ZZ PLANT...Best Soil? Fertilizer?

pinkybell

14 years ago

Can anyone please tell me the best soil and fertilizer for a ZZ plant? How often should I water it. Thanks

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Comments (5)

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
14 years ago
Any soil that is fast draining, well aerated, and structurally long lasting is perfect. I can build a very strong case for MG 24-8-16 granular soluble fertilizer, or MG 12-4-8 liquid for at least 90% of your indoor plants. As long as the plant is established in the container (not a recent pot up), water when the soil first feels dry at the drain hole, or when a chopstick inserted deep into the soil comes out dry.

Al
pinkybell
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks Al, I appreciate your help. What kind of soil would be fast draining please? I'll look for those fertilizers too. The plant was transplanted last spring. I think it can still stay in the same pot for another year. I like the idea of using a chopstick to check the soil. Thanks for the tip!

I know that these plants are very slow growing. When do they normally put out new shoots? My son has one and it is just growing leggy looking. I wondered if it might need more light?
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Hi Christina, Yes, it should grow, especially if it's an entire branch. I did this last Spring (as I wrote earlier in this thread); someone gave me a whole single branch w/ 7 pairs of leaves on it. I placed it in a vase of water & over a month or so it grew what looked like a small green pea-sized ball. That's the tuber, there were also a couple of small white roots w/ that. Once I had that, I took it out of the vase of water & potted it up in mix, but didn't water too often, maybe every 10 days or so. After a while (month or 2) it threw a small shoot, which turned out to be a new branch (or stem) w/ a pair of leaves on it. As Toni suggests, it may go a bit more slowly now as it's not the preferred time of year to do this, but it should work. Pls. be patient & once you pot it up, don't water it too often. If for some reason the visible part of the plant dries up, don't toss it, the tuber is usually still active below the mix where we can't see it & can still produce a plant. You just need to be really patient w/ this, but it WILL happen.
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Even a soil with only a 20% organic component would be considered to be high in organic matter (OM) when compared with the soil in our gardens and beds, and some breakdown of the hydrocarbon chains that make up the OM into elemental forms the plant can take up will occur - but not enough. People that grow in pots should take control over the nutrition their plants get, and not rely on the breakdown of soil components to provide nutrition. Most houseplants slow down significantly in the winter, but don't stop using nutrients to slowly grow and to keep their systems orderly. It IS a good thing to have an appropriate measure of nutrients in the soil and available, but how efficiently the grower can do that depends on how the grower can water. If you are forced to water in small sips to prevent long periods of soil saturation, you have a fertilizing problem that needs special attention to work around. If you can flush the soil when you water w/o having to worry about the soggy soil issue - it's very simple to maintain an appropriate level of nutrition all through the winter, a level that assures enough nutrition so there are no deficiencies yet not so much the plant can't take up water or is forced to deal with problems associated with the ratio of nutrients in the soil becoming badly skewed. The incentives for using soils you can water correctly are many. Al
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I have 2 majesty palms that are 7 years old and a cat palm thats 3. All planted in Al’s 5-1-1 mix. The majesties were rescues from Lowe’s and in bad shape. Regular watering, fertilizing, pest control w/ neem oil brought them back. I aint gonna lie- 5-1-1’s not always easy to source and put together but my plants have done great in it. They get watered 2x/wk if no rain- one watering is always fertilized at 1/4 strength. What climate are you in? That answer will help us give you the most informed advice. Some people like potting soil- that is their preference (and can be pulled off if you live in the sweltering west or southwest). It does take a few weeks to dry out, so if thats what you go with, then an unglazed clay pot would be best pot to plant this in - to help the soil dry out faster. .
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
14 years ago
For houseplants, I like soils that are a mix of durable ingredients with a fairly large particle size. For more info on my thoughts, see the link I left below, where you can read as much (or as little) about my thoughts on soils as you like.

Most houseplants show the most visible growth between the vernal equinox (coming up soon) and the summer solstice. After the solstice, plants will begin storing energy by laying down layers of energy-rich cells in root and cambial tissues in preparation for their winter's rest.

'Leggy' is usually the plants way of pleading for more light.

Al

Here is a link that might be useful: A Soil Discussion
garyfla_gw
14 years ago
Hi
Probably not much help to you as I grow outdoors but in a pot . I use crushed lava rock with a handful of peat. Almost all my "houseplants" are grown this way due to the heavy rain. It recently bloomed for the first time .Lord what an ugly flower !!lol I thought at first it was a disease or slug infestation lol Good thing it's such a cool looking plant lol gary
greenelbows1
14 years ago
Oh, Gary, you must not be an aroid nut! I thought the flowers were kinda neat--tho' actually I guess after having seen a couple I'd just as soon it spent its energy growing instead of blooming anymore.

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ZZ PLANT...Best Soil? Fertilizer?

Comments (5)

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)

pinkybell
Original Author

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ZZ PLANT...Best Soil? Fertilizer?

Comments (5)

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)

pinkybellOriginal Author

Related Discussions

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)

garyfla_gw

greenelbows1

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

pinkybell
Original Author