Gadenin日本語Get the appCuttings are the practical method
Pachira aquatica grows readily from stem cuttings and that is the method to use indoors. Seed is possible but the large seeds are only viable for a short time after they leave the pod, and a houseplant almost never flowers indoors, so there is no realistic supply.
One thing to know before you start. A cutting grows a normal slender stem, not the swollen base a seed grown plant develops. If you want the classic bottle shaped trunk you need a seedling. If you want more money trees to braid, or a way to save a plant whose base has rotted, cuttings are exactly right.
| Method | Time to root | Success rate | When to use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stem cutting in compost | 4 to 8 weeks | Good | The default, strongest roots from the start |
| Stem cutting in water | 3 to 6 weeks | Good, but roots are fragile | When you want to watch progress, pot up early |
| Air layering on a thick stem | 6 to 10 weeks | Good | Rescuing the top of a tall bare plant |
| Seed | 1 to 3 weeks to germinate | High if fresh | Only with fresh seed, and the only route to a swollen base |
Taking and rooting a cutting
Take cuttings in spring or early summer, while the plant is in active growth and the room is above 65F (18C). Cuttings taken in the cold months sit and rot rather than rooting.
- Choose the wood Pick a healthy shoot four to six inches (10 to 15 cm) long with three or four leaves and at least two nodes. Firm growth that has begun to go woody at the base roots better than soft green tips, which collapse.
- Cut just below a node Cut a quarter inch below the raised ring of a node with clean sharp pruners. Roots form at the node, so a cutting with the node buried roots faster than one cut mid stem.
- Strip the lower leaves Remove the leaves from the bottom half so nothing sits below the compost or water line. Buried leaves rot and take the cutting with them. If the remaining leaves are large, halve them across to cut water loss.
- Let the cut dry for a few hours Stand the cutting somewhere shaded for two to four hours until the cut face is dry to the touch. This one step prevents most of the rot that spoils money tree cuttings, because the wound seals before it meets wet compost.
- Insert into an open mix Push it two inches (5 cm) into a half and half mix of perlite and compost, firm lightly and water once. Rooting hormone is optional and speeds things a little. Keep the mix barely moist, never wet.
- Warm, bright and out of the sun Bright indirect light and 70 to 80F (21 to 27C) is ideal. A clear bag over the pot holds humidity but must be opened daily for air. Resist pulling the cutting up to check, since new roots break easily.
- Know when it has rooted New leaf growth is the signal, usually four to eight weeks in. A gentle tug that meets resistance confirms it. Then start watering it as a normal money tree, on the soak and dry cycle.
Water rooted cuttings need moving into compost once the roots reach about two inches (5 cm). Left longer, the water roots are so different from soil roots that the plant sulks badly at potting.
Air layering a leggy plant
If a money tree has grown tall with a long bare stem and a tuft of leaves at the top, air layering gets you a short plant with the good canopy and loses nothing. Cut a shallow ring of bark about a third of the way round the stem, wrap the wound in a fist of damp sphagnum moss, and cover it tightly with plastic film taped top and bottom. Roots appear in the moss within six to ten weeks. Cut the stem off just below the new roots and pot it up. The original stump usually shoots again from lower down, so you end up with two plants.
Braiding your own
Braiding needs three or five young plants of similar thickness, all growing in one pot, with stems still green and bendy. Once a stem is woody it snaps rather than bends, so the work has to start early and continue as they grow.
- Pot them together Plant three rooted cuttings in a triangle in the middle of one pot, about an inch (2.5 cm) apart. Any wider and the braid ends up with a splayed base that never closes.
- Braid loosely and stop early Weave the green stems as you would plait hair, but leave a finger of slack at every crossing. Braid only the flexible section and leave the top third of each stem free with its leaves on.
- Tie the top, then remove the tie Hold the braid with soft twine or plant tape at the highest crossing. Check it every couple of months and move or remove it as the stems thicken. A tie left in place cuts into the bark and is a common reason one strand later dies.
- Add a turn each season Extend the braid upward by one or two crossings each year as new growth becomes bendy enough. Trying to force a season of growth into the plait in one go splits the bark.
What to write down
Note the date each cutting was taken, which parent stem it came from, and whether you rooted it in water or compost. Then record the date the first new leaf opened. After one season you will know how long rooting really takes in your conditions and which method works in your home, which is far more useful than any published range. When braiding, record the date every tie was fitted so that none is forgotten on the plant.