The ZZ plant is the top choice for a houseplant that needs no care year after year

If your home has insufficient light, you often forget to water your plants, and you don't want the plants in your home to grow too fast, then you can choose to keep one or two ZZ plants. It is a plant that grows very slowly, and its leaves have a charming gloss and are often mistaken for a plastic plant. It doesn't need frequent care and can also purify the air very well.

The ZZ plant (Zamioculcas zamiifolia) is actually a succulent-type plant native to the East Africa region. It can grow well in extremely dry and low-light environments. At the base of its stems and roots there are very swollen tubers that store a great deal of water, which makes it very suitable for growing indoors. The ZZ plant can maintain a year-round emerald green state, and its leaves hang in strings that look like strings of ancient bronze coins.

1. Growing environment

You can keep the ZZ plant in a spot with bright light or appropriate scattered light. It can be placed in a dark environment for a short time, but if it is to be kept in shade for the long term, the temperature for caring for the ZZ plant is best kept between 18 and 26 degrees.

The ZZ plant is afraid of cold, and the minimum care temperature is best kept above 5 degrees. The ZZ plant is afraid of scorching sun or excessive direct sunlight. If the light is too strong, its leaves are easily sunburned, the leaves will easily curl and turn yellow, and in serious cases the leaves can even dry up.

The ZZ plant can also grow well under bright indoor lighting. With about 8 to 10 hours a day of a bright light environment, the ZZ plant can grow well.

2. Watering precautions

Like most indoor plants, the ZZ plant is very afraid of overwatering. In the peak growing seasons of spring and summer, the soil can be kept moist, and after the temperature drops in autumn and winter, watering needs to be properly controlled.

Too much water easily causes root rot in the ZZ plant. Caring for a potted ZZ plant also requires preparing a container with particularly good drainage, with plenty of drainage holes at the bottom, and the soil should be a loose, breathable, well-draining sandy soil.

If you find that the ZZ plant's leaves are constantly turning yellow and falling off, and the light and temperature of the care location are suitable, then it is very likely caused by too much water.

3. Precautions

When buying a ZZ plant, avoid buying pots whose leaves have defects, and avoid using leaf-shine products. These things make the leaves look more glossy, but in fact they form a waxy layer on the leaves that affects the plant's photosynthesis. If you want to promote plant growth, it is best to clean the leaves and avoid too much dust on them.

4. Introduction to ZZ plant propagation

The fastest way to propagate a ZZ plant is by taking cuttings from its stems. If you see some stems growing crookedly, you can cut them off, prepare new potting soil, and re-propagate them as cuttings. The cut stems are about 10 cm long; remove the lower leaves from the cut stems, then they can be rooted in water, changing the water once every two or three days, placed in a spot with bright light and good ventilation, and they will quickly take root and sprout.

Once the roots have grown to about 5 cm, they can be transplanted directly into soil. Of course, you can also remove the lower leaves from the cut stems and insert them directly into soil as cuttings.