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darcydeuce

ZZ plant question

darcydeuce
9 years ago

Good afternoon plants friends!

I bought my ZZ at a local nursery about 6 months ago. It appeared to be very pot-bound and the lady told me to repot it soon. I did a few days later using regular potting soil I had already (I know now from lurking on this forum that I should have used a different soil). Regardless, it was doing just fine for many months. I didn't water often, maybe every two weeks. Then I got soil bugs and read a recommendation on here to only water from the bottom so the bugs on top don't have moisture to help them hatch. It worked like a charm. Then, the second time I started the water from the bottom method, it had been about 3 weeks since the last watering, the leaves started turning yellow and easily broken off. Assuming I had over watered, I waited a couple more weeks and tested the soil by sticking a bamboo stick as close to the bottom of the pot I could get and leaving it there to see if was wet when I removed it. I left it in for a couple hours and it came out slightly damp still. In the meantime, several new shoots came out and grew like crazy. They are a much lighter green than the older shoots. And I'm still having yellowing leaves.

So finally, the questions: are new shoots always this light green? Am I in fact overwatering? At this time it's been at least 3 weeks since I last watered, maybe 4. And, should I just repot into a different soil and check for root rot at this time? Btw, it's near a west facing window out of direct sun. In a terra cotta pot, and I'm in the Pacific Northwest.

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