How To Encourage New Growth In ZZ Plant

Want to see new growth in your ZZ plant?

It’s something that all of us expect when we get a new plant in our home gardens.

But sometimes, the plant just doesn’t grow or produce any new shoots for months, and it can lead to confusion in your mind as to whether the plant is growing correctly or not. 

Well, the ZZ plant comes under the same category of plants, and it feels like it’s been in a dormant state for a long time.

So, let’s see how you can revive the ZZ plant and encourage it for new growth.

6 Tips To Encourage New Growth In ZZ Plant

Now, here are some of the suggestions that might be helpful in seeing new growth in this plant – 

1. Provide Enough Sunlight To The Plant

The ZZ plant doesn’t require a lot of sunlight.

In fact, it hates direct sunlight and begins to wilt if it stays in such light for many hours.

That said, you shouldn’t keep it in the extremely dark room either.

It needs some light to produce food and nutrients for different parts of the system.

Without sufficient light, it won’t survive at all, and you won’t see any new growth in the plant as well.

So, make sure you take care of the light requirements of this plant accordingly.

It needs to be placed in indirect sunlight.

You may also keep it in artificial light if the natural light is not available in the room.

2. Check The Watering Frequency

Watering is another key element that can decide whether you will have new growth in the ZZ plant or not.

This plant is also averse to excess watering.

So, if you have not been watering this plant well or watering it too much at a time, you will need to fix the frequency immediately.

The plant needs to be watered once or twice a month.

In summers, you may increase the frequency to twice a month, but you should check the condition of the soil before going ahead with it.

If the soil is moist, do not water your ZZ plant.

Since the plant has rhizomes with bulb-like structures for its root system, this type of root won’t absorb a lot of water quickly.

Instead, the water will remain in the pot for a good amount of time and will attract a root rot situation in no time.

So, be careful about when and how you water this plant.

3. Fertilize Your ZZ Plant

Fertilizers are meant to provide additional nutrients to the plants.

When you provide regular fertilizers to the indoor plant, you get to see decent overall growth in it.

Without fertilizers, the plant remains dependant on the nutrients available in the soil.

When this situation arises, you won’t see any new growth in and around the ZZ plant.

However, the good thing about this plant is it doesn’t require a lot of fertilizers.

This plant is meant to grow in dry and harsh conditions of African regions.

So, you just need to fertilize this plant every 3-6 months.

You can use compost or any other natural fertilizers to fertilize this plant.

Overall, it should help achieve the desired growth in the ZZ plant.

4. Change The Soil In The Pot

Even though the fertilizers are quite beneficial in providing enough nutrients to the plant, you should also consider changing the soil in the pot.

If you have been growing this plant in the same soil since you brought it from a nursery, you can think of replacing the existing soil with fresh soil mix.

The new soil will provide a fresh environment to the plant and help attend to any possible overwatering issue in the old soil.

As for soil, you should use well-draining soil for this plant.

Also, there should be a couple of drainage holes in the pot.

This is another way of encouraging new growth in the ZZ plant, and I’m sure you will see some great results after following this simple method.

5. Place The Plant In A Bigger Pot

It should be done when your plant is not growing for a very long period.

It could be a sign that the plant needs more space in the pot.

You can remove the plant from the pot to see whether it’s rootbound or not.

Once you confirm the situation, you can move it to a bigger pot.

In case you’re not sure what size of the pot would be ideal for your plant, you can refer to this detailed guide.

Hopefully, it will help you get the right size of pot for your plant.

6. Prune Some Of The Leaves On Your Plant

Pruning is generally considered helpful to encourage new growth in the plant.

If you haven’t pruned the plant in a while, you can perform light pruning on it.

Remove some of the unwanted leaves from the plant and see how it responds in a few weeks.

Most probably, you will see some excellent results after this task.

But don’t get overenthusiastic about this whole task.

You should only remove the leaves and stems that are damaged or unwanted.

Do not remove the fresh ones from the plant.

It will make things difficult, as producing new leaves or stems needs more nutrients from the soil.

Well, these are the few things you need to remember if you want to see any new growth in your plant.

In the following section, you will find some known reasons for the same issue.

5 Reasons Why You Might Not See New Growth In ZZ Plant

Here’s the list of reasons for you – 

1. You Have A Damaged ZZ Plant At Home

When the stem or leaves of the ZZ plant are damaged, you cannot expect any growth in the plant.

In such situations, the plant will focus more on reviving the damaged parts than growing any new ones.

You can expedite this process by fixing the underlying issue in the plant.

This way, the plant will recover quickly and get back to producing new leaves and stems soon.

2. Plant Is Under Stress

Whether it’s an underwatering or overwatering situation, the plant can get under stress pretty quickly.

It’s one of the most sensitive plants in the indoor gardening world.

So, if you see something similar in your plant’s behavior, you should just wait a bit more to see further growth in the plant.

3. The Potting Medium Is Not Appropriate

Most of the time, we do not give too much attention to the potting medium, but it can prove to be an essential factor in a plant’s growth.

If your ZZ plant is growing in overused soil for a long time, it won’t grow much over the period.

You won’t see new leaves or stems on such a plant.

Furthermore, the size of the existing parts will remain pretty much the same for months.

Therefore, you need to think about it.

4. Weather Conditions Are Not Suitable For New Growth

Generally, the plants grow new leaves and shoots during the spring and summer seasons.

Once these seasons are gone, you won’t see much growth in indoor plants.

This is also true for the ZZ plant.

So, there is no point in expecting fresh growth in the off-season.

5. There Is Not Enough Light In The Room

Although this plant does well in low-light places, you shouldn’t keep it in a completely dark room.

As I mentioned earlier in the guide, the plant needs sufficient light to prepare its resources for growth.

If you have been growing this plant in such places, you need to see whether it’s the right place to keep your plant. 

Ideally, it would be best if you moved it to a slightly brighter place.

On that note, these are the few reasons you might find it challenging to grow this plant indoors.

Next, let’s check out the FAQs related to this topic.

FAQs

Over To You

The only way to see new growth in your plant is by encouraging it.

You can make use of the above suggestions and tips to fix some of the issues in your ZZ plant, which will eventually help boost growth in the plant.

In case you have any questions related to this topic, please let me know in the comments.

If you found this guide valuable, do share it with your friends and family.