Although stem cuttings can be used to propagate Pilea peperomioides, there is little incentive to do so. You’d have to wait for the stem cuttings to root, which can take a long time and isn’t always successful.
Instead, simply look after your Pilea and it will supply the finest propagation strategy for you: healthy Chinese money plants generate baby plants from both their roots and stems. Check out the Chinese money plant care guide if you’re not sure how to maintain your Pilea healthy and happy.
Fortunately, this is not a difficult plant to keep alive, and anyone should be able to do so. Simply place your Pilea peperomioides in a simple plastic planter with a perlite-rich soil combination. Then, after the top of the soil has dried up, plant it in an area that receives bright light but not direct sunlight.
That concludes our discussion. Once your plant has had time to mature and acclimate to its new place in your home, baby plants should begin to appear.
What if I told you that In 1946, a Norwegian missionary transported Pilea peperomioides from China to Europe. It was thereafter widely traded and spread across the continent by cuttings!
When can you transplant Chinese Money Plant?
- Your plant is flourishing. Because most succulents, like your money plant, grow slowly and have a small root system, they don’t need to be repotted very often. It may not be time to pot up your Pilea if it is healthy and growing well while retaining a regular form.
- There’s still plenty of room for your plant. Your Pilea and the pot’s edges are still separated by a good amount of space.
- Your water is draining at a consistent rate. Your Pilea should be alright for a while if there are no changes in its water requirements or if the water drains through the pot at a regular rate. When water runs quickly through your container, it means your Pilea is potbound and unable to absorb enough moisture.
- It’s only been about 18 months since you last repotted it. In most cases, your Pileas will only require repotting every two years.
- Winter has arrived. Repotting your money plant is best done in the spring or early summer. Wait until spring to repot your Pilea unless it is absolutely necessary, such as in the case of a severely pot bound plant.
How do you take a cutting from a Chinese Money Plant?
The Chinese Money Plant (Pilea Peperomioides) has quickly become one of the most popular home plants, and with good reason! It has gorgeous dark green leaves that grow from a single stem and eventually form a thick canopy, making it easy to grow and care for.
Pilea prefers a bright and light environment, but not direct sunlight, as this might scorch the plant’s leaves. It’s also preferable to be away from any drafts. They want good drainage so that their roots don’t sit in water; a pot with holes is ideal, but if you don’t have one, fill it with gravel or clay. Allow time for the soil to dry between waterings, and water less in the winter.
They’re not the easiest plant to come by, but once you do, stem cuttings make them incredibly easy to grow, allowing you to expand your collection. They will occasionally grow their own miniatures, which will have their own roots and be easy to transplant. Our propagation methods are shown below!
We have teamed up with The Botanical Workshop to develop Pilea tote bags, which are now available at both our East Dulwich and Deptford locations. It has all of the instructions for caring for these gorgeous plants, so you can keep a useful reminder with you at all times!
Early spring is the best time to propagate. Make sure your plant is watered the day before you take the cuttings so the stems aren’t too dry when you cut them.
Use a multipurpose compost with an excellent rooting medium to make a rooting container (shallow plastic or metal base with drainage holes but sealed at the top – you can improvise and use plastic bottles or buy these from a DIY store). Spray the soil with water to moisten it slightly, then place it in a bright yet indirect light source.
Choose a mature stem and cut at least 5cm away from the leaf to take a cutting from your plant. The stem can then be inserted into your rooting container, which should be deep enough to hold its weight while still allowing enough for it to root. Mist the cuttings and shut the container with enough water to keep the soil moist but not soggy.
After around 3 weeks, you can begin testing your cuttings by gently tugging on them to feel for resistance. Your plant should have grown roots and be about 4cm long before transplanting into a new container if there is any. Allow your new plant to acclimate for a few days before introducing it to its new home environment!
You won’t need a rooting container because these have been rooted.
Make sure the plant grows big enough to grow on its own without the parent plant’s help – the bigger, the better.
Follow the stem of your small plant about 1/2cm under the earth with a sharp knife or pair of scissors and make a sharp, clean cut. The cutting can then be placed in a pre-prepared pot with slightly wet multipurpose compost.
The plant will take a few weeks to settle into its new pot, but once it does, it should begin to produce new leaves on its own.
Propagating from Suckers
- Carefully ‘bandicoot’, i.e. dig away at the sucker’s plant surface to cut the under-surface stem at around a 3cm depth, with a sharp knife. The sucker’s stem will have roots.
Propagating from Cuttings
- In a glass of water, place the cutting. The leaf will begin to produce roots in 7 days, but it may take a bit longer. Don’t lose faith!
- Make a hole in the soil and carefully place the roots into fresh potting mix. Fill up the hole surrounding the roots gently.
Should I repot my Chinese Money Plant?
Chinese money plants prefer potting soil that drains properly. Do not put this houseplant in garden soil, and do not use the cheapest potting soil you can find. Use a high-quality organic potting soil instead. It’s preferable if it’s made of peat moss, coir fiber, and perlite. If you want to produce your own potting soil for a Pilea peperomioides, here’s a nice page with 6 DIY potting soil recipes, including one that’s suitable for the job because it’s well draining.
If you bought your Chinese money plant from a greenhouse or nursery, it’s likely already potted in excellent potting soil, so you won’t need to repot it until it outgrows the container (more on how to do this later).
Do Chinese money plants like to be root bound?
Some houseplants, we’ve all heard, prefer to be root bound. Is Pilea Peperomioides, widely known as the Chinese Money Plant, one of them? If not, when should we start replanting them in larger containers?
Pilea Peperomioides dislikes being root bound. Pileas should be repotted every two years to a container that is one to three inches wider in diameter than the pot they were previously living in to avoid becoming that way.
If your Pilea is displaying little to no development and you discover it is root bound after further research, you should act quickly and relocate it to a different container. Continue reading if you’re unsure how to tell if your Pilea is root bound or have questions about how to repot your Pilea.
Do Pileas like small pots?
What kind of pot is best for a Pilea baby? Choose a small, shallow pot to start with when planting rooted Pilea baby cuttings. If you plant Pilea pups in a huge pot that holds too much moisture, they won’t gain a head start. For little cuttings, you might find that small pots work best.
Can you root a money tree in water?
- Money tree cane cuttings take quickly to root in water, but they don’t usually adapt well to potting soil. One advantage of utilizing water as a rooting medium is that you can see the roots sprout, making it a fun and educational approach to cultivate new houseplants. To root in water, fill a mason jar halfway with water, then place the cutting in the jar after rolling it in rooting hormone. Place it somewhere warm, between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Transplant the cane cutting into a 1-gallon container filled with potting soil when new leaves appear at the top.
- Money trees can be found growing outdoors in USDA plant hardiness zones 10 through 12.
How do you take care of a Chinese Money Plant?
Light: Provide plenty of bright, indirect light for the Chinese Money Plant. Keep it out of direct sunlight to avoid leaving burn marks on the foliage. Water: Keep the soil mildly moist but not waterlogged by not allowing it to languish in water.
Why is my Chinese Money Plant dropping leaves?
The leaves are shiny, spherical, and deep green, and they have a nice appearance. Unfortunately, this plant is prone to shedding leaves. You may have noticed that Chinese money plants lost their leaves due to inadequate soil drainage and overwatering. Furthermore, a lack of nutrients in the soil, a lack of bright light, bug infestation, icing, and aged plant leaves could all contribute to the problem.
Can you cut and replant a money tree?
Planting a seed is not the most convenient approach to begin propagating money trees, especially if they are houseplants. Flowers, let alone fruit, on a container money tree are quite uncommon. So, how do you grow a money tree? Cuttings are the most convenient method of propagating money trees.
Snip off the leaves on the lower third of a six-inch (15-cm.) branch cutting with many leaf nodes, then dunk the cut end in rooting hormone.
Prepare a small pot of soilless medium, such as coarse sand, and put the cutting’s cut end into it until the lower third is below the surface.
To maintain humidity, water the soil and cover the cutting with a plastic bag. Keep the cutting medium wet at all times.
The cutting roots may take six to eight weeks to form, and the miniature money tree will need another few months to be transferred into a larger container.