Took me 3 months to figure out why my snake plant was turning yellow

I kept checking the soil moisture and adjusting light, thinking it was overwatering. Then I noticed the pot had no drainage holes under the decorative cover. Water had been sitting in that outer pot for weeks. Finally drilled three holes in the bottom and the plant is green again. Has anyone else missed something this obvious with their plants?

2 comments

2 Comments

alex3074d agoMost Upvoted

@river320 yeah thats a good point about assuming the obvious is fine. I did the same thing with a pothos last year. Had it in a plastic nursery pot inside a ceramic one. The bottom of the plastic pot was flat and completely sealed against the ceramic, no air gap. Roots were literally rotting in an inch of water I never saw because I always checked the top inch of soil. Drilled holes in both pots and the thing bounced back in two weeks. Still can't believe I missed that for six months.

river3204d ago

Isn't it wild how the most obvious stuff is always the last thing you check? I think that happens with a lot of things, not just plants. Like, I spent a whole weekend trying to fix my laptop charger, swapping out cords and everything, before I realized the power strip was switched off. We just assume the obvious thing is fine and go looking for some hidden problem, but sometimes it's right in front of us the whole time.