Turning one pot of ZZ plant into ten is super easy, with dark green glossy leaves and rapid growth

The ZZ plant (Zamioculcas zamiifolia) is a rather popular indoor ornamental bonsai flower. Placed in the living room, study, or bedroom, it looks elegant and plain, and carries a southern tropical flavor. It is a famous indoor foliage flower with a graceful plant shape and extremely high ornamental value. But how can you make the ZZ plant grow rapidly, with dark green glossy leaves, and turn one pot into ten pots or even more? The following care and propagation methods can do as you wish, and they are super simple.

The suitable growth temperature for the ZZ plant is 20-32°C. When the temperature reaches above 35°C, the plant grows poorly, so measures such as adding black netting for shade and spraying water on the surrounding environment should be used to cool it down, creating a suitable environment with a suitable ambient temperature that is also relatively dry. In winter, the temperature should preferably not be lower than 10°C. The ZZ plant likes a warm, hot and slightly dry, semi-shaded environment with little change in average annual temperature. It is relatively drought-tolerant, but fears cold, avoids strong direct sunlight, and fears heavy sticky soil and water accumulation in the pot. If the pot soil has poor permeability, it can easily cause its tubers to rot. It requires loose, fertile soil that drains well, is rich in organic matter, and is acidic to slightly acidic. It has strong sprouting ability; after cutting off the thick compound leaves, new leaves quickly emerge from the top of its tubers.

Propagating the ZZ plant is very simple. You can cut off a section of leaf rachis with 2 leaflets attached, that is, each stem section must have two leaves, and insert it into clean, uncontaminated river sand. The insertion depth of the cutting is 1/3 to 1/2 of the cutting length, leaving only the leaves outside the substrate. After spraying thoroughly with water, place it in a shaded area and maintain an ambient temperature of 25°C-27°C. Depending on how dry or wet the substrate is, mist the leaf surface 1-2 times a day, keeping the substrate slightly moist; it must not be overly wet, otherwise it will cause the cutting to rot and lead to propagation failure. When the cutting has formed a certain root system, the middle of the root gradually swells to form a small spherical tuber. The tuber gradually enlarges. Some of the more tender cutting leaves, after being potted, will wither and die due to high temperature or poor water management, but the tuber can survive. Old mature leaves and cuttings with the entire leaf stalk can also remain green and vigorous. A small number of tubers can sprout and grow new leaves in the same year, but their growth vigor is weak and growth is slow. The next year, the tubers will grow sturdy new shoots and grow normally.

To care well for a potted ZZ plant, you should strive to create an environment for it that is both moist and on the dry side. It is best to keep the pot soil slightly moist and on the dry side. In winter and during dry weather, pay attention to spraying water on the leaf surface and the surrounding environment so that the relative air humidity reaches above 50%. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, reduce watering, or replace watering with spraying, so that the newly sprouted tender leaves can safely pass the winter. In addition, in winter, special attention should be paid to the pot soil not being overly wet; being on the dry side is better, otherwise under low temperature conditions, overly wet pot soil is more likely to cause the plant's root system to rot, or even the death of the whole plant. During the growing season, you can water once every half month with a mixed solution of 02.% urea plus 0.1% potassium dihydrogen phosphate, which can make its leaves thick, dark green, and glossy, and also less likely to turn yellow or drop.