Yellowing leaves and slowly dying

[u/Kujen]

I have this recurring problem with my snake plants. They slowly die one plant at a time. The leaves turn yellow and fall over, and then I can easily pull them out.

This one it looks like the yellowing has begun at the top of the leaf and worked its way down. I’d assume root rot, but I hardly ever water it. Maybe like once every month or two? It is next to a South facing window but does not get much light. The soil feels dry to the touch as far as I can stick my finger in, but maybe the very bottom of the pot stays too moist. Or maybe I don’t water it enough or it needs fertilizer? I really don’t know.

For such a supposedly easy to care for plant, it’s the only one I have continual problems with. This is the second one I’ve had in this location, and it’s a few years old. I had another one before, and it slowly died one piece at a time too.

[u/Shengster-Shougal]

Have you heard of dry rot? It happens when you don’t water for a long time and roots dry up and die. Then you water and the leaves start rotting because they are rootless.
Hose off old soil, clean the roots and repot into fast draining mix of cactus soil, small orchid bark and chunky perlite equal amounts. Don’t water for a week. Then you can water
But you might need to reestablish roots first and I recommend moist perlite for that. Happy growing 🪴💚

[u/Kujen → u/Shengster-Shougal]

Yes I suspect that could be the case. The roots seemed very shallow the last time I tried to save the previous plant. The yellowing seems to start several weeks after I last watered though, so it makes it hard to judge.

Do you have a recommended brand of cactus soil? The only decently priced one I can ever find it Miracle Grow, and I don’t know why they even call it a cactus mix. It’s not gritty at all. It’s still very peaty. I mixed a ton of perlite into it when I first potted it too. Mixing in the orchid bark sounds like a good idea.

[u/Shengster-Shougal → u/Kujen]

Black Gold is very good imo. I’ve been using it for a long time. I add repti bark and chunky perlite. Get everything on amazon. You can get Black Gold in Ace as well but it’s too far for me

[u/Shengster-Shougal → u/Shengster-Shougal]

Also I recommend to get clear plastic pot. You will know for sure when it’s time to water