Zamioculcas

Zamioculcas, also known as ZZ, is native to tropical and subtropical regions of East Africa, including Northeast Africa from Kenya to Tanzania. This plant is often grown at home as a houseplant.

Zamioculcas

It is still a relatively easy houseplant to care for.

It tolerates low light conditions well, but prefers indirect light. In summer, if you take it outside, avoid exposing it to direct sunlight, as this could burn its leaves.

Zamioculcas is quite drought tolerant and can survive periods of forgetting to water. Not as much as cacti… But almost! It is best to let the soil dry out between waterings to prevent root rot. Water moderately, about once every two to three weeks in winter and more frequently, once or twice a week from spring to fall.

For repotting, use a well-draining potting mix for houseplants.

Easy!!! All you have to do is choose a special “houseplant” soil from a garden center!

A universal potting mix with added perlite or sand to improve drainage is also suitable, provided you have all of this on hand.

Something else ?

Zamioculcas prefers medium to warm temperatures and tolerates low humidity conditions well. In its regions of origin, it grows in the open ground, but hey, the climate is a little different… Indoors, at home, it therefore adapts well to our temperatures in the house, we will say between 18 and 25 degrees. Just avoid cold drafts, when you open the windows in winter, for example.

If the leaves start to yellow, and if watering conditions are respected, you can fertilize about once a month in spring and summer. It all depends of course on the formula of the fertilizer in question. The best thing is to follow the instructions on the packaging carefully.

Wipe dust accumulated on the leaves regularly with a damp cloth to allow the plant to breathe properly and promote good health.

If you do this once a year, in the spring, that should be enough!

Small particularities…

Our Zamioculcas has several interesting characteristics that make it a popular plant for growing indoors.First of all, if we fall for it, it’s mainly for its foliage. It has shiny, thick leaves. It’s very pretty, but also very effective. Much like succulents, this leaf shape allows it to store water, making it drought tolerant and allowing it to survive extended periods without watering.Another benefit is that Zamioculcas can thrive in low light conditions, making it an ideal choice for dimly lit areas of the home.Another advantage, it tends to have a slow growth, for us, that means little maintenance, not too much repotting and no pruning, except for the leaves which are too damaged to cut when this is the case.Urban legend has it that Zamioculcas helps purify the air by absorbing toxins and emitting oxygen… But hey… By opening the window every morning, it’s much more effective!

A little history!

The name “Zamioculcas” is derived from two parts. “Zamio” refers to the plant genus Zamia, which are plants in the Cycadaceae family native to tropical and subtropical regions of America. “Culcas” is the ancient name of Zanzibar, an island located in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa.Thus, the name “Zamioculcas” suggests a relationship with Zamia plants and an origin from the Zanzibar region. Well, here too, this is what we can read here and there. But other writings somewhat contradict this version. In reality, our ZZ is a completely different plant and not closely related to Cycadaceae.In short, it doesn’t change the decorative side of this houseplant that you will inevitably love. It is very easy to maintain, and this little aspect “I can grow in the shade without too much watering” does not displease us.And when it comes to watering, we’re easy. No need to wear boots, she hates excess water!

Roland Motte… Gardener!