ZZ Plant

Although our survival expert is damn near un-killable, she does have a few preferences and she’ll let you know if they’re not met. She’s actually been known to shy away from the limelight so if you notice her stalks curling backwards away from her light source she’s getting too much. Simply move her somewhere with a bit more shelter from the sun and she’ll start to love you again. On the flip side, she’s pretty happy in the deepest of shadows, and will just carry on as normal even with the tiniest amount of daylight available.

She’s well versed in drought and so stores an incredible amount of water in her leaves, stem and bulbous, potato like roots. Water only when the soil is completely dry (every 7 – 10 days in our experience) or you’ll do some damage. She’ll let you know that she’s had too much to drink by turning some of her leaves yellow, or even dropping whole stalks. If this happens just pull out the worst effected bits and reduce watering to a minimum. No misting please, and dry air is welcomed.

Being the only vegetation around during a drought has taught our girl some tricks, and every part of her is highly toxic. If your furry friend or favourite person likes to nibble on houseplants, keep them well away from this luscious lady.

Hailing from the forest and grassland of eastern Africa, this slow growing showstopper became popular commercially in the 90’s when Dutch nurseries started to grow them on a large scale. She’s a good friend to have, and when you’ve got her home she’ll start purifying the air by removing nasties like xylene and benzene from the air.