@Lauren (Zone 9a) I've read that they have grown and put to market 1-million plants last few months. Maybe they will show up at a location near you anytime soon.

@Andrea Wow, I don't even know why I should reply to your overwhelming strong words and fallacies. Good luck on your endeavours nonetheless.

Oyster, a reply would be helpful, though. I see where Andrea is coming from. I think her post is very fair, I don't see any 'overwhelming strong words', and you can easily show where her post has 'fallacies'. She is voicing a legitimate concern in a forum she really cares about, as I do. Wouldn't it be kind to reassure us?

Calling someone a liar who misinterprets himself as a gardener is totally inappropriate. This is confirmed by the fact that an apology is made in advance to awaiting for a reply from me.

-

In other news. Some new feet for this pretty thing.

Oyster, perhaps it's a language difficulty, but you seem to be confessing that you are not an ordinary gardener. I don't see an apology, either, nor do I think one necessary. Did you buy these plants yourself as a gardener, or are you a producer? Simple questions which should arouse no indignation. If you are open about it and are the producer, I'm sure a lot of people would be interested in finding out more. On the other hand, forum monitors might have other ideas, I don't know. But I do find your defensiveness a bit alarming and not conducive to friendly exchange.

I see where the confusion is coming from, 'misrepresents himself as a gardener' versus 'misinterprets himself as a gardener'. Nonetheless I have no connections with the producer, nor did I state somewhere that the pictures in my first post are mine. As everyone can see, these are the same pictures from the web that are also used on the label. The photos in my second post are mine, but apparently they aren't for some unknown reason.

Zamioculcas propagates from leaves, I wonder if this one will produce black progeny. I suspect so, given that a million plants are being released. That would represent a massive amount of propagating time if they have to do it by division. I'll be looking for this here in central Florida, but it may be a long wait all the way from Europe.

Russ

Oyster, thank you for answering Marguerite's and Andrea's questions. I've been on so many forums that were polluted by marketers pretending to be hobbyists that I get suspicious when I see a beautiful staged picture with glowing text posted by a new forum member who doesn't make it clear that they're a hobbyist like me.

Anyway, thanks for sharing this gorgeous plant with us!

On the market just right now in Malta...and it's not 100% black

@Russ1023 (central Fla) Yes, I've propagated some 50 regular ZZ's from leaflet cuttings. Fast-forward 2 years ahead and they have reached 15cm in height. They'll reach mature height next summer probably. So yeah, even leaflet cuttings take a ridiculous amount of time (for a home grower) ... I'll probably won't do this anymore, it takes to long. I do have a continuous supply of Sansevieria cuttings, but thats because I want to fill a large border a few years from now.

I don't know if the black color will propagate from leaflet-cuttings. I've stuck 2 leftover leaflets in my propagation medium, but I'm not going to wait for it or really care about it. It takes to long for me. I noticed from my plant that at least tissue of a sun deprived rachis turns from green to black when exposed (removal of outer tissue). I cannot say anything about leaflets yet, it hasn't produced any new shoots.

This is by far the most neat plant I have ever bought. I couldn't find any damage to leaves or roots, no rot and no old growth. It was really tidy. Well, it was pretty (outrageous) expensive but money well spent apparently. Also really nicely decorated with a potlabel and such (including PBR). From the 6 garden centers I often visit overhere only one had it in stock. And that one was by far the smallest of them all. They don't sell quick, I think it hasn't picked up yet. It's als 4x more expensive than a regular ZZ ...

I've propagated a lot of ZZs from leaves, Oyster, and they are very slow to develop as you said. I'd be interested to know if the plants from your two leaves are black when they emerge. If anyone in the States finds this locally I'd be also interested to know, this would be a very good plant for trades. I have very large collections of sansevierias and aroids, especially philodendron and aglaonema.

Russ

Well, I'm a Sansevieria collector with a wishlist for unpopular specimens ( - Eilensis - wink wink wink :D ). So anyone who is willing to trade nice cultivars unknown to the EU, I'm up for it. Just send me a message. I'll let you know as soon as any new shoots emerge Russ1023 (central Fla)!

Oyster, I've collected for close to 20 years and have over 100 different species, hybrids and varieties, eilensis not being one of them. I've heard it's massively slow and nearly as difficult. I do have sp. Nova ES-14826 that has grown very little in many years, one tiny plant and only grows 1 or 2 leaves a year. It is from Eyl Pass in Somalia, and I've wondered if it is, in fact, eilensis.

I've traded sans with several collectors in Denmark and Sweden, what else are you looking for other than eilensis? I have a list if you'd like to see it. It takes about 10 days in transport, only sans and succulents could handle that amount of time in a box.

Do you know of Alan Butler's nursery Hollygate, which I think is now in Spain? You probably know the great German sans source Ernst Specks went out of business a year or two ago, a huge loss to the sansevieria collecting community in Europe.

Russ

Oyster, I never called you a liar, just like you never said that the plants in the post were yours....

Sounds impressive Russ1023 (central Fla)! I would really love to see a list of your current collection. Do you have an online photo gallery available maybe? Or a photo of the sp. Nova ES-14826? Personally I really love the small starlike (and walking) Sansevierias such as Pinguicula for example. My shortlist consists of Eilensis, 1970 Lavranos, Kismayo, Pinguicula and if possible, variegated. But there are many more on my list.

I'm indeed familiar with Hollygate and Ernst Specks. Unfortunately I've never had contact with them. I'm just a early beginner with a very small collection. In the meanwhile I have gotten my growing conditions under control so I'm able the treat any new acquisition with great care. I few days ago I found out that there is a collector located in The Netherlands too!

The strange thing is .. A few months ago I visited his neighbour (same street), because he has a large collection of cactuses which I also like. Little did I know that I was a few feet separated from some really nice Sansevieria specimens! Just baffling since it was a long drive from home! Maybe I can get in contact sometime.

Yes Oyster, growing ZZ from leaves is very slow. I've done it a few times & always advise folks it can take up to a year. I've also started them in water which is faster, then switch to soil.

Interesting to grow both ZZs & Sans which seem to like similar care & not care about much except being in fast draining mix.

I too grow ZZs & Sans & also post at Sans forum.

I also grow a Sans hydro, in just water & Leca stones, pretty amazing!

I'm having a hard time keeping this ZR in a good condition unfortunately. It's going deciduous and there seems to be nothing I can do about it. Its rachis are slimming down, offsets are aborted and it has dropped some thirty leaflets already. I've started spraying it twice weekly, which I should have done from the start probably. The good news is ... I'm forced to propagate around 25 dropped leaves ... I'm tempted to buy a second one, just as a genetic backup plan.

Any chance of maybe salvaging the tubers & restarting them?

Also, any chance of anything like dormancy or really the ZR slowing down in growth? When is ZZ's growing season in the Netherlands?

For instance, herein NYC, my ZZs have growth spurts in Sept & Feb. Right now mine has 3 or 4 new shoots, just noticed it last week.

Trying to help you solve your mystery.

Hi Karen, thank you for your reply. We are currently halfway through summer overhere. So if high levels of light and warmth is a primary concern regarding growth, it doesn't get any better than this. The tubers and other parts of the ZR are still in a decent condition. It's just showing signs that it's on the verge of declining rapidly into dormancy. Since it shed some of its leaflets it has already become a bit less attractive. But it isn't dying, it's just going deciduous and probably dormant.

A few days ago I posted that I've started to spray its leaves with water. I don't spray plants very often since I've never noticed any improvement. But to my surprise, it did make a difference! Leaflets and rachis' have become more plumb and sturdy. In the meanwhile I've also come up with a hypotheses about how this deterioration could have happen. Even before I bought this plant I was well aware about how to avoid deciduous behaviour. But it still managed to do so.

Every plant I take home is given a few days to acclimatise before I replace its growing medium. A week later I repotted the ZR into a fast draining substrate after a day of letting it air dry. To promote callousing and prevent any root rot from unintended root damage I didn't water it for two weeks. So from producer to first watering took about 4/5 weeks. Well that's not really an issue .. but .. I also didn't pre-wet my substrate. A moment ago I realised that my substrate (while ultra-dry) could be exerting a strong hygroscopic force on the roots' buffered water storage.

In other words, the absence of a regular watering regimen for an extended timeperiod probably isn't the only reason for becoming deciduous. I have a strong suspicion that my substrate is robbing moisture from the rhizomes and due to this hygroscopic effect unexpectedly accelerating my ZR towards dormancy. My substrate has accidentally dehydrated the rhizomes. Well at least I've gained a few new thoughts, ideas and hypothesis' about some near future experiments!

Hi all,

Good news! Costa Farms will be bringing this plant to North America in fall 2018!
:-)

---Justin
Costa Farms Horticulturist

First one's mine! :D

My regular one has already grown into a monster, and it still won't quit growing. It is sending out a dozen new leaves right now. Twice a year, it sends out new leaves; once in the summer, and again during the winter.

Thanks for the heads up Justin, we'll be looking for it.

Photo, that's quite a nice pot of ZZ! Have you propagated any of your broken leaves?

Russ

I propagated one of the leaflets and gave it to my sister. This plant grows so much, the last thing I need is more of it, HaHa. I took this photo about a month ago and the new foliage has emerged since then. Currently, I'm debating whether or not to repot it this year, or see if it'll do fine for at least one more. Others have suggested that I divide it up, but I don't want a bunch of smaller plants. I think it makes more of a statement as one large one. For now, I'm on the lookout for a bigger pot. This plant is getting almost too heavy to carry already. Which only gets worse after I water it. I guess I'll just have to place it on sturdy rollers and wheel it around, HaHa.

Considering the new growth, you must have it in a warm, well lit place for the winter. Large plants of ZZ are very impressive, I'd just keep it as a single specimen plant. Where's all the weight coming from? Sheer volume of the soil, or is it planted in a heavy, dirt-type potting soil?

Russ

The weight comes primarily from the plant itself. There's just so much mass to it. When I repotted it into this pot last year, its roots had completely filled in the old pot I had it in. I took this into account when I potted it into this one, because I knew it would only get heavier.

That last photo I shared in my previous post is where I currently have it. That's a south facing window, though I keep the shades pulled down most of the time. I've done this deliberately so that the new growth grows longer with a slight etiolation to them. Since I've taken that photo, the new growth has already grown taller than the rest of the plant. Once they finish growing, and when spring gets here, I'll move it back outdoors and gradually reintroduce it to stronger sunlight to harden it off.

The only thing that puzzles me is why it hasn't bloomed yet. Even if its spathes aren't much to look at, I'd still like to see it happen.

Photo, the only thing I can think of regarding blooming is possibly not enough light during the winter. That said, one would think spending summer outside would trigger it.

Russ

Photo, the only thing I can think of regarding blooming is possibly not enough light during the winter. That said, one would think spending summer outside would trigger it.

Russ

Lets see if this black variance is passed through to offsets from leaf cuttings.

What an adorable tuber! It'll be interesting to see what it does.

eBay has one on sale today: https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F302822164389

I'd get it if I were not short on cash :(

I have the money, but I'm not about to spend it on a plant that will be widely available before long. And I'm especially not forking over that much just for a couple of leaflets, either. Something about it seems fishy. The second photo is not as dark as the first. My ZZ plant has dark green foliage like that already. One would assume that fully formed mature leaflets would already have that blackish hue to them. I'll just keep waiting and bide my time until a reputable seller has the genuine cultivar available. It may be the real deal, but, regardless, Costa Farms will be selling these (hopefully) this fall. *fingers crossed* Plus, they won't be price gouging theirs. I'll wait until then and buy a whole plant, not just a couple of leaflets.

I notice that the ZZ ships out of Hollywood Fla, but an aglaonema the seller also offers ships from Northern Marianna Islands... maybe an error by Houzz. Prices and shipping seem high, descriptions are only broken, repetitive pieces of sentences. Altho this seller is apparently experienced, I would have questions before I ordered.

I'm interested in what the tuber will produce, regular or black form. Oyster, its been 5 months, can you give us an update?

Russ

@Russ1023. Unfortunately all leaflet cuttings have died. I only have some small rhizomes left. But without an energy generating leaflet I'm not sure they will continue to grow. Also even if they would grow, it takes a long time before darkness starts to appear. Offsets from the parent plant start out green and become gradually darker over time. By know every garden centre has the ZR in it's collection over here.

Don't just give up Oyster! About one year ago I planted three leaflet cuttings. One cutting has grown another leaflet. One cutting showed no change yet. The last cutting had its leaflet died off after about 7 months, but I left it there, and kept watering it sparingly, because my wife felt that there was a tiny rhizome in the soil. Guess what. After another 4 or 5 months, several leaflets had appeared from that rhizome. Now it is the best growing one among the three!

This is that zz that had only rhizome left. You can see that there is no leaf cutting remains.

Thank you very much for your support ElliotLi. That was exactly the thing I needed. I have potted them up and put them on a shelf. Nice to see that your rhizome has produced a new compound leaf! I've tried to grow some left-over rhizomes submerged in sterile water. Maybe they continue to grow when they are exposed to sunlight, or so I thought. But that didn't go as expected, the rhizomes slowly deteriorated.

I don't know what makes a rhizome grow either. That one I have had the rhizome buried with no exposure. The pot was left in a corner with no direct sun until I noticed a bud had appeared, when I moved it to a window sill with more sun. House inside is usually 60 to 100F with no AC. Medium is gritty mix with 1 part crushed granite, 1 part fine fir bark, and 1 part turface with Osmocote fertilizer.

The parent plant has produced a new offset. As you can see the black appearance isn't visible immediately. Instead the darkness increases gradually depending on light conditions overtime.

Nice picture! Lovely pup!

i've been growing ZZ's for a long time. and mine never go dormant indoors, even in the middle of the room where the light is medium at best they continue to make new leaves. but then they've been watered at least once ev 2-3 weeks. though they were large plants in small pots. so i'm surprised to hear about dormancy.

A new listing on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-PLANT-BLACK-ZAMIOCULCAS-ZAMIFOLIA-ZANZIBAR-GEM-ZZ-PLANT-EMERALD-PALM-RARE/223092395133

Shipping from Thailand. Not even mentioning black in the description.

If you need one, you can always contact me. The price from the eBay listing is reasonable, they are still pretty expensive overhere. But the eBay listing seems to be a rather small plant though. My new offset from August 17, 2018 has turned almost completely black by the way.

Thanks, Oyster! I appreciate it! I do want one. But I think shipping it from the Netherlands to the US is too much trouble.

Maybe you should try eBay or another source @ElliotLi. I'm just a hobbyist collector and don't have any contacts to arrange phytocerts quickly. The price for legal shipment of large packets would add up quickly.

If you like I can send you a few cuttings through regular mail.

Thanks again, Oyster! I tried to message you but it seems that you haven't enabled messaging. If you could enable that I will message you my email. You can always disable it later to avoid spam. Or you could message me your email and I'll write you back.

Please send me a message @ElliotLi. I've changed the message setting from 'only users following' to 'anyone'. So you should be able to send me a message. Thanks, I didn't know about this setting.

I picked up a couple of Zz 'Raven', and I am really happy to have this nice variation. The color is much darker much sooner if they get a bit of direct sun.

I also have other forms; one I like has a much more round leaflet, and I also have the two dwarf varieties. I have had various variegated ones, but they aren't stable.

Black ZZs have become common now. 'Raven' is common, protected name I think. Does anyone know if 'Black Queen' ZZ is the same as 'Raven'? I read one place that 'Black Queen' has rounder leaves. Just bought a 'Black Queen'

In California Bay Area, I don't remember seeing a 'Raven' either. I have seen black Zz marketed as 'Oscura' here, which looked identical to online Raven pictures from what I can tell. I've acquired an 'Oscura' several years ago. It grows very well (not as slow as some online posts suggested), and I'm very happy about it.

Well, I've been looking at the dark ZZs... and I see all these names for sale. Does anybody know the differences? Are some of these the same? The 'Nova' types did seem to have the nicest leaf form but might be just random results. Hard to compare plants of different sizes grown in different light.

ZZ 'Raven'

ZZ 'Supernova'

ZZ 'Black Nova'

ZZ 'Jungle warrior'

ZZ 'Oscura'

ZZ 'Black Queen'

looking online ZZ 'Dowon' is another name used, and 'Supernova' is referred to sometimes as green, sometimes black.

They make up these names for whatever reasons. If you see one that is different from what you already have, maybe you want to get it. Not much point in just buying names. One of many reasons I only buy plants that I see @ a store.