hi all, I have bought a ZZ plant last spring and have potted it in a Lechuza planter 9x9x8in with the sub-irrigation set. I have used the Lechuza-PON plant substrate (mineral substrate made of pumice, zeolites & lava) instead of a conventional soil. A week ago I noticed the roots have deformed one side of the planter, so I bought a 14x14x13in Lechuza Quadro planter and re-potted the plant. I'm worried about the growth rate of this plant - it seems to grow too fast. At one point during summer, it had 11 new shoots ! What should I do, to slow it down a bit ? I water it every other week and apart from the slow-release fertilizer included in the plant substrate, I have never used an additional fertilizer. Once the plant grows too big for the current planter, is it possible to separate some of the stems and keep the plant "small" enough for the current planter ? I took some pictures of the plant once I pulled it out of the previous planter.. notice how the roots grew down into the sub-irrigation system thanx for any tips & hints
You can absolutely separate it (be gentle), but I've never been able to figure out how to slow a ZZ down short of methods that always killed mine. So, theoretically, you could put it in your garage and try to chill it into slower growth, but that is how I froze three of them solid, so I wouldn't reccomend it. I'd get it a really really big pot and see what happens. If nothing else, you'll have some time before you have to separate it again. Obviously you're doing something right....
I would plant the ZZ in regular potting soil, just make sure it has a good drainage, and also you have to use a bigger pot, at least twice the size of the one you have now
2 years have passed ..and here we go again.. it took 2 years for the ZZ plant to deform the new 14"x14"x13" pot :D but this time I was not that gentle - threw a half of the plant out, split the other half in two, potted one part into clay pellets, and the other back into Lechuza-pon. I noticed the plant had developed small, potato-like tubers, and the longest roots (that got into the sub-irrigation system again) have developed lots of thin water-roots. This plant is a weed ! ;) anyway, here are some shots..
