Zamioculcas Zamiifolia plants, commonly known as ZZ plants or Zanzibar Gem, are among the most popular indoor plants. Their luscious and exotic look can fit any interior design and the best thing about them is that they are very easy to care for. Once you bring a ZZ plant into your home or garden, you will surely want to have more.
If you are not convinced that the ZZ plant will improve the aspect of your home, we prepared a list of advantages that will surely set you on your way to your local plant store. Next, we will teach you how to propagate this beautiful plant. You will certainly find room for several ZZ plants in your home and, if you find it in your heart to say goodbye to your young plants, they will make excellent gifts for other plant lovers.
Keep reading our ZZ plant propagation guide to learn how to fill your home with these lovely plants!
Advantages of Growing ZZ Plants
Zamioculcas Zamiifolia is a flowering plant native to Eastern Africa. Thanks to its attractive, glossy leaves, the ZZ plant is also known as the Emerald Palm. In some parts of the world, it is known as the Money Tree because it is associated with abundance. ZZ plants are very eye-catching and can bring numerous benefits to any home.
Here are just a few of the many ways in which these shiny plants will make your home better:
ZZ plants have great air-purifying properties
According to the NASA Clean Air study, plants with rich foliage are the most efficient when it comes to purifying indoor air. There are numerous indoor air pollutants that can cause harm in the long term. Most pollutants are trapped in carpets and mattresses or they are released by foam, paint, and other construction materials. ZZ plants can remove a wide range of dangerous indoor contaminants such as benzene, trichloroethylene, formaldehyde, xylene, carbon dioxide, and toluene. They also increase indoor humidity, aiding with dry nose symptoms and soothing dry skin.
ZZ plants are ornamentals that can complement your interior design
The gorgeous glossy foliage of these plants makes them suitable for any space. They are very popular in office spaces, but they work just as well in modern homes. They make perfect desk companions, but will also thrive on a shelf or on a windowsill. With minimum care, they can grow to a massive size of 1,5 meters and become the main focal point in a room.
ZZ plants can improve your mental health
Like most plants, ZZ plants can improve your mental health and your overall mood. Constant exposure to plants has been shown to increase memory retention and productivity and reduce stress levels.
ZZ plants are low-maintenance
No matter how many advantages an indoor plant brings, if it requires too much maintenance, it is rarely worth the effort. Luckily, ZZ plants don’t require a lot of care or sophisticated growing conditions. They will survive if you forget to water them from time to time or if you don’t provide them with plenty of sunshine. These plants can also handle the occasional changes in humidity and temperature. As such, they are suitable for both homes and office spaces. In fact, these plants can handle a couple of weeks without any care at all.
ZZ plants are good for Feng Shui purposes
According to the practice of Feng-Shui, everything that you bring into your home comes with a certain energy. Thus, they can impact the overall energy, raising or lowering your home’s vibration. ZZ plants have been around for a very long time, and they are associated with abundance, longevity, and luck. It is not for nothing that they are also known as fortune trees. According to the legends of various countries, ZZ plants can also deflect bad energies and attract positive ones.
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- Zamioculcas is genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae, containing the single species Zamioculcas zamiifolia.
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Frequently asked questions about propagating ZZ plants
If you are new to propagation techniques, you probably have a lot of questions. Here is what you need to know at the beginning.
Is there a right time to propagate ZZ plants?
Since ZZ plants are mostly grown indoors, you might think you can propagate them anytime. However indoor plants are also very in tune with the seasons, as seasonal changes affect the amount of sunlight that they get. As such, we recommend propagating ZZ plants in early spring or during summer. This applies to any propagation method. Good weather allows cuttings to sprout faster and it also helps plants recover faster after a division process.
What tools do you need to propagate ZZ plants?
The tools necessary for propagation depend on the propagation process. If you are propagating through leaves or section cuttings, you will need a glass of water or a nursery tray and potting mix (it depends on whether you want to sprout the leaves in water or soil). Once the plants are ready for transplant, you will need pots and potting mix. For both cuttings and division, you will need a sharp, sanitized knife or a good pair of pruning shears. These are basic things that you can buy at any garden store or improvise with what you have at home.
What are the best sprouting mediums for ZZ plants?
As you will see, the easiest and most popular sprouting medium is water. However, perlite and coco peat are also becoming increasingly popular. Potting soil can also work. The trick with both perlite and coco peat is to saturate the medium each time you water the plant. The downside is that it will be more difficult to spot the newly sprouted roots.
We recommend using plastic cups for better visibility. If you use any other sprouting medium aside from water, you can increase your chances of success by using a rooting hormone. Simply stick the cuttings into the hormone powder, shake off the excess powder and then stick it into the rooting medium. The hormone works by inducing root cell division and subsequently root formation. There are also some natural alternatives to the rooting hormone that you can try such as cinnamon, honey or willow water.
Should ZZ plant cuttings be covered until they sprout?
If you choose water as your propagation medium, you don’t need to cover the cuttings. Other mediums such as potting mix, perlite, or coco peat don’t require covers but can yield better results. It depends on the indoor humidity. In a very dry environment, you will have better chances of success if you cover the cuttings. Plastic bags are the most convenient covers.
Types of propagation for ZZ plants
There are various ways in which you can propagate plants. ZZ plants are almost as easy to propagate as succulents. They can be propagated in two main ways: through cuttings or through division.
1. Propagation through cuttings
Propagation through cuttings is one of the easiest and fastest ways to propagate any plant. You can use either stalk cuttings, leaf cuttings or section cuttings. The easiest way for any type of ZZ plant cutting to sprout is to place it in water. For the best results, keep the cuttings in a place where they can get plenty of bright, indirect light. ZZ plants can survive in low light conditions, but cuttings need a good amount of natural light to sprout.
While cuttings are among the fastest ways to propagate ZZ plants, they do require a good amount of patience. You won’t see immediate results as you see with division propagation, but it will be faster than it is to grow other plants from seed. It usually takes about two months for the cuttings to sprout and be ready to be planted.
While the division has the advantage of speed, slower propagation methods allow you to see the sprouting process unfold before your eyes. How long you keep them in the water depends on the type of cuttings that you are using.
Section cuttings
To propagate through section cuttings, you must cut a stalk section several inches long. Use a sharp, sanitized knife and make a clean cut. Proceed to cut that stem into one-inch-long sections. The leaves of ZZ plants grow in an opposite pattern, with a slight height difference between the leaves. When dividing your stem into sections, try to divide it in such a way that each section will have one or two leaves.
Next, you simply put the cuttings into water or your own choice of sprouting medium. For water propagation, you should pour about an inch of water into a glass and then place the cuttings in the water. It helps if you place several cuttings in a narrow glass. This way, the cuttings will support each other and maintain a mostly-upright position.
They should be above the water, with their ends touching the bottom of the glass. It doesn’t matter if the lower parts of the leaves are also slightly submerged in water. What does matter is that you keep your eyes on the cuttings and replace the water once every week.
Leaf cuttings
This method is also very easy and it only requires a few leaves. Remove the leaves by pinching them as close as possible to the stem. Use your nails to pinch the leaf or give it a little twist and a pull. Both leaves and section cuttings sprout in the same way in the water. As a matter of fact, you can divide a stalk into several cuttings and leaves and place them all together in the water.
Leaf cuttings can sprout in water just like section cuttings, in another sprouting medium, but also directly into the soil. This is actually an easier process with more chances of success. The reason for this is that the soil provides more moisture and nutrients than a thin layer of water. We recommend using a mixture of peat moss and perlite. Simply stick the leaf into the potting mix. You should stick it about 1 cm deep. This means that the lower part of the leaf will also be stuck in the potting mix, but this is ok. You can stick several leaves in the same pot. Water the pot and allow it to soak in.
Allow the soil to dry almost completely, before watering again. Watering frequency can differ depending on indoor temperature and humidity. However, in most homes, you should water the potted leaves once every 2-3 weeks. Keep in mind that the potted leaves don’t have very good support.
As such, keep them away from drafts and try not to move the tray too much to avoid knocking them over. It will take a few weeks for the rhizomes to grow and even longer for a stalk to develop. However, this process will require minimum care and you can get several new plants from the leaves of a single stalk, so it is worth giving this a try.
Stem cuttings
Leaf and section cuttings allow you to grow several plants from a single stem. However, the process is more time-consuming than if you were to use a stem for growing a single plant. If this is your first time propagating ZZ plants, we recommend starting with a stem cutting.
Simply use a sharp and sanitized knife to cut a stalk at the base of the plant. Place the cut in a glass with two inches of water. Make sure that no leaves are submerged in the water. Since there are no leaves submerged in water, stalk cuttings don’t need to have the water changed as often as smaller cuttings. You can change it once every three or four weeks. Just make sure to change it before there are signs of mould growth.
Steps for repotting rooted cuttings
Once your new plants have sprouted and the new roots have grown strong, it is time to repot the new plants. Repotting is not difficult, but it can go wrong if you don’t follow some basic rules. Here are the steps that you need to follow to successfully repot ZZ plants:
- Choose a pot with good drainage holes.
- Put 5 cm of potting soil into the pot. This will allow the plant’s root system to keep growing until it is time to be repotted again.
- Place the new plant into the pot, putting soil around it to completely cover the roots. Press softly into the soil to give the plant proper support to stay upright. Depending on how many rooted cuttings you have and the size of your pot, you can place several cuttings in the pot.
- The potting soil should not come up to the rim of the pot. Allow 2 cm of space so that it doesn’t overspill when you water the plant.
- Water the new plant. The first watering session should be consistent to hydrate the plant and settle the soil. Keep watering regularly until the young plants mature, then adjust the watering schedule as needed.
- Place the newly potted plant in a spot where it gets plenty of bright, indirect sunlight.
2. Propagation through division
The downside of division is that you need a very well-established plant with very big rhizomes. On the plus size, the division process is great for established plants because it prevents overcrowding and it promotes new growth. The division is a simple process in theory. You take the plant out of the pot and you break its rhizome apart. The ZZ plant is very sturdy and the risk of harming it in the process is very low. However, there are a few things that you can do to increase your chances of success.
- Start by removing the plant from its pot. It helps if you don’t water the plant for a few days before repotting it. This will keep the dry soil in place as you remove the plant from the pot. It will also make it easier to shake the soil off the rhizomes. If the plant doesn’t come out easily, try to gently squeeze the sides of the pot.
- After shaking off the soil, you can rinse the root system under water. This will allow you a better shot at the rhizomes so that you know exactly where it is best to divide them.
- With the root system clean, you will see that it is naturally divided into sections. If you can’t see the natural sections follow the roots to the stems. Where there are several stems bound together that is where you have a good section.
- Use a sharp, sanitized knife to divide the rhizomes. Try to make clear cuts and limit the damage as much as possible. Try to cut only the rhizomes and not the individual root vines.
- Place a divided plant into a pot filled with a few cm of potting soil. Continue to add soil around it until you reach the base of the stem. Gently press the soil around the new plant to give it proper support. Water it thoroughly and repeat the process for each division.
In conclusion
ZZ plants come with many different benefits. As we’ve mentioned above, these versatile ornamentals will bring life to any dull corner, clean the air, and boost your mood. Propagating ZZ plants is quite easy, but it does need a good amount of patience. If you are a beginner gardener, you can learn your propagation basics with ZZ plants, as they will forgive your errors. Luckily, there are many different propagation methods that you can try out before you decide which one yields the best results for you.
Do you enjoy propagating ZZ plants? Share your experience in the comments section!
