Hi there, my name’s Amy. I’m a horticulturalist here at Leafy Lair, and today I wanted to share with you the wondrous indoor plant that is Zamiya calcasamifolia, otherwise known as zanzibar gem or ZV plant. These wonderful plants have become really popular lately because of their low maintenance ability. You can have them in low light positions, and they will also tolerate really low watering conditions.

Why Choose the Zanzibar Gem Plant?

These zanzibar gem plants have beautiful upright growing foliage. Their beautiful dark glossy leaves start at this tiny little size here and can grow to be this size here. They’re not too tall but nice and clumping and wide. They’re perfect for a new plant parent or somebody who finds it really hard to keep house plants alive.

They’re perfect for a low light position as well. These beautiful house plants look lovely in decorative pots or on their own. They’re a wonderful feature. Their dark glossy leaf adds that lovely greenery to your house. I really love these zanzibar gem plants. I have many of them at home, and I find it so easy to take care of them.

Styling Your Zanzibar Gem Plant

As I mentioned before, the zanzibar gem plants have these beautiful dark glossy green foliage. These ones here are a new variety called the Zinzi, and they have a bit more of a dense growth. You can see here it’s a more compact growing zanzibar gem. We stock it here at The Greenery Garden Home.

Pest Control for Zanzibar Gems

Some indoor plant pests that you may run into are scale, mealybug, or gnats. These you can treat with a fantastic product that we stock here at The Greenery Garden and Home called We the Wild. It’s the Protect. It comes with a neem oil, and it’s fantastic for deterring those nasty little pests that you get on your indoor zanzibar gem plants.

How to Care for Your Zanzibar Gem Plant

When it comes to feeding your zanzibar gem, We the Wild also has a fantastic indoor plant fertilizer called Support. This is a fantastic organic fertilizer, so safe for being inside to make sure that your zanzibar gems are healthy. They have this beautiful dark green foliage. The Support will really help with that. It keeps them healthy and growing.

Repotting Your Zanzibar Gem

So when it comes to repotting or planting your zanzibar gem plant, using an indoor plant potting mix or adding a bit of perlite to a premium potting mix is fantastic to help with that really good drainage. Zanzibar gems are a fantastic new addition to your home if you’re wanting something really low maintenance.

Make sure that if you have pets or children, then they’re not munching on the foliage as they can be toxic. When you water your zanzibar gem, give it a really nice water all the way through the soil. Then make sure that you get rid of any water that may be sitting in the pot.

Watering Tips for Zanzibar Gems

You can let your zanzibar gem’s soil dry out in between waterings. This may take up to a couple of weeks. Just make sure that the soil is dry again before you water it. The reason that they tolerate really low watering is because of their rhizome root system. They store water in their roots, and they only really need a water every couple of weeks, if that.

I only water mine at home every month, and they’re fine. They actually thrive in a little bit of neglect. So when you repot your zanzibar gem plant, when you pull it out, this one is ready for a repot. You can see there the rhizome root system. This is where it keeps and stores its water.

Advantages of Zanzibar Gems Over Real Plants

When you’re repotting, make sure that you’re planting it into the next size pot up. Like I said before, using well-drained potting mix. You can see here that there are multiple plants and multiple root systems. So you can actually divide them and turn them into separate zanzibar gem plants.

What Makes Zanzibar Gems Unique?

Thank you for watching. Come and see the friendly team here at Leafy Lair, where we can show you where you can find these wonderful indoor house zanzibar gem plants.