Gardening Goodies
Chinese Money Plant (CMP) Pilea Pepermioides
The Chinese Money Plant comes from southern China, and was first brought to the UK at the start of the twentieth century. It’s rather easy to propagate, so it circulated quietly among house plant enthusiasts, but it was practically unheard by most people until it became popular on social media a few years ago. Despite its recent popularity, it can be rather hard to get a hold of. If you want one, it’s best to go to a specialty house plant shop or order online. It also tends to be expensive, so if you know someone who has a CMP, ask them to pot up one of the many babies that pop up around its base for you. A Chinese Money Plant is an easy-going plant that is a good for beginners, as it is quite forgiving of neglect, in terms of watering and feeding. However, treat it well and it will reward you with fast growth, glossy green leaves, and lots of babies at the base. Light - Place your CMP in bright indirect light, but no direct sun. Direct sun will burn the leaves. If the light is too low, the plant won’t produce new leaves and become straggly looking. Water - This plant has thick leaves that store water. Allow the top 50% of the soil to dry out before watering. Over-watering is the easiest and quickest way to kill a
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CMP. Yellow leaves appear when the soil has been kept too wet and indicates that the roots are in trouble. Setting the plant in a plant saucer of water for about 10 minutes is a good way to water it. After about 10 minutes take your CMP out of the saucer and place it back where it was. The plant absorbs what it needs and doesn’t sit in excess water afterwards. Fertilizing - Fertilize your CMP once a month instead of the usual watering. Dilute the fertilizer to 1/2 strength to what it says on the container. Fertilize your it from April through September. Remember not to let your CMP sit in the fertilizer water. Fertilize your CMP just like the recommended way of watering (in a plant saucer for about 10 minutes, then take it out). Temperature - The CMP likes warm temperatures, between 60-70 degrees. Cold winter drafts and temps below 59-55 degrees will damage the leaves and possibly kill it. Soil & Repotting - When you see the roots coming out of the drainage holes you know it’s time to repot your CMP. Use a potting soil that drains quickly. Choose a pot that’s about 1” bigger around than the pot it’s currently in. Put about an 1” of drainage material in the bottom. Then put about 1’-2’ of potting soil on top of the drainage material. Take your plant out of its current pot and gently place it in its new pot. Fill in all round the sides with potting soil. Put potting soil on top so that when finished the top of the soil is about 1/2” below the top edge of the pot. Place your newly potted CMP in a plant saucer, Fill the plant saucer to the top with water. In about 30 minutes to an hour take it out of the water/plant saucer and place back in the indirect bright light. Since this is March, we might be thinking of a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and/or ‘green’ but with a CMP you can have both...well...... sort of .... ‘Money’ plant and it is green! So, if you happen to have one or get one, remember to share it with others. It may not be real money but sometimes something as simple as a plant given in love can change someone else’s day.
Andy Answers ~
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