Zamioculcas

Zamioculcas, or the dollar tree, belongs to the Araceae family. Since 1996, this African plant has become increasingly popular in living rooms in the United States and Europe. It has also taken root in Russia, partly due to the belief that the Zamioculcas brings luck to its owner and the dollar income associated with it.

Zamioculcas does not require complex care, since thick stems and each fleshy leaf store moisture and nutrients, and therefore have good endurance. The main condition is that the home microclimate is not too cold, extremely humid and too dry.

The benefit of the dollar tree is that it intensively cleans and humidifies the air. One plant can improve living conditions in a room up to 8 square meters. However, it should be remembered that zamioculcas is poisonous, so do not allow plant tissues to enter the gastrointestinal tract. It is necessary to limit its accessibility to children and pets.

General description

This plant is native to tropical Africa and has a modern species name of Zamioculcas zamiifolia. Former scientific names: Caladium zamiaefolium, Zamioculcas loddigesii, Zamioculcas lanceolata. In popular literature, Zamioculcas is also known as aroid palm, dollar tree, "women's happiness", flower of celibacy.

Zamioculcas grows like woody plants or tree palms and has stems with many feathery leaves growing from them. The main trunk from which the stems extend is located in the ground. The stems can grow indoors to about 90 cm in length.

Types of Zamioculcas

The genus Zamioculcas is represented by a single biological species: Zamioculcas zamiifolia. However, there are several cultivated varieties of this plant.

In addition to the forms of normal sizes, dwarf varieties have now been bred - Zamioculcas Zenzi and Zamikro zamioculcas, each stem of which is approximately 60-70 cm. The smallest variety is Zamioculcas "Zhuk" up to 30 cm in height. There are also giants - the variety "Super Nova" reaching one and a half meters in height.

Flowering and growth

Many gardeners believe that the growth rate of zamioculcas is slow. However, judging by my personal experience, it may take only about 3 years to grow stems up to 60 cm long, which is not so slow. Obviously, how fast the plant will grow depends on how much sunlight it receives. However, you should not allow zamioculcas to be in direct sunlight.

It is unclear whether this species is capable of self-pollination, and science is currently unaware of the specific insect species involved in cross-pollination.

Flowering occurs rarely even in natural conditions - usually zamioculcas blooms once every 3-5 years. Flowering in indoor conditions occurs only occasionally. The chances of achieving flowering increase if gardeners carefully follow the rules for growing zamioculcas, described below.

When grown indoors in a moderate climate, zamioculcas seeds do not ripen. Therefore, amateur gardeners cannot propagate the plant by seeds. Some of them advise cutting off zamioculcas flowers immediately after they appear, since they take away the energy and nutrients from the plant, which are necessary for more intensive growth.

Home care

It is quite easy to take care of zamioculcas in an apartment. This plant is hardy and easily withstands the consequences of many mistakes of amateur gardeners. However, if you want zamioculcas to grow quickly, not lose a large number of leaves and at least occasionally bloom, a number of rules for its cultivation must be strictly observed.

Reproduction

Zamioculcas can be propagated in several ways. It can be propagated by a stem in water, a leaf, cuttings, a branch, or from a shoot. If the plant has grown too large, you can simply cut it into several parts to replant it later. In short, zamioculcas can be propagated by almost any part – as long as the fragment contains at least one growth point. It is impossible to propagate this plant only by seeds, since they do not ripen in home conditions.

Usually, one of two methods is chosen for propagation purposes: either dividing the zamioculcas or rooting its leaf cuttings. When dividing the plant, keep in mind that zamioculcas grow slowly and need time to produce new rhizomes. If you divide the plant too often, you will damage it. It is better to wait until it reaches its optimal size to carry out this procedure without harmful consequences. It is not recommended to divide young zamioculcas.

For rooting, it is advisable to use cuttings with two leaves and a piece of mature stem. The soil mixture should contain vermiculite, perlite and a small amount of natural soil. Leave the cuttings in a warm sunny place and water from time to time.

As R. G. Lopez, M. G. Blanchard, and E. S. Runkle noted in their research, the most beneficial conditions for cutting growth are 16 hours of light exposure and temperatures between 29 and 32 degrees Celsius.

Landing and transplanting

At home, it is important to plant zamioculcas correctly after purchase, and immediately. From time to time, the plant also needs to be transplanted into another pot.

For young zamioculcas, unlike an adult plant, the pot must be changed every year. Then the period can be increased to 2 years, and starting from the age of six or seven, it is better to transplant no more than once every 5 years.

The plant should be repotted in the spring so that it has enough time to recover from any damage. It is advisable to take a pot that is at least 20% wider than the previous growing pot.

Watering

Zamioculcas is a succulent that has the ability to accumulate water in its roots, so it is quite drought-resistant. It does not require a lot of water and should not be watered too often. The plant is characterized by excellent endurance and can therefore dry out at least once without harm. It will be right if the soil can remain dry for 3-4 weeks. In winter, the plant can easily survive 6 to 7 weeks without water.

Overwatering can cause stem and rhizome rot. If the leaves start to fall off, this can also be a sign of overwatering the plant. In this case, you should start pruning the zamioculcas and not water it for about a month.

Priming

Zamioculcas do not have any special requirements for potting soil. Any well-drained soil will do, into which the plants should be replanted, increasing the volume of soil as they grow. To improve the drainage system, you can buy a ready-made universal soil mixture containing a large amount of sand or perlite. When composing the mixture yourself, use leaf and turf soil, adding peat and sand in equal proportions, as well as sphagnum moss.

It is important that the soil for growing zamioculcas is in a container with drainage holes.

It is important to remember that soil that is oversaturated with organic matter causes root rot due to the growth of saprophytes. These are organisms such as fungi or bacteria that obtain nutrition from dead or decaying organic matter. When the roots of Zamioculcas zamiifolia are in wet soil, they cannot easily collect oxygen and therefore begin to decompose. The end result is rapidly decaying roots and a dead plant.

The soil mixture for zamioculcas should be close to that used for cacti and contain a large amount of sand, gravel and other well-drained fractions, including perlite, which will allow the roots to slowly collect moisture without experiencing a lack of oxygen.

Fertilizer

In order to get a large and powerful plant, zamioculcas at home must be fed. Since in nature it has a low growth rate, without fertilizers you have to wait a long time (from six months to a year) for new cuttings to appear for propagation. But if you feed zamioculcas correctly, growth will accelerate. This is exactly why you need to add fertilizer to the soil.

During the main growing season (from April to August) it is better to feed the plant with balanced liquid fertilizers.

Temperature, light and humidity

Zamioculcas feel great in warm, comfortable conditions for humans. The ideal temperature for their healthy growth is 24 degrees Celsius.

They are quite sensitive to extreme temperatures, so you should not keep them in a room where the temperature drops below 16 degrees. A temperature of 8 degrees is dangerous for them.

Zamioculcas tolerate extreme heat better than cold.

These plants like bright and indirect light, but they can also grow well when placed in rooms or areas with low light levels. However, when Zamioculcas is in the shade for a long period, its growth rate slows down significantly.

It is recommended to maintain average air humidity for zamioculcas. Artificial humidification can be used if the heating devices operating in the room make the air dry. In conditions of humidity acceptable for humans, the plant looks most bright and luxurious. In drier air, some leaves turn yellow and fall off.

Pot dimensions

If it is time to plant your zamioculcas in a new container, it is better to choose a pot or planter slightly larger than before. For small plants, you need to choose a container 2-5 cm in diameter larger than the previous one. As your plant grows, an increase of 5-10 cm will be enough. This process should be repeated for a young zamioculcas every 18-24 months in spring or summer.

Trimming

It is best to remove yellow leaves regularly. This also ensures that the decorative value is preserved and the plants save energy. Such leaves can be easily cut close to the stem, at its very base.

Once a stem grows noticeably longer than all the other stems, you can remove it or trim it down to the desired size. The problem with trimming down to the desired size is that the stem can look very strange afterward. Therefore, removing it completely is often the best option.

After pruning, you must wash your hands thoroughly, as zamioculcas is poisonous.

Flower diseases and pests

Fortunately, zamioculcas is not very susceptible to diseases and pests, as the plant has strong resistance. Treatment is carried out at home, and if you pay attention to the problem in time, zamioculcas can almost always be saved.

The leaves are turning yellow

A small number of yellow and falling leaves at the bottom of the stem is normal. If the foliage turns yellow in large quantities, the cause may be excessive watering. Yellowing also often occurs due to a lack of light.

Sometimes the leaves turn dark yellow or even brown. Dry air and lack of humidity may be to blame. The problem can be easily eliminated by spraying the leaves. Excessive watering is also a likely cause of this phenomenon, especially if the leaves seem slightly damp rather than dry. In this case, not only reducing watering helps, but also replanting into new, drier soil.

It doesn't grow

Why does the plant stop growing and not produce new shoots? Young zamioculcas, even under normal conditions, do not grow quickly. A disproportionately large or very small pot also hinders the growth of the plant. Perhaps there is an excess of clay fractions in the soil, and you should change it. It happens that the roots are destroyed - then only cutting off the shoots and re-rooting them will help.

The stems are shriveled

This symptom clearly indicates the presence of rot affecting the root system. For treatment, zamioculcas is removed from the ground, the roots affected by rot are cut off. Charcoal is used to treat the cut sites. After treatment, the plant should dry out for 24 hours, after which it must be planted in new soil. In this case, fertilizing is applied only 2 weeks after planting. If the plant still cannot recover, its shoots should be cut and re-rooted.

Freezing

If the zamioculcas is frozen, can it be revived? In this case, only removing the parts that died from the cold will help. A zircon solution helps the plant recover.

Dark spots on stems

There may be many reasons for this phenomenon. It may be caused by excessive watering with the development of rot, sudden temperature changes, cold, drafts. Once the causes are eliminated, the zamioculcas will begin to recover, but it may be long and incomplete.

Pests

Pests rarely attack zamioculcas. A weakened plant can be threatened by aphids, scale insects and spider mites, which are often easy enough to remove manually - for example, with a cotton swab. In case of severe infestation, treating the leaves with a soap solution or garlic infusion helps. Sometimes phytaverm, atkara, actellic are used.

The roots have rotted

If the roots, freed from the soil, are not watery or slimy, the plant can be saved. Removing dead roots with a sterilized instrument, treating the cuts with charcoal powder, drying the roots for 24 hours and planting them in new soil will help. If the same container is used, it should be washed with potassium permanganate.

Interesting facts

1. Some sellers advertise Zamioculcas zamiifolia as a "new plant", but in fact Zamioculcas zamiifolia has existed since time immemorial. In science, this species was described in 1905. For commercial purposes, the plant has been sold since 2000. The name of the genus Zamioculcas was given due to the purely external similarity of its leaves to the leaves of the fern genus Zamia. It is due to the analogy with the non-existent magical flower of the fern that many attribute magical properties to the flower of the zamioculcas.
2. In its native Africa, the poisonous zamioculcas is used to treat ear pain and as an anti-inflammatory.
3. If someone is very scared of calcium oxalate, contained in the poisonous zamioculcas, it should be known that this substance is contained in varying concentrations in parsley, garlic, spinach, carrots, radishes, cabbage, beans, Brussels sprouts, garlic, lettuce, as well as many other vegetables and greens that are often eaten.
4. In China, zamioculcas, called the "golden tree", is one of the symbols of the local New Year. According to Feng Shui, it is recommended to keep zamioculcas in the eastern part of the room.

Expert Advice and Reviews

Dylan Hannon, curator of tropical collections at the Huntington Library (USA), has collected various reviews from gardeners about zamioculcas, as well as advice they give on growing this plant. Many of these people are professional botanists, others are just amateurs who have accumulated considerable experience. In any case, their opinion is probably interesting to everyone who already grows or wants to buy zamioculcas.

According to reviews, the secret to success often lies in the presence of well-drained sandy soil. Experienced gardeners familiar with various types of aroids often recommend planting specimens in soil with a high degree of permeability for water and air. For example, in ready-made mixtures with the addition of sand and perlite. Most experts advise not to keep the roots of zamioculcas in dirt and to avoid ready-made potting soil mixtures if they contain organic-rich silt fractions.

Obviously, there is no one way to grow Zamioculcas zamiifolia perfectly. Each grower needs to do their own research and find what works best.

Photo of Zamioculcas