Very good indoor plant. Would prefer brighter light but will grow in good north light. Protect from direct, outdoor summer sun if you summer your plants outside. DO NOT OVERWATER! Drench it then let it dry thoroughly. Keep in smallish-sized pots and don't be eager to replant. Great is fairly slow.
Very easy plants and good with low humidity.

Thanks for the info. I knew it was a slow grower so I got a medium sized plant in a 10" to begin with. Do they ever flower indoors?
Karyn

Botanically, they are flowering plants (in the aroid family), but they are not primarily grown for flowers. Can they flower? Probably, if you keep them outside in the frost free period (depending on your zone). I have had snake plants bloom on me.

I have had zz's bloom indoors in offices where they never go outside. Usually they have fairly bright light. The flower is not much to look at, just a short little white spear. Here's a photo I found on the web.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Mine never goes outside, and usually flowers once or twice a year. As noted by watergal, the flowers are not particularly attractive.

While they certainly tolerate low-light well, they grow faster with a little direct sun (in an east window, or to the side of a west window.) The higher light also induces more flowering, if that is what you want. It is often cool to see plants go through their paces, event if the flowers aren't all that.

For general all-around care (water, light, humidity) I would compare a ZZ to a Sansevieria trifasciata (snake plant.) In other words, not fussy at all.

Can the Zamioculcas zamiifolia be transplanted into a bigger pot ?

Bill,

Why pot it larger, does it actually need it; that is to say are there roots coming out the bottom?

If not, I'd say no, these plants don't seem to get very large roots, they grow a round ball-type tuber & a few roots from that over time. Of the 4 that I've grown from single leaves or a bare stalk, none have large roots. These plants don't need big pots. Also if one repots into a pot larger than 1" around bigger than the root ball, one can run the risk of rotting it, esp. if one has a heavy hand in watering.

Karen715: Sometimes (like above) you write a really well stated answer, I always enjoy yr. words.

(PG) Karen

As your ZZ plant gets bigger, the root system does get bigger than most plants. I've grown my ZZ from 3 tiny stalks to 12 *huge* stalks in 2 years (by putting it in partial sun), and it's in a 12" pot now. This spring it'll have to either be divided or potted up to a 14" pot. Perahps my plant is the exception, but I've found it to be a very fast grower with a large root system---if roots are getting tight in the pot, I would go up in pot size. ;)

Well Shiver, I don'thave big old ones: 2 yrs., that's pretty amazing.

Bill,

The surest way to know is turn it out of the pot & take a look at what's going on w/ the roots. If they pot is full of tuber & roots (like sounds Shiver's above would be) then go up a size. If all you find is the tuber w/ a few roots from it, then put it back in the same pot.

Karen, thanks, I own one of these plants, it's doing well under the bench in my greenhouse which I heat all witer, I live in So. calif. Zone 10 San Fernando Valley by Universal City. During out summer hot day they are still under the bench for protectiion so the sun won't burn the leaves. they are also easy to propagate. Wait until summer of you don't have a not house. You can start them easily in your home which is a really a green house. I love the plant it is a clean grower, always green just like a Sansevieria, 'Mother in Law's Tongue' Norma

Karyn1, I have seen the plant in 6" pots, flanked by 6" pothos on a 'capmat' in a 'topside'. The topside is filled with about 2" of water every 2 weeks, by which time only the capmat remains quite wet. The topsides are located on the tops of filing cabinets that line the walls of an entire floor of a large office building. (60 gallons of water are required each time). All the plants are doing well; indeed pruning is becoming a routine activity; the pothos, of their luxuriant growth and the ZZ, removal of the taller stalks which make the plants top-heavy.
On another floor, with a smaller number of topsides, 6" Aglaonemas have been put in the middle. They are doing just as well.
To say that this surprises me would be the understatement of the year.

As far as the "Topsider" goes: all that water is definitely for the pothos, not necessarily for the zz. If I was setting up these topsiders, I would put the central ZZ in a plastic saucer so it would not even touch the capillary matting. Take a peek under all that pothos foliage and that may be what you find. I take care of some topsiders with pothos on either side of 6" sanseverias, and this is what we have to do, since the pothos need tons of water (especially if it's only done every two weeks), and the sans would rot from sitting in it.

We used to have a similar job, with zz's in topsiders. It was so bright and the zz's were so potbound that they needed water every 2 weeks, but not 2" worth, maybe half that. We also had ags, same deal. I wouldn't mix pothos with zz either - watering needs are too different.

BTW, I've had incredibly potbound zz's stay that way for years, to the point of breaking a heavy black plastic pot. It doesn't seem to bother them a bit. I'd rather have that than have them overpotted, when they are so likely to rot.

First, thank you PG Karen for the lovely compliment.

Secondly, I've had my ZZ for approximately seven years, and it has had four pots in that time: An 8-inch standard clay pot, 10" X 6" shallow pot, a 10" standard clay pot, and now a pot that is 14.5" wide by 12" deep. When I moved it from second pot to the third , it was because the plant was top-heavy, and in danger of tipping over, not because it was root-bound. But last summer when I decided repot again, the roots had filled the 10-inch pot so completely that I had to shatter it with a hammer to get the plant out. I didn't want to disturb the root system too much, so I don't know what the tubers look like these days.

I got a ZZ plant in November, and it's been putting out a burst of seven huge new leaves that are still bright green, shooting up and expanding out. It's definitely stuffed into a sturdy black 6" plastic pot. I want to repot it ASAP, mostly before it bursts the pot but also because it turns out, ironically, that I have severe allergies to various soil-borne things so I'm converting all my plants (including a huge Spath Sensation, somehow!) to soil-less media. With the ZZ plant, though, I don't want to cause problems with/for the new growth. Does anyone know whether it's better or worse to transplant (in this case meaning also removing all soil from the roots) this plant when it's actively growing?

Thanks,

Alan

For some weird reason, I have noticed that zz's seem to put out a huge burst of growth starting around Christmas. For regular plants, it is good to repot when the plant is actively growing because that means it will grow roots out into the new soil promptly. So I say go for it. zz's are pretty tough, I doubt you could hurt it unless you put it into too big a pot and the soil stays too wet.

Hmm. My ZZ plant was indeed distorting its thick plastic pot, so I decided to pot it up today, seven big new leaves and all. It was surprisingly difficult to get it out, had to destroy the pot (and we're not talking one of those cheapo nursery pots!). By the time I got it out, it definitely seemed that the new leaves (still pale green), especially the biggest ones, were noticeably limper than before. This is wifey's favorite plant; hope I haven't messed it up!

I just got one April 12 and the last few days I've noticed one of the smaller stalks had yellow leaves so I dug around it and found it was all rotten!! I then dug all around that area and pulled out all the rotted stuff I could find. Digging down with my finger the big root mass still felt hard. This is one of my favorite plants and it was over $100 so I really want to save it. I've only watered it once since I got it becuase I'd read that overwatering is bad.

Questions: What can I do at this point to assure its survival? The soil it came in was kinda like peat or bark mulch and was really soft (not packed) - does that sound like good soil for it?

Here is is the day I brought it home:
{{gwi:68961}}

mysterymachine I love that plant stand that you have your zz in..I hate to tell you but you got ripped off if you paid 100.00 for that plant..I guess it depends on your neck of the woods..here in z7 I just purchased one slightly larger than yours for 15.00..beautiful sago palm

Although mine is not as big as yours, I bought mine for $7!

Billy Rae

What soil is best to use for these ZZ plants? I just got a huge pot of these and they are making the plastic pot bulge its so full! Whats the best type of pot to use as well. I will be keeping it indoors on a plant stand. To produce another from a clipping or stem , what are the directions and care? Thanks:)

Short version as there's lots of info. on this here, pls. do a search. Mix needs to be fast draining, almost doesn't matter what type but MUST be fast draining. Cactus & Succulent mix or African Violet mix + 40% perlite or pumice would do fine. Potting a bit small is best, also these are usually started from individual leaves, or by division or by removing an entire stalk.

Pls. do a search on starting them from stalks or leaves, I know this stuff exists here, especially since I'm one of the people who's written insructions for them.

Ok Thanks though for what info you did provide:) I shall search:)