Zamioculcas zamiifolia (zz plant) help
 

Hi all,
It's not an orchid, but not really a part of another plant forum so thought I'd check here to see if anyone had thoughts.

My friend ordered a Zamioculcas zamiifolia but it came like 4 days early and she wasn't home. The cat sitter brought it inside -- but i do not know if it sat outside overnight in New England or if she found it same day as delivery.

I believe it's been about a week or two, and my friend turned to me for help to try to bring it back - not that I have great advice, other than basically to trim back heavily. It's go those big bulbs - not sure if we trim it to past the leaves? or cut the whole bulb out?

I'm thinking maybe it's actually a bit too wet and maybe she needs to let the soil get dry before she waters again?

I can upload more photos if necessary.

Let me know any thoughts you all might have. I appreciate it!

ZZ plant is pretty darned hardy. You water them like a regular house plant, somewhat like a hoya. It's easier to kill by overwatering than underwatering. If you dug it up, you'd find it has a very thick rhizome type root system. So a lot of water storage there.

Don't do anything to it for now. Once a leaf goes brown/dry it should easily come off. Same with the thinner part of the stalk. Think of those big bottom parts of the stalk like an orchid pseudobulb. When the top part of the stalk dries, the bottom part will still be active and firm. Clip off top, leave the bottom part. It's all providing something to the rhizome it will need for recovery. I think you'll lose a few leaves/upper stalks, but it really doesn't look that bad.

I have stubby fingers, my index finger being about 3-1/2" long. I don't water until I stick my index finger down and even at the end of my finger it's dry. Then give a good drench of water, but make sure it drains off. Don't let it sit in water.

Looks like some cold damage, and you may lose a few leaves. But they are super hard to kill. It's a great plant for brown thumbed folks, or folks who travel a lot.

No full sun.

---------- Post added at 10:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:14 AM ----------

PS I have a huge one, had it outside under a tree all summer. It was in a pot with drainage, but inside a decorative pot with no holes. Works fine inside, but not so well outside unless watched. I got ready to take it inside in the fall, and the whole outside container was absolutely floating to the top with water. Whoops!

It lost most of the stalks, but the pseudobulbs remained. Took six months to recover. I watered it about every three weeks after the first three months, and not at all before then. It's pushing up a whole bunch of new stalks now. I'll take a picture in a few and show you what I mean.