Snake plant

• Watering on a fixed weekly schedule regardless of how dry the soil is — snake plant wants to dry out completely between waterings, and a routine schedule almost always means overwatering.
• Letting water pool in the central rosette when watering from above — this is one of the more common ways the plant actually rots; water around the base instead.
• Choosing a pot with no drainage hole for a 'clean' look — without somewhere for excess water to go, the thick rhizomatous roots sit wet and rot far faster than the plant's tough reputation suggests.
• Repotting too often 'to help it grow' — it prefers being slightly pot-bound, and frequent repotting disturbs roots for no real benefit given how slowly it grows.
• Expecting it to handle direct outdoor Dubai summer sun the way it handles indoor light — it's an understorey plant by nature and its leaves can scorch in full, unshaded outdoor sun.

• Sansevieria trifasciata was included in NASA's 1989 Clean Air Study, which found it removed measurable formaldehyde and benzene in sealed test chambers — a real result, though later critiques (including from the EPA) note a typical room would need dozens of plants to replicate any meaningful real-world effect.
• The ASPCA lists it as toxic to both dogs and cats due to saponins in the leaves, though the toxicity is classed as mild rather than severe.
• Its CAM (crassulacean acid metabolism) photosynthesis is the biological reason it loses so little water — it opens its pores mainly at night rather than during the heat of the day.
• It is one of the slowest-growing common houseplants, so a specimen bought at a modest size will stay a manageable fit for a small apartment for years.

Toxicity: Toxic to dogs and cats, according to the ASPCA — contains saponins. Chewing causes drooling, vomiting and diarrhoea; classed as low toxicity and not usually life-threatening, but keep it away from pets that chew on houseplants.