Your Guide To: ZZ Plant

Everything you need to know to care for a ZZ plant.

The ZZ plant is a glossy, bold, and graceful addition to vertical spaces. Growing upwards and outwards, mature leaves hold at a vibrant dark green while shoots of new growth will grow in a lighter, brighter shade.

Our table-sized ZZ plant fills up space where it grows without overwhelming your dining room table. It adds drama and dimension to nightstands, coffee tables, side tables, and even larger shelf spaces. Best of all, it’s simple to care for and highly adaptable.

How to Keep a ZZ Plant Happy

ZZ plants are native to dry grasslands. This low-maintenance house plant stores water in its roots, which enables it to be forgiving of a missed watering now and again. Keeping growing conditions consistent and monitoring how much light your ZZ plant gets will ensure that it lives its best life in your space.

How Much Lighting Does a ZZ Plant Need?

ZZ plants thrive in a wide variety of different light settings. Your plant will grow happily under fluorescent lighting, as well as any bright, indirect source of light. The only light setting to avoid with this plant is direct sunlight, which can burn its leaves.

How Do I know When To Water My ZZ Plant?

ZZ plants won’t do well if they are watered too much or too often. As a rule of thumb, ZZ plants need water every week — but you’ll need to monitor the soil to know for sure when it’s time to water. Every few days, test the soil by feeling the top inch or two of dirt with your fingertip (or better yet, take all the guesswork out of watering with a Plant Moisture Indicator from our accessories shop).

When the top inch of soil feels dry to the touch, saturate your ZZ plant’s potting soil with water from a small container or watering can. Pour water out slowly, moving in a clockwise motion so that you can evenly water your plant’s roots. Any excess water will drip into the tray at the bottom of your plant. ZZ plants don’t like to let their roots sit in water, so remove this water before returning your plant to its place.

How Do I Use Plant Food for My ZZ Plant?

Plant food is an important part of fostering healthy new leaves and vibrant coloring as your ZZ plant gets used to its new digs.

For a table-sized ZZ plant in a container that’s between 7 and 8 inches in diameter, insert 4 new plant food spikes (included with your plant purchase) into the soil once a month during the spring, summer, and fall. During the winter when the plant is experiencing less growth, you can cut back to replacing the plant food every two months. Plants experience seasons, even when they’re growing indoors.

What Is a ZZ Plant's Ideal Environment?

ZZ plants don’t need additional humidity to thrive, so you don’t need to worry about misting your plant. Keep the average room temperature in your home between 65 and 80 degrees, and keep your ZZ plant out of drafty areas for best growth.

Remember to keep your ZZ plant out of reach of young children and pets that might get curious and want to taste it. ZZ plant leaves are considered toxic.

Show Them You Care

(5 Recommended)

Look after your ZZ with these essential supplies.

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Miracle-Gro® Indoor Potting Mix

$7.00

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Show Them You Care

(5 Recomended)

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Miracle-Gro® Indoor Potting Mix

$7.00

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Look after your ZZ with these essential supplies.

How Do I Prune and Maintain My ZZ Plant?

Maintenance for your ZZ plant is simple. A table-sized ZZ plant can grow to be up to 24 inches tall, so you might want to invest in some pruning shears to prune back old leaves and make room for new growth. Remember to rotate your plant a quarter turn every time you water it to make sure that light is being distributed evenly to each part of the plant — our plant trivet set makes this easy and stylish, too.

How to Address Common ZZ Plant Issues

Most common ZZ plant issues are related to watering.

Drooping or dropping leaves most likely means that you need to water your plant more often. Make sure you’re checking your plant’s soil frequently and not letting it get too dry.
Leaves that are turning brown or yellow could be a sign that you are watering your plant too often. Prune back damaged leaves and wait a week or so before you water it again.

Remember that when ZZ plant leaves first grow in, they are light, bright shade of green. As these leaves absorb light and grow larger, they will deepen to the deeper green pattern that matches the rest of your plant.

What to Do If You Still Have Questions

If your ZZ plant doesn’t seem to feel at home in your space, we’re here to help! You can chat with a live Greendigs representative on our website. You can also shoot us an email at [email protected].