So Many ZZZ’s

On this next episode of the Shady Apartment…It’s all about ZZ plants!

There are actually a lot of plants that are purported to be good for low-light environments. Many of these don’t actually thrive in very low-light conditions, becoming rather leggy, lengthy, stretched out versions of what they could be with proper light. So if you are worried that there is something wrong with your plant, that it looks like the plant version of Stretch Armstrong’s leg at full stretching capacity, it is likely that your 80’s toy wannabe plant simply needs more light. That is the case for a lot of the plants in my apartment. (Shout-out to the poor Snow White Zebra plant from the last plant post.)

There is one plant variety that doesn’t seem to care what happens to it though. With the bold moniker of zamioculcas zamiifolia, the plant more commonly known as the ZZ plant is indeed a go-getter in the low-light plant world. From everything mine has been through, I’m pretty sure that this plant doesn’t care what happens to it. Long time without water? It’s okay, I store it in my stems. Temperature changes? It’s fine, I don’t seem to even notice. Low light? I could live in a windowless basement and still I would grow. This last one may be a bit far-fetched, but my ZZ plants thrive in my shady apartment. They are a couple of the plants that I proudly show off to my plant friends. If this plant was a person, it would be that one co-worker from your retail days who just had the worst day ever and somehow came out of it with a smile on their face saying, “Tomorrow will be better.”

The Raven ZZ in particular is showing me so much love. ZZ plants are generally slow growing, but it is shooting up four new stems.

All in all, if you are new to plants or, like me, have extremely limited light, then a ZZ plant may be for you. Even I, in this shady apartment, have not managed to even thwart either of my ZZ plants. Happy plant parenthood, everyone!