Do Snake Plants Flower? Why is your Snake Plant Flowering

A flowering snake plant is a site that only a few lucky souls have the honor to experience. You can have a snake plant for years without any sign of flowering and one day you see a long flower stalk emerging out of it.

So, if you are wondering: 

Do snake plants flower?

Yes, snake plants do flower but once in a blue moon and are quite shocking even for veteran snake plant owners. Otherwise a very popular houseplant, snake plant is never known for its bloom, it usually flowers when it goes through some sort of stressful condition.

As seeing a flowering snake plant is not a very common phenomenon, it might raise a lot of questions in your mind. 

It sure did, when I saw my cylindrical snake plant flower for the first time.

So, I will try to answer as many questions as I can think of.

Table of Content

• Why is your snake plant flowering/blooming?
• Do snake plants die after flowering?
• How often do snake plants flower?
• What does it mean when a snake plant flowers?
• How do I get my snake plant to flower?

Why is your snake plant flowering? 

A Snake Plant flowers when it gets a lot of sun and less watering, due to which it starts to produce roots rapidly in search of water and ultimately gets root bound as it is usually grown in pots indoors.

Due to less watering, the plant faces a drought-like situation and thinks that it is going to die.

Its survival instinct makes it produce flowers, so that it can ultimately produce seeds and live again.

A flowering snake plant means that your plant is in some kind of stress; mostly it blooms when it is root bound and due for up potting. 

Up potting simply means repotting your plant into a bigger container than the present one. 

So, if your snake plant has just bloomed, make sure to take it out of the pot & check its root and move it to a bigger pot if you find them to be root bound.

Do Snake Plants Die After Flowering? 

No, snake plants don’t die after flowering. But you do need to increase its watering frequency and give it a bigger room (pot). 

Keeping it under stress is something you wouldn’t want to do for a long time. 

Another useful article – Top Reasons Behind Aloe Vera Plant Leaves Bending

How Often Do Snake Plants Flower? 

It is a very rare sight for a snake plant to flower and will happen very rarely and unexpectedly.

This is not something you are going to experience every now and then. 

So, don’t keep waiting for it.

Though you can try to make it flower by providing it the optimal conditions.

What does it mean when a snake plant flowers? 

If your snake plant is flowering it means that it is going through some sort of stress and believes that it is going to die. 

So, to continue its legacy it starts to produce flowers and ultimately seeds to start a new life from scratch.

Although, if you just start to give it water more frequently it will get back to normal. 

Another reason for stress can be root bound condition, due to which it is not able to absorb water as most of the potting soil is replaced by roots which keeps it dehydrated. 

Do you see roots coming out of the pot? 

Or does water drain out of the pot extra-ordinarily fast? 

Then surely its roots are bounded and it needs to be transplanted into a bigger pot.

How do you make a snake plant bloom?

To make a snake plant bloom, you will have to place it in a location with a lot of sun, usually a south facing window, where it can sunbathe all day long. 

Otherwise popular as a low light plant, snake plants do survive in low light but it is not something that will keep the plant the most happy. 

In order to force a snake plant to bloom, move it to a sunnier spot and only water when the soil is very dry. 

In this way, you are making it go through drought-like situations, in response to which it will produce blooms. 

Although, it is not a good idea to make your plant go through this stressful condition, but to have a one time experience you can surely try it. 

Also, once it blooms, make sure to increase watering and move it to a bigger pot, as it will surely be root bound by now. 

Leaving your plant in such a situation for a long time will surely do irreversible damage. 

Wrapping Up 

A flowering snake plant is a rare phenomenon and if your plant has bloomed consider yourself lucky. 

Also, do make sure to comment what went through your mind when you saw flower stalks on your snake plant for the first time?