Do you know How to Make a ZZ Plant Bushier? We’ve got the best-kept secrets that can help you—don’t miss out!
Zamioculcas zamiifolia, also known as the emerald palm, has large, glossy green leaves that can either fill your home with flair and splendor or grow leggy, tall, and unattractive. That’s why we show you how to make a ZZ plant bushier with these tried and tested tricks!
Top Secret Tip to Make a ZZ Plant Bushier
Before we get down to it, here’s the easiest thing you can do to get a bushy ZZ plant—divide the rhizomes. These are the root structures of the ZZ plant, or technically, they are modified stems that support it beneath the soil.
Resembling potatoes, they can be used to propagate new plants. Divide its rhizomes and replant them in the same pot for a bushy appearance. And the more, the merrier is how we like it! You can also plant new ZZ plants in the same spot as your existing ones.
Remove the plant from the pot and carefully lay it on a sheet without hurting its roots. Then, shake off the soil from the root ball with utmost care! Finally, separate the rhizomes and replant them in a pot with enough space to grow.
Alright, now let’s move on to more expert tips on how to thicken your ZZ plant!
How to Make a ZZ Plant Bushier
Dividing and replanting the plant’s rhizomes is a quick fix since there are technically two or even more plants in a single pot. If you want a single ZZ plant with widespread, bushy foliage, here’s what to do!
1. Prune your Leggy ZZ Plant
Remove thin, leggy stems and crowded, crisscrossing branches to allow better light and air circulation throughout the plant. This will help your ZZ plant grow bushier and healthier. Target dried, dead, or brown leaves, stems, and overgrown bits, and prune them back.
Do this as the growing season approaches in early spring so the plant has ample time to rest, heal, and revive. These pruning methods will help you.
2. Provide Enough Light
ZZ plants need bright, indirect light to grow properly and develop healthy roots and shoots. They can also tolerate low light, but if you want a bushier one, you’ve got to provide it with dappled sunshine, preferably in the morning. Keep yours at an east-facing window.
Use LED grow lights if it’s dim where your ZZ plant is. Place them about a foot away from the plant for gentle exposure. Keeping it in darkness leads to leggy growth and weakened stems as the plant stretches out in search of light. If it’s already leggy, here’s how to fix it.
Pro Tip: We want a bushier ZZ plant, not a lopsided one! This usually happens if the plant gets light on one side and the rest is kept in the dark. Rotate the plant bit by bit in a circular motion once every two weeks so all sides get light.
3. Avoid Overwatering your ZZ Plant
ZZ plants prefer to be on the drier side, so avoid overwatering. These East African natives need water only when the soil surface feels dry. Empty the saucer or tray beneath the pot to prevent the plant from sitting in standing water, which can lead to root rot.
4. Best Fertilizer for your ZZ Plant
To boost the growth of your plant, pick any usual balanced liquid fertilizer, dilute it in water to half its strength, and feed it once every 4-6 weeks during the peak growing season—spring and summer and then reduce it in fall and winter.
5. Repot your Plant
Perhaps it’s the container that needs fixing, not your plant! A small, congested pot will start choking your plant and its roots, leading to leggy, lanky growth. To change this, select a pot one size larger than the current one so there’s room for root growth.
Then, make a well-draining, loamy soil mix using equal parts of peat moss, perlite, and potting soil. Now, carefully remove the ZZ plant from its current pot without causing any stress to the roots, and remove brown, mushy, or damaged roots.
Gently place the plant in the center of the new pot. Fill the remaining space with the potting mix, and make sure you plant it at the same depth. Repot your ZZ plant every few years for healthy growth.
6. Maintain Ideal Temperature
These warmth and humidity-loving plants need temperatures around 60-85 F (15-30 C) to thrive and push new growth. If it gets too hot and arid, move it to a spot with afternoon shade and keep it humid and sheltered.
Nor can this tropical perennial tolerate extreme cold and dryness. Avoid placing the ZZ plant near drafty windows, vents, AC, or heaters. These extremities will damage your plant, and you can forget all about having bushy, healthy zamioculcas in your home!
7. Honey for ZZ Plants
Honey is a natural fertilizer, rooting hormone, pest repellent, and one of the best-kept gardening secrets of our times. To make your ZZ plant bushy, use this honey water recipe. Mix 1-2 tablespoons of honey in two liters of water and feed your plants.
It also has antifungal and antibacterial properties, supporting root growth and preventing fungal and bacterial diseases. Go with local, raw honey, as processed ones have likely lost all beneficial enzymes and nutrients.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
And sometimes, after all that extra care, your ZZ plant may still show signs of stunted growth, stress, and weakness. These are the common mistakes to avoid when caring for your ZZ plant.
- ZZ plants are drought-tolerant. So check the soil before watering again to avoid root rot.
- Insufficient light can make your ZZ plants leggy with thin stems, so ensure they get what they need for proper growth.
- Prune only when necessary. ZZ plants naturally shed old, dried leaves and stems by forming a break-off edge that seals off and protects from disease. So, overzealous cutting and pruning will damage your plant.
ZZ plant is a slow grower, so be kind and patient with yourself and your plant. And let us know via the comments below if our guide helped make your plant bushier and healthier!
