What to Do When a ZZ Plant Drops Its Leaves? Causes and Solutions
The ZZ plant (Zamioculcas zamiifolia) is an excellent houseplant for home decor, helping to purify the air and beautify the environment. Nowadays, in many newly renovated homes you will more or less see owners placing a ZZ plant among their furnishings, and it is also very common in places such as companies and hotels.
The ZZ plant counts as a fairly easy plant to care for. But many plant lovers still run into problems in their day-to-day care, especially beginners with little experience. Today Hua'er Gu would like to talk with everyone about what to do when yellowing and leaf drop occur during ZZ plant care, and we hope that when you run into such problems you can set about solving them promptly.
The common causes of ZZ plant leaf drop are mainly the following: excessive light, overwatering, dry air and temperatures that are too low. Let's take a detailed look at each of them below!
1. Excessive light
Many beginner plant lovers regularly put their ZZ plant on a balcony or other spot with plenty of direct sunlight to supplement its light, or simply keep it on a balcony with direct sun exposure, fearing that a ZZ plant kept in shade for a long time will lack light and develop problems. But they do not realize that this practice is highly inadvisable. The ZZ plant is a plant that rather prefers a semi-shaded environment and is very sensitive to strong light. Once exposed to intense direct sunlight, the ZZ plant will drop its leaves.
Therefore, if we make this mistake too, we need to correct it promptly! Simply place the ZZ plant somewhere indoors with plenty of scattered light. It must not be exposed to direct sunlight, especially direct summer sunlight.
2. Overwatering
The growth of the ZZ plant also has requirements for water: it should not be watered too much, nor left dry for long periods. Long-term waterlogging easily causes leaf drop, while long-term drought leads to drying out.
Therefore, when watering the ZZ plant it is best to follow the principle of watering when dry and letting it dry out between waterings: once the surface layer of the potting soil has dried through, water thoroughly in one go while preventing waterlogging. That way the ZZ plant will grow very well!
3. Dry air
Dry or stuffy air can cause poor growth in the ZZ plant, often showing up as leaf drop. If the leaf drop is caused by air that is too dry, we only need to replenish moisture in time by misting to supply water, and the plant can return to normal growth.
Therefore, for the ZZ plant to look its best, we need to pay more attention to air humidity, especially in winter: when the air is relatively dry, mist it promptly to replenish water, which can prevent leaf drop from happening.
4. Temperatures too low
The ZZ plant likes a warm environment for growth; if the temperature is too low, cold damage occurs and leaves fall. This situation mostly happens in winter.
Therefore, when overwintering we need to pay attention to cold protection and warmth, keeping it indoors to avoid leaf drop from cold damage caused by temperatures that are too low.
The above are the common causes and solutions for yellowing and leaf drop in ZZ plants, as introduced to you by Hua'er Gu. If you also like growing ZZ plants and have your own care tips, you are welcome to share and learn together with the friends of Hua'er Gu!