I got the black raven zz for plant about a month ago, and it’s been sitting in my window, and I’ve been following the watering advice. I just saw today that its leaves are yellowing. Planta says maybe overwatered or not enough light. Any suggestions? Help pls!
Oh wow! I was just wondering about mine as well! Thanks for posting this question! I eagerly await suggestions
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Eeeks yeah, definitely overwatering. I see that you water it about every two weeks or so. Zz plants come from the dry arid plans of Africa, they have large potato-like rhizomes connected to their roots which store water for a long long time. I don’t water mine for a month to a month and a half and it still is going strong and looks healthy. So I’d probably repot in dry soil and pull back on the watering
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It does look like over water. I do water mine every 14 days (which planta suggests automatically). But it's by a heater and circulation, so dries out quickly. I just repotted mine in an even chunkier mix (more orchid/kiwi bark) and i got new growth in a week, so clearly it was a fan.
1 like Thanks so much for the help! I’m going to repot it tonight in my chunky mix. I didn’t realize they were used to dry arid weather. I got it from Etsy about a month ago and haven’t looked at the soil/roots.
0 likes Alright problem found- def overwatered. How do I treat this?! Def some root rot.
Okay so anything mushy has to be clipped off with sterilized scissors. If the rhizomes are mushy I’m not sure if it will make it but you can try and cut off only the part of the rhizome that is mushy. Then once all the pruning is done, soak in a mix of 50/50 hydrogen peroxide and water for a good ten minutes. Then repot in a fairly chunky mix, think like cereal consistency and then don’t water for a month since it has the rot
3 likes Thank you…yeah the rhizomes are mush 😞. Do you think I should try half in soil and is it possible to maybe propagate?
2 likes Of course! Ah nooo. You could try that. Although I’ve heard that Zz plants take a long while to grow roots and propagate, like almost a year in water. Since they’re slow growing plants to begin with. But if you’ve got the time and patience and room, then I’d say go for it. Just wait for the cut stem to callous over in the air for a good day or two before putting in a bit of water, don’t submerge the whole stem though. And change it out once a month or so if you can. But there’s no harm in saying that you just want a new plant and it was a learning experience lol
2 likes I literally lost more than half the rhizome. I have her repotted now- but I’m probably going to go with lesson learned and order another one just in case. I’m not sure if this one will make it. Def lesson learned 😂
1 like Awww bummerrrr, yeahhh haha okay sounds like a plan. I mean your first plant can be the experiment one to see if it bounces back. Update on here if that one actually makes it too!! But definitely get a new one to enjoy the Zz plant! There’s also one called a Zz chameleon variegated and I am dying to get it lol 😂
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I had the same issue and cut off all the mushy roots, gave it a good soak, and then repotted in a cactus mix with additional perlite. I soaked soil in water to settle it, but used paper towels on drainage holes to soak up extra water to try to dry it up as much as I can. It lost few leaves, and some are yellowing with some browning at the tips. I expected that anyway but I hope the rest will survive. Just sharing in case it's helpful
1 like Thank you :) it’s def helpful! I’m glad to hear that I’m not the only one haha. How long ago was it?
1 like A week ago. I'll post some pics
Right out of the pot
Roots cleaned. Felt sorry for how much roots it lost
Next day
