Zz Plant fail
I knew these were picky but I thought I could do it. Any tips on if this can be revived? Currently reporting. #zzplant
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@FoxyBromeliad it may not show well but one of the stems and leaves is very yellow and leaves are curled. Is this normal?
Make sure the plant is in a tight pot, they like to be slightly root bound and they want their doily to dry out completely before watering again so try putting it in a well draining pot. If you need to prop to save, each leaf can be cut and propped. Cut, leave to callus for a day or two, put in water or a well draining soil mix in the smallest pots you have, the propagated leaf will eventually die off once the plant is established. The biggest things with zz plants is water when completely dry and while they can be in low light, they prefer bright, indirectly light.
@plantymidwife thank you! I repotted with new mixed soil, and soaked it through. It's been a few days and it looks honestly the same. @philo447 thanks for the tip! The one brand that is looking sparse may be a great one to cut, just to see if I can get something growing. It is currently in medium indirect light but I am going to move it over slightly to try to increase light. @freesugarpine great idea! I never had one because but I'll take a look into kt
@Philo447 I have not heard that about ZZ plants. Can you elaborate on that or provide context that’s pretty interesting. There are some plants that have shallow root systems like hawthoria succulents that prefer to be in type pots. if the pot is too big, the plant cannot deal with that much hydration in the substrate so a better fit is a smaller pot that the shallow root system can thrive in by contrast. Sometimes it’s also said that plants like African violets like to be root bound so that they will bloom, but this is actually sort of misleading it is true, that an African violet will not bloom as much unless it’s in a small pot but the reason is not due to the health of the plant in a small planter, the roots will fill up the available space in short order. Once that is accomplished, the plant will focus on blooms often times the plant will not bloom the African violet or Christmas cactus, because the plant is dedicating its energy to expanding its root system. An African violet that is in a larger pot with a more expanded route system that doesn’t bloom as much is not any less healthy than one in a smaller pot that blooms more. Zz plants often grow in tight spaces in the Rocky out crops in their native habitat but they don’t have shallow root systems, so I’m curious to know what effect having them in a pot has
@TexanExpat From my what I learned at the botanical center I work at, they are slow growing plants, so they put a lot of energy into anything they do. If there is space in the pot, they will just grow roots the majority of they time. It's to encourage shoots to pop out.
@Philo447 very interesting—so it’s the same thing as African Violets. The bigger the pot you give them, the more energy they will direct towards roots instead of blooms, or in this case, foliage. In the case of my raven, I like to think its plumage. My raven came from Home Depot and it was in a nursery pot so after a while I put in a ceramic mid century round planter because I wanted to showcase the foliage in a way that cannot be done with matte finish like with terra cotta or concrete. Not long there after, I realized it had a fungal infection that it probably had when I bought it, yet did not see it given how dark the foliage is. In fact it was a mystery that the leaves kept having deformities on them that I could not figure out why because I assumed it had to be mechanical damage from getting cut or munched on. Eventually an app diagnosed it as fungal disease, which I later realized another plant I had was having splits in the leaves result from whatever fungal disease that was. The plant has been very slow growing since then and….now I can infer it must be going to the roots! Thx !
Interesting to know! I have a ZZ, my first one, I’ve repotted once but it’s very slow growing and I’ve had him for a year now.