ZZ plant question

divine.miss.em

10 years ago

This is my ZZ plant. I'm wondering if it's at all normal for the stalks of leaves to occasionally uproot and fall over - sometimes even the new growth. It gets some light - not direct ligh - ad adjacent to a window in my living room. I water it about once a week. It's in regular indoor/outdoor potting soil. I've owned it for almost a year, I've probably had about 6-8 stalks uproot over that time - some old some new. When this happens it's usually mushy and soft at the base of the stalk. Sometimes the leaves discolored first but other times the leaves looked good when it fell over. I don't think it was due to overwatering because for the first 6 months I had it, it was in very low light spot, and I only watered it about once a month, but it still uprooted sometimes. Then I repotted it and moved to a brighter location, and began watering more frequently. Photos below.

Comments (4)

Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
10 years ago
Does that pot have a drain hole?
grabmebymyhandle
10 years ago
What I see is a zz, badly in need of more light, and less water...that friend u show, is clearly rotted, it may not be due to over water, but I bet it is!
Mine are outside under alot if shade, they still get some direct light and rather bright light all day, I still water them only about once a month, when soils very dry on top...
Good luck
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divine.miss.em
Original Author
10 years ago
Yes is has a drainage hole plastic pot and saucer. Thanks for the tips, maybe I'll put it in a protected area outside for the summer.
Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
10 years ago
In addition to the location/sun issue, I think its' pot situation is similar to this Anthurium.

The pebbles are a top dressing, I'm assuming, a thin layer on top? Quite attractive, but they can slow drying quite a bit vs. exposed soil. I wonder if having the pebbles so close to the crown is more likely to aid rotting at the crown. I've not had great results trying similar setups before, but ZZ plant wasn't one of them. Fairly new to this plant but can report that being in somewhat dappled sun in the morning, until about 11:30 is not causing sunburn.

If the sun shines on the plant at some point each day, I think that would help warm the rocks and bake the surface dry, which should make rotting much less likely to occur, as well as offer the natural detoxifying effects of UV rays. I might also give the crown a little more space/air by moving the pebbles away from that area.