Gadenin日本語Get the appWhen it actually needs it
A money tree is content slightly pot bound and does not want a bigger pot every year. Every two or three years is normal for a mature plant, and a young one growing fast might want it annually. Move it in spring or early summer so it has a full season of growth to fill the new compost.
Repotting into too much fresh compost is a real risk with this plant. A large volume of wet soil that no roots are yet in stays wet for weeks, and that is exactly the condition that rots the base of the trunk.
| Sign | What it means | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Roots coming out of the drainage holes | The root ball has filled the pot | Repot one size up in spring |
| Water runs straight through in seconds | Mostly roots, very little compost left | Repot, or top up with fresh mix if it is not the season |
| Pot dries out within two days in summer | Root bound and thirsty | Repot one size up |
| Growth stopped despite good light and feeding | Exhausted compost or root bound | Repot, or refresh the top two inches |
| White crust on the compost surface | Mineral build up from tap water and feed | Scrape off the top inch and replace it, flush the pot |
| Sour smell, compost wet a fortnight after watering | Roots dying, drainage failed | Unpot now regardless of season and inspect |
Pot and compost
Go up one size only, about two inches (5 cm) wider than the current pot, and insist on drainage holes. A decorative pot with no hole will rot this plant however carefully you water. Terracotta suits a money tree well because it dries the compost from the sides.
The mix wants to be free draining and open. A workable recipe is two parts standard houseplant compost, one part perlite or coarse pumice, and one part fine orchid bark or coarse sand. That combination holds enough moisture between waterings while letting the excess leave within a minute or two.
Do not put a layer of gravel or broken pot in the bottom. It raises the level at which water sits rather than lowering it, and it reduces the depth of compost the roots can use.
Doing the repot
Let the compost go fairly dry for a couple of days beforehand. A dry root ball slides out in one piece and breaks up cleanly, while a soaked one tears.
- Get it out without pulling the braid Squeeze a flexible pot all round or run a knife between compost and rim, then tip the plant out supporting the base of the braid with a flat hand. Never lift the plant by the trunks, since the weight of a full pot hanging on woven stems splits them apart.
- Look at every root before you go further Healthy money tree roots are firm and pale tan. Dark, slimy roots that shed their outer skin when pulled are rotten. Cut all of them back to firm tissue with clean pruners and throw away the old compost rather than reusing it.
- Tease out the outer inch Loosen the outside of the root ball with your fingers and unwind any root that circles the pot. Left coiled, those roots go on circling in the new pot and eventually strangle the base. Leave the core of the ball intact.
- Plant at exactly the same depth Mark where the compost sat on the trunks and match it. Burying a braided base deeper looks tidier and is the classic route to rot, because the buried bark stays wet. If anything, sit it a fraction higher than before.
- Fill and settle without ramming Work fresh mix down the sides with your fingers or a stick and tap the pot on the bench to settle it. Compacting it hard with your thumbs destroys the air spaces you built the mix for.
- Water once, then wait Water thoroughly until it runs from the base, empty the saucer, and then leave the plant alone. The next watering is not due until the top two inches (5 cm) are dry, which after a repot may be two or three weeks.
The fortnight afterwards
Keep the plant out of direct sun for two weeks and do not feed it. Fresh compost carries enough nutrition, and fertilizer on cut roots burns them. Some leaf drop in the first fortnight is normal and is not a reason to water more.
If you had to cut away a lot of rotten root, remove roughly the same proportion of the canopy so the reduced root system is not trying to support a full head of leaves. That single step decides whether a badly rotted money tree recovers or slides.
This is also the one moment when you can unbraid the plant, if you would rather grow the strands as separate trunks. The stems only unwind while you can lift the whole plant clear of the pot, and only if they have not fused.
What to write down
Record the repotting date, the pot size in inches, the mix you used and the state of the roots when you got it out. Two years later that entry tells you whether the mix drained well enough and whether the plant grew into the pot or sat in it. Note in particular how long the fresh pot took to dry out for the first time, because that figure is your baseline for the whole of the next season.