Mexican Fortune Tree Query

I recently purchased a Mexican Fortune Tree and have been told that in order to allow it to flourish that I must spray the leaves frequently, place water in the water tray below its container once a week and provide it with fertiliser once a month.

My question is how frequently must I spray the leaves? 1, 2, 3 times per day? Also what kind of fertiliser would this plant prefer? I know some plants that don't respond to some fertilisers such as the various species of bonsai so should the fertiliser contain a particular range of nutrients and should it be half-dosed?

Lastly, would it hurt this plant in anyway if it is placed next to a fluorescent aquarium light during night-time hours? In other words, after the sun has gone down and is followed by an aquarium light, instead of darkness, would this detrimentally trick the plant and kill it?


Thank you for reading and I look forward to any advice that anybody has to give.


Mark.

 

Misting the leaves of a houseplant mostly doesn't do any good as the air; if
dry, quickly absorbs the water. The tray of pebbles with water may help if there
isn't a draft. Just keep your Pachira aquatica evenly moist during it's active
growth period and it should do fine. The water in the tray should be below the
highest level of pebbles so the pot isn't in water.
http://www.guide-to-houseplants.com/money-tree-plant.html

 

Hi,

Well the environment is at 70% total humidity and 22-24 degrees C so it'd be fine to mist the leaves due to the element of moisture provided by the humidity, right?

The label that came with the plant said 'mist plant regularly' but this is too open-ended to understand, and you're saying it's a useless exercise lol.

There are thankfully no drafts, it has good full sun light near a window. As per the instructions, I am watering the plant by placing water in its water collection tray. I feel that regime of watering is too infrequent, but I've also been told giving it too much water can easily kill it. So again, more confusion here over exactly what watering regime the plant requires.

Any further points would be most appreciated with respect to the above dilemmas!

Thanks.

 

I doubt you need to increase the humidity when it's already at 70%.

 

Ditto Jungle keeper's comment. I think the instructions are mainly
for those with forced air centrally heated/air-conditioned homes.