I have already killed 2 or 3 ZZ plants – I was watering very rarely but thinking that maybe I was indeed watering to rarely and then it was already hurt by dehydration and therefore easier to overwater. No idea how to water it still. This is my 3rd ZZ and I promised myself I'll keep it alive.
by Abject-Incident1254
21 Comments
Check soil, it should be dry. Or if rizomas start to get soft it definitely need water now. Don’t water just a bit. It needs good watering and then removal of excess water from tray. But I don’t know how to manage that in your case.
Idk, man. It seems the more I neglect mine, the more it grows – seemingly out of spite.
If you killed 2 ZZ’s by watering them rarely, you need to water even less frequently but also check your water quality and maybe get a filtration system. Also they can not handle direct light, that spot might be too bright for it. I have two in north facing windows. They do not like to be repotted unless it’s a very slightly bigger pot and do it in the spring time. They want their roots nice and tight in the container. Nothing is easier to take care of than the Easy ZZ
I had a zz for 2 years and once I felt like I understood how to take care of plants is when I killed it lol. In my previous house I think I gave him too little light so he became leggy and then I moved and thought it was time to repot and he hated the soil. It stayed wet too long and was too cold in that apartment. I should have mixed a lot more perlite in the soil. Maybe you could tell us more about how you think the other ones died and where you live?
Water? Pfft, like once a month. I live in an exceptionally dry area though so it’s probably more frequent than others would do.
ETA: ZZs sunburn easily! Keep it out of direct light!
If you water your ZZ more times than you pay your rent, you doing it wrong
Last year I bough a large ZZ from Trader Joe’s. I had no idea what it was so I put it in front of my balcony windows and watered it every week. It got much larger so when warm weather arrived I set it out on the balcony that faced NE. It’s back inside now, I only water it twice a month, and it’s still as happy as ever. After reading this thread, I’m hoping things don’t take a bad turn.
I had my ZZ in indirect light in an East window, water every 2 months. My stems started to get wrinkled. I moved it to less light and watered every month, I got 9 new stems in one go. The soil is well draining but with bark bits. Tried the same with my Zenzi, I lost two out of the two stems I had, but then it grew one super big strong stem but only one. If you figure what works stick to it. Some luck would help too I think.
https://preview.redd.it/s1o3qu6eukrg1.jpeg?width=1741&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b9c2ad8ba04346d31d41b51a903016410b90334f
Like twice a year.
It’s nice seeing a zz plant that isn’t elongated as fuck like mine and most of my friends’ are lol
Every 4 months, if I remember
Im not sure mine needs water
I water my ZZ every 6-8 weeks. I track it in my calendar so I know when I last watered. But I go by how heavy the pot is. Once it gets lightweight I wait another two weeks and then water.
I water all of mine once a month and all three are doing great. I had one nearly die on me, but that ended up being because its rhizomes (the potato-like things in the soil that store water) had gotten so big they were bulging the pot and the plant was unhappy about the lack of space. I split them into a couple of pots and they almost immediately sent out new stalks.
They like a rocky or corse soil where the water easily drains through. They are prone to root rot. I don’t water unless the soil is completely dried out. (I don’t have a set timeline I just go by looks) And I bottom water so it can just take as much water as it needs. I also mix my water with a teeny bit of water soluble natural fertilizer for all my houseplants
And the one in your pic is gorgeous! Wishing you success ☺️
I water mine maybe once a month. If those potato-like roots above the soil start looking wrinkly, it needs water.
Like almost never
Your ZZ is gorgeous. I water the five I have once per week. I’ll adjust the amount of water after checking the soil. Sometimes I’ll skip a week. I guess my answer is it depends.
My ZZ has one exposed rhizome. I water it when that shrivels up like a ballsack
I wait until the soil is dry, once it’s bone dry I wait a few more days then I water.
I stuffed all my ZZ’s into one big pot together, put it down in front of a northwest window, and ignore them. Thriving. Water maybe once a month, sparingly.