I have a bonsai money tree (pachira) that I got for my birthday last
Fall. It's about 10-11" tall. It's a cheap tree that came from a
garden center. When I got it, it had kind of gone wild with quite a
few clusters of quite large leaves for it's size. I pruned very
concervatively, watered according to the directions that came with it,
and lightly fed it (with weak fertilizer in the water). It did well
until the last month or so when it first dropped all its big leaves
then started to whither (a couple of green branches are turning brown).
At first I thought it thought it was Autumn but it's not perking up
and budding again, it looks worse every day. Sometime along the way,
the moss around the base went from green to partly white. Maybe the
moss is dying or infected?

I'd appreciate any pointers to resources or specific advice on saving
this plant. Thanks.

Chris

Chris wrote:
> I have a bonsai money tree (pachira) that I got for my birthday last
> Fall. It's about 10-11" tall. It's a cheap tree that came from a
> garden center. When I got it, it had kind of gone wild with quite a
> few clusters of quite large leaves for it's size. I pruned very
> concervatively, watered according to the directions that came with it,
> and lightly fed it (with weak fertilizer in the water). It did well
> until the last month or so when it first dropped all its big leaves
> then started to whither (a couple of green branches are turning brown).
> At first I thought it thought it was Autumn but it's not perking up
> and budding again, it looks worse every day. Sometime along the way,
> the moss around the base went from green to partly white. Maybe the
> moss is dying or infected?

I've gotten a couple of direct e-mail responses which I appreciate.
Rather than respond to each one -- as they ask similar questions -- I
thought I'd follow up here.

I'm near Albany, NY. My tree is inside (naturally, who'd be outside in
_this_ cold!). It's on my desk in a cubicle in an office building with
a reasonably stable environment. It's not under the HVAC vent and it's
away from drafty windows. The only light it gets is fairly strong
office light 10-12 hours a day.

Hello Chris -

Money tree is very prone to fungal rot from over watering. The plant needs
a good dry period - bone dry is good - between watering. Most I've seen are
over potted and this plant does best in a really small pot (which also
prevents some over watering). The plant is a succulent, stores water in the
trunk, and drowns quickly if conditions are cool and damp. I've had mine 2
years and my finances have improved a lot (!).

Good luck,
Kevin
"Chris" <cnelson [at] nycap.rr.com> wrote in message
news:1141050688.744048.123880 [at] v46g2000cwv.googlegroups.com...
> Chris wrote:
>> I have a bonsai money tree (pachira) that I got for my birthday last
>> Fall. It's about 10-11" tall. It's a cheap tree that came from a
>> garden center. When I got it, it had kind of gone wild with quite a
>> few clusters of quite large leaves for it's size. I pruned very
>> concervatively, watered according to the directions that came with it,
>> and lightly fed it (with weak fertilizer in the water). It did well
>> until the last month or so when it first dropped all its big leaves
>> then started to whither (a couple of green branches are turning brown).
>> At first I thought it thought it was Autumn but it's not perking up
>> and budding again, it looks worse every day. Sometime along the way,
>> the moss around the base went from green to partly white. Maybe the
>> moss is dying or infected?
>
> I've gotten a couple of direct e-mail responses which I appreciate.
> Rather than respond to each one -- as they ask similar questions -- I
> thought I'd follow up here.
>
> I'm near Albany, NY. My tree is inside (naturally, who'd be outside in
> _this_ cold!). It's on my desk in a cubicle in an office building with
> a reasonably stable environment. It's not under the HVAC vent and it's
> away from drafty windows. The only light it gets is fairly strong
> office light 10-12 hours a day.
>