Plants for Beginners - ZZ Plant
Have you ever wanted pretty plants, but felt too intimidated to try or maybe just lost your confidence after killing a few plants? Never fear. ZZ Plant is here!
You can do it. Seriously.
If you are a plant care veteran, spread the word. Part of the reason this became such a popular plant recently is because it is pretty low maintenance. The other reason is probably because it's pretty.
If you are the type who forgets to water, or you have a busy schedule, you travel frequently for short periods, or you just want an easy to care for plant, this is the one for you.
If you are an over waterer with plants, don't do that to this one.
See that lump popping up above the soil? That's a rhizome.
New branches of the plant grow out of these, and the rhizomes store water, which is why the plants can tolerate dry soil.
What's a rhizome, you may ask.
The rhizome is actually part of the stem of the plant, even though it's in the soil. The roots are connected to it, but the rhizome is not a root. A rhizome is basically a stem that grows horizontally, and then the roots come out the bottom and stems, as we more conventionally know them, come out of the top.
Because rhizomes grow horizontally, it helps the plant spread. Don't worry. You won't have to re-pot your ZZ plant very often. These plants are not fast growers, generally. You'll probably only need to re-pot every year or two, and go up only slightly larger in pot size.
It's normal for the rhizomes to pop up like this one, and you don't need to repot.
You could throw some pretty pebbles, or decorative moss over the top of the soil if you don't want to look at the rhizome popping out.
Just put this plant in indirect light and water it when the soil is all the way dry, and you are doing great!
Easy.
The leaves do have a tendency to get dusty after a while. You can do two things. 1) Keep a delicate brush around, like a make up brush, or a feather duster, or something that won't break the leaves, and dust them off sometimes.
2)Run the leaves under the shower or similar once in a while (that's what I do)
You really don't need to take a cloth and wipe the top and bottom of every leaf like some people do. That defeats the purpose of getting a low maintenance plant if you do that.
FERTILIZER:
If you have the plant for a while, you may want to think about fertilizer at the right time, but that's not to worry about if you are a beginner.
If you think you are ready for fertilizer, only use it during the plant's growing season during spring through fall, and use sparingly. Once a month, or even two will do.
ZZ Plant, Zanzibar Gem, Zamioculcus Zamiiofolia, Zuzu Plant, Aroid Palm, Emerald Palm, Eternity Plant.
A few of the different names for this plant.
It is native to eastern Africa, from South Africa up to southern Kenya.
I just love these plants. I love the glossy leaves. I love the dark green and light green combination. I love that they are sturdy. I love that they are easy to take care of. You can grow them and divide them up into more plants easily too.
You can find one to purchase here: https://whitewhaleplants.com/products/zz-plant-in-pink-textured-pot
FREE DELIVERY in the Nashville, TN area.
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