ZZ plant
Zamioculcas zamiifolia
A plant with potato-like rhizomes storing enough water to survive months of neglect, and glossy leaves that look artificial. It is the best choice for a dim office or a room nobody remembers to water, and the only reliable way to kill one is to water it regularly.
- Position
- Low light
- Water
- low demand
- Drainage
- Free-draining
- Grows to
- 45–90 cm × 45–60 cm
- Frost
- Frost tender
- Difficulty
- Straightforward
August
Nothing to do
No sowing, planting, harvesting or pruning window falls in August.
ZZ plant’s year
Resolved for United Kingdom (general). Every window is stored against a climate event rather than a date, so a late frost pocket runs later than the band shows. What else August calls for.
| Activity | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Take cuttings | May. | June. | July. |
Timing that travels
The band above resolves this plant's windows into months for one region. These are the windows themselves, stored against a climate event rather than a date — which is the form that survives being carried to a colder garden, a frost pocket, or next year.
Conditions it needs
- Light
- Partial shade, Dappled shade, Full shade
- Frost
- Frost tender
- Grows best at
- 15–27 °C
- Soil
- Peat-free compost, Sandy
- Soil pH
- 6–7
- Drainage
- Free-draining
- Water needs
- low
- Drought
- good tolerance
- Waterlogging
- poor tolerance
- Heat
- good tolerance
- Wind and exposure
- moderate tolerance
Where these figures come from
- LightSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: ZZ plant — position
Checked 2026-08-13
- FrostSourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: ZZ plant — hardiness
Checked 2026-08-13
- Grows best atSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: ZZ plant — temperature
Checked 2026-08-13
- SoilSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: ZZ plant — soil
Checked 2026-08-13
- Soil pHSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Zamioculcas zamiifolia — culture
Checked 2026-08-13
- DrainageSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: ZZ plant — soil
Checked 2026-08-13
- Water needsHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- DroughtHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- WaterloggingHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- HeatHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- Wind and exposureHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
On your soil
Computed by comparing this plant's recorded requirements against each soil's recorded characteristics. A recorded horticultural fact overrides the comparison where GrowingHQ holds one.
| Soil | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Heavy clay | Works, with one condition | ZZ plant will crop on heavy clay, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. For a crop lifted before winter the risk is not rot but the season: waterlogged ground is cold and unworkable in spring, so sowing is late and germination patchy.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse. |
| Sandy | Prefers this soil | Sandy suits ZZ plant as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 7, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Sandy soil is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. It stands dry conditions better than most, which this soil will test. |
| Chalky and alkaline | Works, with one condition | ZZ plant will crop on chalky and alkaline, but one thing has to be dealt with first. The soil is substantially too alkaline for it: it wants pH 6 to 7, and this soil sits around 7.8 to 8.5.The pH is the obstacle. Small shifts are achievable and slow; large ones are not. On chalky and alkaline the dependable answer is a container of the right compost rather than an attempt to change the ground. |
| Loam | Prefers this soil | Loam suits ZZ plant as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 7, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering. |
| Silty | Prefers this soil | Silty suits ZZ plant as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 7, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering. |
| Peaty and acid | Works, with one condition | ZZ plant will crop on peaty and acid, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. For a crop lifted before winter the risk is not rot but the season: waterlogged ground is cold and unworkable in spring, so sowing is late and germination patchy.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse. |
| Shallow over rock | Prefers this soil | Shallow over rock suits ZZ plant as it stands: The free drainage is exactly what it wants. It stands dry conditions better than most, which this soil will test. |
| Made ground and urban soil | Works, with one condition | ZZ plant will crop on made ground and urban soil, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. For a crop lifted before winter the risk is not rot but the season: waterlogged ground is cold and unworkable in spring, so sowing is late and germination patchy.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse. |
Not sure which you have? Four hand tests will settle it.
Space and spacing
- Mature height
- 45–90 cm
- Mature spread
- 45–60 cm
- Rooting depth
- 25 cm
Where these figures come from
- Mature heightHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- Mature spreadHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- Rooting depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
In a container
- Minimum volume
- 4 litres or more
- Minimum depth
- 18 cm
Where the container figures come from
- Minimum volumeHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- Minimum depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
Where and how you can grow it
Each way of growing is assessed separately, and “not assessed” is a real answer rather than a gap we have filled in with a guess.
| Method | Suitability | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Indoor pot | Well suitedsourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | |
| Container | Well suitedsourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | Indoors, or outdoors in summer only |
| Windowsill | WorkablesourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | |
| Hydroponics | Not assessedsourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | |
| Open ground | Not suitablesourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | Tender: will not survive a British winter outdoors. |
Growing it
- WateringYellowing leaves on a ZZ plant mean overwatering far more often than anything else. Check whether the rhizomes are firm or soft before adding water — soft means rot, and more water makes it worse.
- ProtectionWipe the leaves occasionally with a damp cloth. The glossy surface shows dust badly, and dust genuinely reduces the light reaching a plant already growing in a dim position.
- FeedingTwo half-strength feeds in the growing season and none at all in winter. The rhizomes underground are a food and water store, which is what lets a ZZ plant sit in a dim corner for months looking unbothered, and it also means the plant has very little use for extra nutrients. In a dim cool room from October it is doing nothing whatever, and feeding it then simply leaves salts in the compost. New shoots come in flushes, several at once — a long gap between them is normal rather than a sign of hunger.
- TransplantingOnce every three or four springs, and no more often — the rhizomes fill the pot slowly and a ZZ plant is entirely content cramped. Use a free-draining compost and go up one pot size only. The rhizomes are large, pale and potato-like, and dividing them is the simplest way to make two plants; each piece needs at least one growing point. Repotting in autumn leaves a plant sitting in wet compost for five months without growing into it, which is exactly the condition that rots the rhizomes.
Where this guidance comes from
- WateringSourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Zamioculcas — care
Checked 2026-08-13
- ProtectionSourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Houseplants — care
Checked 2026-08-13
- FeedingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Zamioculcas zamiifolia
Checked 2026-08-13
- TransplantingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Zamioculcas zamiifolia
Checked 2026-08-13
Safety and edibility
Listed as harmful to cats or dogs
ZZ plant is listed as harmful if eaten. All parts carry needle-shaped insoluble calcium oxalate crystals, which drive into the soft tissue of the mouth on contact. The pain is immediate, which is why an animal rarely takes a second bite and why fatalities are rare — but the drooling and swelling that follow are real and distressing.source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center — toxic and non-toxic plant list — American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: Zamioculcas zamiifolia — toxic plants list
Checked 2026-08-13
Affected parts: all parts.
- Pets and livestockpetschildrenContains insoluble calcium oxalate crystals in all parts, causing burning and swelling of the mouth if chewed. The sap can also irritate skin on handling.
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Zamioculcas — toxicity
Checked 2026-08-13
Wash hands after taking cuttings or repotting. Keep out of reach of pets and small children.
Sources for this page
GrowingHQ editorial synthesis · Plant Finder · Royal Horticultural Society
Each figure on this page carries its own citation, under the “where these figures come from” note in its section. Record last reviewed 2026-08-14.
If something is wrong with it
- Lower leaves turning yellow — 2 causes GrowingHQ holds for zz plant
Something else? Work through it with the diagnostic tool.