Beginners Care Guide for the Sansevieria Hallii

Sometimes referred to as the Baseball Bat Snake Plant, the Sansevieria Hallii is considered a rare specimen of the sansevieria genus. Let’s take a closer look at this unique succulent plant.

Sansevieria Hallii Quick Care Summary

Getting to Know Sansevieria Trifasciata

Name

Scientific Name: Sansevieria Hallii Chahin

Common Name(s): Baseball bat plant, sickly mother-in-law’s tongue

Origin

Like most other snake plants, the Sansevieria Hallii can be found growing on the African continent. They are most common in their native surroundings in areas such as Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

They grow on a sandy substrate in areas that receive unpredictable rainfall. Due to this sporadic water supply, the Sansevieria Hallii has developed the ability to store water reserves in its leaves (like other succulent plants). This water reserve allows the Sansevieria Hallii to be drought-resistant and able to last long periods of dryness.

Snake plants also have adapted their root system to develop underground stems, otherwise known as rhizomes, which act as emergency reserves during natural disasters, like fire or severe droughts.

The rhizomes also make it easy to propagate Sansevieria Hallii, but we’ll explore that in more detail later in the article.

Appearance & Flowers

The primary appeal of this rare sansevieria is the unique shape of the foliage, unlike other snake plants, like Sansevieria Trifasciata, which have sword-shaped leaves. The Sansevieria Hallii has rounded ends, which closely represent the end of a baseball bat – hence their common name.

The Sansevieria Hallii belongs to the smaller range of snake plants, growing to approximately 2.5-3 feet tall. They grow in clusters that develop to be roughly a foot wide and display colors that vary from a dusty grey-green to the more typical snake plant colors of dark bottle-green.

The Sansevieria Hallii also sports variegated patterns that travel horizontally along the leaves, giving them the beautiful aesthetics we have come to associate with snake plants.

When it comes to flowering, the Sansevieria Hallii can produce blooms that develop from the base of the plant – close to the soil. The flowers are cream-colored, and the tubes have a light move/pink hue. They grow in clusters with multiple long tubes open to a beautiful display of stamens and petals unfurling at the ends.

That said, Sansevieria Hallii does not flower annually, so take plenty of pictures if you are fortunate enough to experience one in bloom.

Sansevieria Hallii Detailed Care Instructions

This section will expand on the care summary we provided earlier in the guide. We’ll look deeper into the care regiment required to get these beautiful plants flourishing at home.

Water Requirements

Sanseveria Hallii prefers its soil to dry between each watering.

The challenging part is knowing when the soil is dry and when to provide water.

Using a finger soil moisture test is a budget-friendly and convenient way to tell when the soil is dry.

The accurate way to tell when the soil is dry is to use a soil moisture meter from your nursery or online at Amazon.

At first, it may feel like you will never master the watering schedule. However, as you care for your Sansevieria Hallii, you will begin to understand their water needs intimately.

The watering frequency changes each season. For guidance on seasonal water frequency, check out our article HERE.

Lighting Requirements

Sansevieria Hallii love an abundance of plenty of bright light.

Position your indoor Sansevieria Hallii in a position that receives plenty of indirect light. Direct sunlight is tolerated, however, only in small doses. Midday and afternoon sun is too intense for indoor snake plants and will quickly dehydrate the leaves, causing leaf burn.

When grown outdoors, the Sansevieria Hallii becomes hardened to the weather elements and has higher tolerances for direct sunlight.

Read more HERE for tips on lighting conditions for snake plants.

Temperature Requirements Sansevieria Hallii

As succulents from Africa, your Sansevieria Hallii thrive in warm weather.

The recommended indoor temperature for Hallii is between 55-85° Fahrenheit (12-29° Celsius).

We caution all snake plant owners to be careful of extreme temperatures. Water expands when frozen. This means the water reserves in the Hallii leaves can freeze, causing irreparable damage to the leaf cells.

We recommend bringing your Hallii (and other snake plants) indoors for the winter. It will protect them from the harsh cold temperatures and ensure they don’t experience frost damage.

Humidity Requirements

Keep your Sansevieria Hallii in between 30 and 50% relative humidity.

Short-term fluctuations won’t bother your Hallii. However, check the relative humidity with a hygrometer if your Sansevieria is beginning to suffer.

Humidity can be challenging to control. However, it is essential for regulating your snake plant’s internal processes, like transpiration.

Not enough moisture in the air (low humidity) accelerates the transpiration process, quickly dehydrates your plant, and causes water stress.

Too much moisture (high humidity) will prevent transpiration at the other extreme, and your Sansevieria Hallii will suffocate.

We have written an in-depth article discussing how humidity affects snake plants.

Soil & Fertilizer Requirements

The soil quality you use for your Sansevieria Hallii can profoundly affect your houseplant’s health.

Quality soil will reduce the frequency of your watering, facilitate the uptake of nutrients by your Hallii, and reduce its susceptibility to pests and disease.

To be effective, your snake plant soil must be:

• well-draining,
• a sandy loam consistency (light and airy), and
• contain some organic materials with water absorption properties.

We have devised a recipe for the perfect snake plant potting mix. You can also watch our video on making snake plant soil below.

Pest and Diseases

If there is one disease that you should familiarise yourself with for your Sansevieria Hallii, it is root rot.

Root rot is a fungal disease that can develop when your snake plant has been sitting in waterlogged soil from being overwatered. The process of eliminating root rot is straightforward. However, it is onerous. You can read our step-by-step guide for removing root rot in snake plants HERE.

Some leaf-borne fungal diseases, such as mildew and leaf spot, can infect your Hallii. We explore these diseases and (more importantly) treatments HERE.

Snake plants are most susceptible to sap-sucking insects like mealybugs, spider mites, and thrips. These pests have the equipment to penetrate the tough outer layer of the foliage and access the nutrient-rich sap.

The best way to detect any signs of pests (or disease, for that matter) is to regularly inspect your potted plants and manually remove any pests you see. The key is not letting their population get out of hand and become an infestation.

You can read more about symptoms of pest infestation HERE.

Pot Size

Like other snake plants, Sansevieria Hallii requires a tight root system to support its large leaves.

When placed in a container too large for their root system, they will refocus their energy on developing the roots rather than growing new leaves. While they are still growing (under the soil), they will appear to be experiencing stunted growth.

Your snake plant pot should also have adequate drainage with plenty of drainage holes. As we pointed out earlier, constantly wet soil rots your Hallii’s root system.

Sansevieria Hallii Propagation Techniques

To preserve the stunning variegated patterns and colors, we recommend only propagating your Hallii using the propagation method by plant division or by splitting snake plant pups.

Propagating your Sansevieria Hallii with a cutting in water or soil risks the new plant reverting to a regular pattern on the foliage, similar to the Sansevieria Trifasciata.

To propagate by plant division, follow these steps:

1. Remove the root ball – lift the mother snake plant root ball out of its container.
2. Clean and prepare the root ball – rinse your snake plant’s roots under warm water to clear the soil away.
3. Identify the rhizome – find the rhizome attached to the baby Hallii snake pup. Cut the rhizome as close to the main root ball of the mother plant as possible. You want to retain as many thin roots as possible with the rhizome.
4. Re-pot your Plants – re-pot your mother snake plant into the original pot with some fresh potting mix. At the same time, fill your propagation containers a third up with a good-quality potting mix (discussed above). Place each pup into the pot and backfill with quality potting mix until the soil level covers the white parts of the rhizome and pups. Give all your plants good watering and ensure all excess water drains out.

You can find step-by-step instructions HERE if you prefer to propagate using cuttings.