Indoors
ZZ plant
Zamioculcas zamiifolia
- Cat: mildly toxic
- Dog: mildly toxic
- Light: half shade
About the plant
The ZZ plant comes from eastern Africa, where it gets through droughts thanks to thick, fleshy rhizomes underground. It has glossy, leathery leaves and is one of the toughest houseplants: it puts up with shade and forgotten waterings, but not with too much water.
ZZ plant and pets
- Cat
- mildly toxic
- Dog
- mildly toxic
- Signs
- calcium oxalates: burning and irritation of the mouth, lips and tongue, drooling, vomiting, difficulty swallowing
No entry in the ASPCA list. It contains calcium oxalates like other aroids, so we warn.
If a cat or a dog ate this plant and shows signs, contact a vet straight away.
Instead: safe for cats and dogs
Care
- Watering
- about every 14 days in summer (April to September), every 28 in winter. Let the soil dry out to the bottom.
- Light
- half shade
- Air humidity
- low
- Temperature
- 15–30 °C
- Feeding
- April to September, every 6 weeks
- Repotting
- every 3 years, in spring
- Grown
- in a pot
Rather too seldom than too often: the rhizomes store water. It copes with shade but grows faster in light.
This is a rough guide for a flat in Poland. In flowers every plant also has its own watering interval, which learns from how the soil was.