My zz was looking weird and soggy at the base and felt hollow and weak. I gave it a gentle tug and it popped off without any resistance! I have no idea what happened! Shes been in a south window and I only water when the soil is incredibly dry, but i noticed the dark spot on the stem about 3 weeks ago and moved it to a sunnier spot. This was a day after her last watering. I lost the first stem on Tuesday and just lost the bigger one today. Heartbreaking.
I plan on putting the pot in my other south window that gets more intense sun to attempt to dry out the soil but i also want to investigate the tubers to see if they’re sick. I’m not sure which would be better. I rent in chicago and my apartment only has north and south windows so that limits my sun options unfortunately
Should i chop it and propagate new roots?? Im at a loss. I thought zz’s were unkillable 🙁
Bonus question: Last pic is of my current ZZ propagation from the same plant, is she almost ready to plant?
by ricknussell
8 Comments
Don’t blame Fluffer Nutter..
maybe try again with a smaller pot and repot into a slightly bigger pot periodically. too big of a pot will take too long to dry and therefore cause rot. also, nice balls!
It’s rot, which is unfortunately just about the only way to kill them. If it was in a darker spot, you probably were still watering too frequently or the soil wasn’t drying out fast enough. The good news is that you can cut above the rot and propagate from the stems! You can also check on the tubers to see if they look okay. I’d definitely recommend putting it directly in the south facing window. They love tons of light!
When you dig up the tubers, put the still good ones back in *dry* soil, so they fit in very snugly. You can propagate the rotting stems ideally with leaf cuttings, which you plop right into dry soil as well.
Pick the south facing window, don’t water for at least 3 weeks.
The last picture: same as above, dry soil, south window, 3 weeks no water
I know right! I have another zz plant in the kitchen that looks the same as the day i bought it. I swear it hasnt grown a centimeter
Sounds like despite your best efforts it was still overwatered. It may have been wet still deeper down even though the surface was totally dry. Did the pot have drainage? How often did you water?
Chop and prop is all you can try with that rotted one that fell out.
My zz is the bane of my existence. A bunch rotted away and the remaining ones I have look the same for months. Not dying but also no thriving. And the rhizomes seem ok.
Awww your cat looks so sad for you!
I don’t like doing the pot-within-decorative-pot thing, because it leads to the inner pot just sitting in water if you’re not careful. This might be what did your plant in? I’ve actually never grown a ZZ