Tropical Zone Gardening: zamia floridana, 1 by DaleTheGardener

DaleTheGardener wrote:
Angel,

The experts say that Coontie will grow for you, but, I suspect that it will lose it's leaves in many winters since you are on the northern edge of it's range.

It is deeply rooted, with the trunk mostly underground - protect it in winter with a deep mulch. It won't need much water once you get it established, but, if you need to water during periods of drought your will need to water it deeply. You should water it for at least a couple hours if you are using a sprinkler system.

Fertilizer is a waste of money. When you first plant it a handful of starter fertilizer mixed in at the bottom of the hole is helpful.

It grows best with some direct sunlight.

This 'palm' doesn't have many pests, but, soft scale can be a problem sometimes - especially during doughts. Consult with the local extension if you have problems.

If you are going to use it as a container/house plant it grows best when watered mostly from the botton and fertilized about once a month with Miracle Grow (or generic)during the summer months.

As a container plant it will need to be flushed (removing built up salts in the soil) once a year - saved rain water works well, water it several times with saved rain water.

Here are some Coontie growing at Bok Tower in central Florida>