I just picked up my plants from my friend who was babysitting them while I was away for a year. Not sure what happened with my ZZ plant – lack of water, maybe? Is it possible to nurture her back to health? If so, how? Do I cut off all the dried up parts and remove dead foliage? Refresh the soil maybe? Any advice welcome!
This soil definitely looks very hydrophobic. The good news is that if it WAS a matter of underwatering, that’s a much better scenario than over, especially for a Zz which grows in extremely arid African climates. I would pull it out & check the health of your rhizomes (the big potato things in the soil) — if those are good (not rotted/smelly/mushy) some fresh soil should do the trick. It will drop the spent leaves on its own and I would let it do that so you’re not left with an ugly mostly empty pot while it starts again
3 likes Yes, I did tell my friend she does better with neglect than too much care! So I suspect under watering. What do I do with the stems (?) partially popping out of soil that are dried and crispy on top? Let them be or cut back slightly?
0 likes The stems that have already been cut won’t regenerate so I’d just leave them alone since they scabbed over. The whole “stem” is actually the leaf, the leaves are “leaflets” — they’re a package deal
1 like Ty so much!!!
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A tip for ZZ plants is to keep them in clear pots so you can keep an eye on the rhizomes. Then water when they look slightly wrinkled. Here’s mine! Then when I water, I let the plant soak for quite a while, maybe 30 minutes or so, before draining the excess water.
I mean, yea, but not a sustainable tip as the plant grows and gets bigger
0 likes When it gets bigger I’ll just repot into a larger clear pot lol
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