Just wanted to share this funny story from a few months back. My office snake plant was struggling bad–leaves were wrinkled and completely drooped over. It had sprouted a pup, but the pup hadn't grown at all for several months. I did some research and read posts here, and figured it was overwatered, so I cut back on watering. Unfortunately, no improvement, and it seemed like all the info I could find based on my plant's symptoms pointed to "likely underwatering or overwatering."
One of my colleagues is a grumpy older guy who used to love growing bonsais and exotic houseplants. He's kind of gruff and his job is way more important than mine, so I hate to bother him but I bit the bullet and brought my plant to his office to ask for advice.
He looked at it, stuck a finger in the soil, and told me to immediately give it half an ounce of milk, and that I had been underwatering by a lot. So, off to the cafeteria I went for a little carton of milk, gave a thorough watering, and the leaves were back upright within 72 hours. We're now on a 2x a week watering schedule, and the little pup is as tall as mama!
So…did I just miss the memo that sometimes plants need milk? Has anyone else had a plant they thought was a lost cause saved by totally unexpected advice?
by i_fart_chemtrails
14 Comments
It means your soil was no good. The plant was lacking calcium or another micronutrient, which the milk supplemented.
Refresh your soil.
I mean… I’ve seen plants thrive on bong water, gatorade, coffee…. I guess milk isn’t the weirdest thing keeping them alive anymore. If the plant hasn’t been getting enough nutrients, I can see the very tiny amount of milk giving it some beneficial nutrients and then giving a good watering should flush out any excess milk stench lol
Gotta grow up big and strong somehow.
Is he a Ron Swanson type?
I am mega curious on his scientific reasoning on the milk.. what happens when the milk starts to turn? Did your snake plant develop a smell after this? Also 2x a week seems like a LOT of water for a snake plant. Are you watering thoroughly, or in small amounts? I mean if it’s a happy plant, do what you’re doing! Always follow what’s working for you – my flabbers are ghasted by this 🤣
I have read some things lately about the importance of calcium for plants, which is something I never really thought about before. The milk must have given it a boost.
Two times a week seems way too much for this plant unless you live in the middle of the sahara.
Try rice wash water next time, the milk can rot if you don’t have enough drainage. Your essentially just giving the plant a healthy dose of lactus bacillus, these organism are essentially “the health care team” in your soil. I use lactic acid (cheese whey) or in KNF culture a LAB, particularly when I transfer my weed plants from one pot to another, it really helps with stunting in that application.
Edit: x2 a week seems like A LOT of water, I water my snake like once a month, maybe twice in the summer.
Second edit: my instincts tell me your watering that much because of displaced/compacted soil. Your snake could be root bound and thus lacking in actual soil volume. This is also an issue that happens to my weed plants when I use 5 gal pots.
Is this a once in a while treatment, or do you feed it dairy?
He need some milk!
I want to know where ya got the dino plant clippy things. Paperclips? Inquiring minds want to know!
Funny that this post showed up because I JUST asked my go to plant dealer what I should do for a Draceana I have that is covered in brown spots, and he said to cut off all the severely affected leaves, and spray what’s left with 50% milk/water while it’s bright out.
ETA: milk+sunlight has a short lived antiseptic effect, and the plant has rust fungus!
My mum did this and the original plant hasn’t stopped growing. It’s massive and has produced dozens of baby plants.
Sometimes this subreddit has questionable advice, the biggest thing is with over/under watering, the thing that causes those two to be similar is root rot because the roots stop working so effectively it isn’t getting enough water because of to much water, it your soil is being left to dry between watering its not being over watered
Wow. That’s interesting. I would think that milk would sour and the plant would stink? Did it do that?