Dracaena ballyi, the dwarf snake plant
Dracaena ballyi
- Exposures
- Sun, Half-shade
- Hardiness (USDA)
- 11a (4.4°C ≤ T° < 7.2°C)
- Lifecycle
- Perennial
- Foliage
- Evergreen
- Family
- Asparagaceae
- Genus
- Dracaena
- Species
- Dracaena ballyi
Other names:Sansevieria naine, Sansevieria ballyi
Small but strong. This 80s advertising slogan may well have been invented for Dracaena ballyi. Also known as Sansevieria ballyi, this dwarf mother-in-law's tongue grows at low altitude in the deserts and rocky massifs of Kenya and Tanzania.
How to recognize the dwarf mother-in-law's tongue, Dracaena ballyi?
The dwarf mother-in-law's tongue is about ten centimetres high and as wide. It is a succulent plant with a bushy habit.
Dracaena ballyi is acaule, like mother-in-law's tongue (Sansevieria trifasciata). But the rosettes of leaves do not emerge directly from the rhizome. They grow on a 15-centimetre stolon. The same plant can develop several stolons and leaf crowns.
The fleshy leaf blades are at best one centimetre wide and ten centimetres long. The lanceolate leaves seem to fold in on themselves, along a shallow vertical furrow. Light green, they are streaked with an even paler green. Their edges are spotted with brown or violet.
In spring, a flowering spike rises from the leaf rosettes. It bears clusters of creamy, almost greenish flowers.
Dwarf stepmother's tongue is toxic. It causes hyper salivation and digestive disorders when ingested. Keep your Sansevieria ballyi away from young children and pets.
Our care tips
To grow the Dracaena ballyi indoors, reproduce the conditions of their natural environment! Sun, warmth and little water. You can even take your succulent out to your windowsill or garden in summer.
Watering
Only water your Dracaena ballyi when the substrate is dry. If you're not sure what your plant needs, observe it: when it's thirsty, its leaves become hollow and stunted.
Avoid tap water, which is often too hard. Instead, use room-temperature rainwater or demineralized water.
Thirty minutes after watering, empty any stagnant water from the saucer or planter to prevent root rot.
Misting
The Dracaena ballyi grow in arid regions and do not like humidity. No need to spray them.
Repotting
In spring, transfer your Dracaena ballyi to a larger pot, so that it can continue to grow.
Line the bottom of a pierced pot with a layer of gravel, small pebbles or clay balls for drainage.
Then pour in a light, well-draining potting soil. You can mix potting soil for green plants with sand, or use a substrate for cacti and succulents.
Plant your Dracaena ballyi in the center. Add potting soil and tamp down. Water to remove air bubbles and facilitate rooting.
Fertilization
You can stimulate the development of your plant during its growth phase, in spring and summer, with fertilizer.
If you want to stimulate the growth of your Dracaena ballyi, mix a liquid fertilizer for cacti and succulents with the water when watering.
Prune
Prune the leaves when they are dry, but do not prune your Dracaena ballyi. Cut leaves do not grow back.
Planting
Once the last spring frosts have passed, you can plant.
Where's the best place to plant your Dracaena ballyi? A sunny spot at the top of a slope, to encourage rainwater drainage.
Dig a large hole to give the roots room to spread out. As for repotting, place a layer of gravel at the bottom, followed by a layer of substrate. Place your plant in the center and cover with soil, possibly enriched with leaf compost. Press down to eliminate air pockets and water.
Taking cuttings
Propagation by cuttings is carried out during the strong growth phase, generally in spring and early summer.
Remove the shoots that form at the base of the plant with their roots. Proceed delicately, with your hands or a clean knife, to avoid damaging the root system.
Prepare a pierced terracotta pot. Block the hole with a pebble and lay a bed of gravel. Pour in a substrate composed of one third potting soil, one third soil and one third sand to promote drainage. Plant your offshoot, tamp it down and add a layer of sand to the surface.
Place your new succulent in a bright room, but without direct sunlight and with a temperature of at least 18 degrees.
Between two applications of water, check that the substrate has dried out, as you would with a mature plant.
Diseases / Threats
Information
- Lifecycle
- Perennial
- Foliage
- Evergreen
- Exposures
- SunHalf-shade
- Substrates
- Calcareous earthHumus soilSandy soil
- Planting methods
- In potsIn tubsPlanter
- Categories
- IndoorRhizomeHerbaceousSucculent
- Tags
- BeginnerToxic
- Origins
- East AfricaCentral Africa
- Hardiness (USDA)
- 11a (4.4°C ≤ T° < 7.2°C)
- Leaf color
- Light green
- Flower color
- White
Discover plants from the same family
Song of India
Dracaena reflexa var. angustifolia
Dragon tree
Dracaena draco
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