Hello, I bought a money tree a couple of months ago (sometime in mid July) and it was doing really well. I didn't really do ANYTHING to it. It sits on the desk in my office and wasn't really getting any natural light and I think maybe I watered it once after about 3 weeks when I noticed the moss getting really dry. I returned from my wedding/honeymoon on Monday (after being out of the office for about 2 1/2 weeks) to find that my money tree was terribly wilted. I'm guessing it was because it hadn't been watered in about 4-5 weeks. On Monday, I gave it a little drink and by today (Thursday), nothing. I asked my friend who works at a garden center for his advice and he said it may need more water since it was so dry. I gave it a couple little drinks today and the moss is quite moist now. Can I expect the plant to recover??? It doesn't seem to be dead (the leaves are still very green and there is no sign of brown or dry leaves), but they are completely wilted. Is there any hope and am I doing the right thing by watering it? I don't want to overwater it because I know that they can be sensitive to that. Any advice??? (I have attached photos of before and after to help). Thank you! Glenn B
If the roots were rotted, the leaves wouldn't be green all this time. It sounds like it might be pretty dry below the moss down into the soil. Instead of giving the plant little sips, it probably needs a good soaking to get the entire root-ball wet. Try placing the pot in a bucket of tepid water (with tree) or sink, or anything that's deep enough to let the water flow up over the rim. Keep the pot under the water until the soil completely stops bubbling (might take a few minutes) and see if that helps perk it up. Be patient, some plants are faster at perking back up then others. When you finally take the pot out of the water after it stops bubbling, try and scoop up as much (soil/moss) as you can that floated out and place it back into the pot.
Better to get rid of the moss altogether, so you can see how wet or dry the soil is. Probably also a good idea to repot it into proper potting soil made up for succulent plants - the gunk plants are sold in is sometimes highly unsuitable for them. Unless it is just suffering from the current financial crisis? ;-)
Bluewing and Michael, Thanks for your advice! Hopefully my plant will snap out of this! I'll keep you posted! Michael, I was thinking the same thing as you! Maybe Bank of America can buy my tree!!! Thanks! Glenn
