a window facing east, so it gets plenty of light, it's just not direct through the window.

Am I over or under watering, or is there something else I am missing?

Answer 1

The problem with mixing plants that need different watering regimes is that it's hard to keep everyone happy.

Sanseveria and the smaller version sometimes called Hahnia will exist under low light but do really well in strong diffuse light in a well drained soil. When this plant is over watered the leaves become plump and soft and rot.

The prayer plant or Maranta leuconeura has shallow roots and benefits from a soil that is moister and has more organic matter in it.

The plants that you have need different types of soil and watering. You could separate them or try and give them more light and check that the soil is dry a few inches down before watering.

Fertilizer is not really an issue here as it is unlikely that the levels of nitrogen and phosphorous and potassium are a limiting factor to growth.