How and When to Prune the Money Plant
The money plant is used to decorate patios, terraces and even the interior of the house. Its ease of cultivation and the possibility of growing it as a hanging plant mean that almost every home enjoys a species or subspecies of this family.
This plant reproduces easily by cuttings, and in spring and summer, when the good weather arrives, it emits many shoots and produces hundreds of leaves that cover all the spaces in the pot.
In this article, you will learn how to prune the money plant in a simple and quick way that will rejuvenate your plant and promote faster growth.
The best time of year to prune money plant is in late winter or early spring. This time is the right one, since the sprouting of new stems begins and we are able to see those that have lost their vigor, are chlorotic (yellow) or are aged.
Use sharp scissors and cut at a 45 degree angle. As it is a fairly fleshy plant, you will not have any difficulty making the cuts.
– How to prune the money plant
This rejuvenation pruning consists of cutting the length of the stems, around 50-70 % of their size, depending on their length.
Do not suffer by trimming too much, as the money plant is very vigorous and quickly develops new shoots.
If you have a large stem but few leaves, you can also cut back 50 % of its size, stimulating formation to increase foliage density.
After flowering, it is also a good idea to make friends with the shears and trim the stems from their base, as they collectively affect the appearance of the plant with long stems that are left bare.
– How often to prune the money plant
In general, the money plant will need annual pruning, in late winter or early spring. This will be enough to maintain a plant with a geometric shape, balanced and well developed.
Small plants or plants that have not yet developed long shoots (less than 50 cm in length) will not need to be pruned, unless they have a problem of premature aging such as drought stress, or have been affected in the past by the action of a pest.
– Tips for a yellow money plant
It is quite common that it suffers from some problems and becomes chlorotic. In fact, this conditions that the money plant has to be pruned to have an aged and unattractive appearance.
In most cases, the loss of its vigor and the natural green color typical of a healthy plant is a sign that it is suffering from one of these variables :
Lack of light
Excess direct sun
Excessively wet substrate
The lack of light prevents it from being able to carry out photosynthesis correctly, so it cannot generate enough chlorophyll, the compound that generates the natural greenness in a crop. Place your plant in a more illuminated area, but without direct sun.
In summer, if we place our money plant in direct contact with the sun, the excess heat will cause it to lose its original greenness and we will notice a drier, less fleshy and chlorotic plant. It is advisable to look for a less sunny place, but without losing good lighting.
A money plant with adequate density of leaves is a sign that a good pruning is carried out and keeps the substrate more humid by protecting it from the sun’s rays and its evaporation.
After solving the previous problems or just after pruning the money plant, it is interesting to stimulate the outbreak again with the use of fertilizers, although we also recommend some biostimulants, specifically amino acids.
With an atomizing spray, we apply any source of amino acids (vegetable or animal) at a rate of 2ml/lt of water, spraying once a week for 1 month.
In addition, we use a liquid fertilizer high in nitrogen and apply 1 ml/lt of water, 1 watering per week throughout the spring.
