Denisha

ALT #13. ZZ plant (Zamioculcas zamiifolia) On the ability to tolerate neglect

ALT The ZZ Plant is a famously tolerant plant, known for its ability to grow in the worst conditions. It can survive low light conditions, dry air, and dry soil. It is an incredibly popular plant because of how well it can survive neglect. If placed in, say, a windowless office, it will not complain. It will not mind that the buzzing overhead fluorescent lights are the only light it ever sees. It does not need to see the sunlight. If forgotten about, it can survive alone for months without any water at all. It will do just fine if it, say, didn’t interact with anyone for weeks on end. It does not need much, if anything, please don’t worry about it, please, it really doesn’t need anything. If you were to offer it a glass of water, it would say No really, it’s okay, I’m fine without any, I don’t want to bother you to get anything for me. Truly, it’s totally fine, it promises. (full text at link)

ALT We placed our ZZ Plant a few feet away from the big window in our bathroom, where it gets plenty of bright, indirect natural sunlight, and where it can see the sky every day, which is what we learned it prefers over low light conditions. We chose the bathroom because the humidity from the shower creates more humidity for the ZZ Plant, which is what it prefers to dry air. It is not the only plant in the bathroom — in the shower, a humidity-loving English Ivy fills its ledge, happily growing and filling its corner. And we chose the bathroom because this way, we will see our ZZ Plant every day and carefully monitor its soil, watering it as soon as its soil has dried all the way through, which is its ideal watering rhythm as well. As a result, our ZZ Plant has grown immensely, every couple of weeks sprouting a bright, lime green stalk of leaves which shoots up and unfurls, each new stalk taller than the stalks that it had grown before. (full text at link)