Money Tree growth/pruning help

Discussion in 'Indoor and Greenhouse Plants' started by vixiedaz, Oct 9, 2017.

  1. vixiedaz

    vixiedaz New Member

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    Hello, I am a new poster and not a green thumb of any kind. I have a braided money tree I received from a co-worker who moved away. It was given to me in November 2013, but I am not sure its origin or age. I water it once/week, it lives indoors on my desk with a decent amount of indirect light as my office has windows I keep mostly unshaded. It has 8 stalks, all but ONE of which were cut prior to my receiving it. The one that wasn't cut has continued to grow and grow and I have been trying to support it as it gets taller but it looks so silly and is liable to topple over soon. I assume the cut stalks are long dead at this point. I have never changed the pot or soil. What should I do ? Make a cutting a re-plant it? Is there any way to get the other stalks to start growing again? Any opinions or advice are welcome.

    Photos included. Usually the leaves are all green, so I apologize for the dying ones in the photo, it wasn't watered properly two weeks ago, but in my experience will bounce back. Honestly, I am impressed with myself that I kept it alive (and usually green as can be) this long and now I am dedicated to its continued existence! Guidance, please!
     

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  2. Daniel Mosquin

    Daniel Mosquin Paragon of Plants UBC Botanical Garden Forums Administrator Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    Congratulations on keeping it alive. The "looking about to topple" is, as you guessed, an issue--this is not a plant that naturally would topple. It is perhaps doing too much extension growth (growing high) vs. expansion growth (growing wide). This is an indication that the light it receives isn't sufficient (as from what I can tell, it is a high light plant in all months except summer when the leaves might burn).

    If you want to propagate it, there are a number of resources online, like this one:

    How Do I Propagate Pachira Aquatica From a Cutting in Water or Soil?
     
  3. vixiedaz

    vixiedaz New Member

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    Thank you for the link! I had assumed one of the reasons it wasn't "growing wide" was because all of the trunks were cut, but maybe the light is an issue, too. I can easily move it closer to the window. Hopefully that helps! I might try propagating...I am so scared I'll just end up losing my plant! But I don't have much to lose at this point if it does topple! Thank again!
     

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