How to Plant, Grow, and Care for Sansevieria Ballyi

Sansevieria ballyi, or dwarf sansevieria, is a perfect addition to your succulent garden or indoor houseplant collection. A close cousin to the classic mother-in-law’s tongue, it’s just as easy to care for.

Much like other snake plants, this one is adaptable to varying conditions. The one thing that is important to be aware of is how you’re watering it. Other than that, S. ballyi is incredibly simple to care for.

So let’s discuss the dwarf sansevieria so you can grow one at home!

Sansevieria Ballyi Overview

Plant Type Succulent Family Asparagaceae Genus Dracaena Species Sansevieria ballyi, synonym Dracaena ballyi	Native Area Kenya and Tanzania Exposure Full sun, bright indirect light Height 12” Watering Requirements Low	Pests and Diseases Spider mites and mealybugs, root rot Maintenance Low Soil Type Well-draining sandy cactus soil Hardiness Zone 10-11

What is Sansevieria Ballyi?

Sansevieria ballyi, commonly known as dwarf sansevieria or Bally’s snake plant, is a compact and hardy succulent. This plant is part of the Asparagaceae family and is prized for its architectural rosette growth habit and distinctive cylindrical leaves that taper to sharp points. Sansevieria ballyi is a slow-growing species, making it ideal for small spaces or container gardening.

Native Area

Native to east tropical Africa, namely southern Kenya and Tanzania like many sansevierias, Sansevieria ballyi is also known by its common name of the dwarf snake plant. It was named after Dr. Peter R. O. Bally, who was a Swiss botanist working at the Coryndon Museum in Nairobi and found it growing on a rocky ridge of Kivuko Hill in southeast Kenya. He described and named many succulents growing in East Africa and is commemorated in the names of many species.

Characteristics

S. ballyi has laterally compressed, recurved, nearly cylindrical leaves, reaching a length of two to four inches long and a quarter of an inch thick. These leaves are mostly green with horizontal bands. The apex is red-brown in color and composed of a spine grooved on the face. There are gray-colored stolons connecting rosettes at the plant’s base. The plant widens near the leaf bases.

Dwarf sansevieria is a flowering plant with pale greenish white flowers that are showy, reaching up to one inch in length and clustered on a six inches long raceme. In its natural habitat, you’ll see these flowers in summer clustered together. Each cluster usually contains two flowers. The plant is not very tall, reaching up to a maximum height of about ten inches. This makes it great for a small pot or hanging basket.

Recent reclassification changed what was originally Sanseverinia to the genus Dracaena, which would make the plant’s name Dracaena ballyi. However, many still use the sansevieria botanical name. Whether or not this would have caused any ire with the Swiss botanist who named the plant is left to the annals of history.

How to Grow

Like most snake plants, Sansevieria ballyi is super easy to care for! Let’s discuss its base needs.

Light

Sansevieria ballyi thrives in just about any light whether it’s bright light and full sun or low light to shady areas. It has good tolerance to low light levels, but for optimal growth, give it bright filtered light. Under low light conditions, the cylindrical leaves become darker green in color, etiolated, and longer and thinner than usual.

A good indoor spot for the dwarf snake plant would be in front of a north-facing window or in front of a a bright sunny window with a bit of protection against the brightest parts of the day. Extreme bright light will cause the leaves to turn yellow at the edges.

Water

Dwarf sansevieria is very drought-tolerant and you only need to water then about once a week during the growing season. Allow the top one inch of the soil to be completely dry between individual waterings, as overwatering will cause root rot. During winters, water just enough to prevent the soil from drying out entirely.

Make sure humidity is nice and low where you decide to place your plant. Along with wet soil, they don’t tolerate moist air well.

Soil

Like most other xerophytic plants, S. ballyi grows best in porous, well-drained potting mix or cactus mix. A slightly acidic soil mix around pH 6.5 ensures ideal growth. You can use gravel, perlite, and decomposed granite to add weight and improve poorly-drained soil.

Temperature

Sansevieria ballyi is theoretically hardy to 25°F (-4°C) but for normal growth, you need to avoid severe freezing temperatures and also make sure they don’t receive winter rainfall. Warmer temperatures within the range of 60-75°F (16-21°C) are best.

Fertilizing

Sansevierias are light feeders. You can use a balanced fertilizer mixture to fertilize your dwarf sansevieria once a month during summer. Dilute it to half the strength as labeled on the container. There’s no need to fertilize during winter.

Maintenance

Sansevieria ballyi is a slow grower. You can repot your sansevieria every two to three years into a container one size larger when the roots outgrow the pot. Fill the new container with a commercial lightweight cactus mix. Remove the plant from the existing container when the soil is dry for ease of repotting.

You don’t need to prune ever if you don’t want to. Remove any dead or damaged foliage as and when needed with a sharp pruning shears. Pruning can be done if you want a mature plant to look more heavy and bushy.

Propagation

Vegetative propagation by division or by leaf cutting are the best methods. Remove and root the plantlets produced at the end of each stolon.

When rooting the plantlets, it’s important that you do not remove it until it has developed stilt roots. This is because the plantlets grow a rosette of dark green leaves before they begin the root growth, so patience is key.

Once the stilt roots have grown sufficiently long, you can cut the stolon at any point and pot the new plant in a slightly moist and porous soil. Make sure the cuttings are at least one inch in length.

Common Problems

You will not experience any serious growing problems under normal conditions.

Growing Problems

The most common issue with this plant is over-watering, as it is very quick to rot in wet soil. Overwatering the plant will attract mold and fungal growth and cause rotting of roots. It makes the roots turn brown and mushy. As it progresses, dark green leaves also turn yellow, wilted, and droop low. They later become mushy as well.

Don’t leave the dwarf snake plant outside when the temperature goes below 55°F as it can cause cold damage to the plant resulting in scarred leaves.

Pests

Mealybugs and spider mites are the most likely pests.

In the case of mealybugs, take a cotton swab, dip it in rubbing alcohol, and wipe the leaves down with it. Follow the same routine of wiping with rubbing alcohol for a spider mite attack. But, if the infestation is bad, you might need to cut off the infected sections of the plant.

Diseases

The Sansevieria ballyi dwarf does not get affected by diseases. They mostly suffer from fungal infections as a result of root rot. These can be treated using fungicides and making sure the soil is free-draining and not kept wet.

Frequently Asked Questions