How to Propagate a Money Tree? A Full Breakdown of the Latest Propagation Methods
The money tree (Pachira aquatica) is a popular potted plant. In recent years, through cultivation and selective breeding, it has become widely adopted in urban and rural households across China. Its propagation methods are generally divided into three types: seed propagation, cutting propagation, and grafting propagation. Let's take a look at the propagation methods for the money tree below!
Money Tree Seed Propagation
The money tree is mostly propagated by seed. For sowing, use fresh seeds, harvested after they mature in autumn; remove the seed shell and sow immediately. After sowing, cover with about 2 cm of fine soil, then place in a semi-shaded spot and keep moist. Sprouting occurs about 7 days after sowing. The germination temperature is 22—26°C. When the seedlings grow to about 25 cm, thin them out by removing the dense ones and keeping the sparse ones, so the seedlings grow evenly. Seedlings grow quickly, so during the seedling stage apply a light nitrogen fertilizer and add phosphorus and potassium fertilizer 2—3 times to encourage the base of the stem to swell.
Money tree seeds can be sown as long as the temperature is above 20°C, and the germination rate is quite high. Compared with store-bought potted cuttings, a money tree you grow from seed yourself is easier to care for.
Money Tree Grafting Propagation
The money tree generally flowers and sets seed 8 years after sowing. To make it flower and fruit earlier, you can choose a two-year-old braided seedling as the rootstock, and select one-year-old vigorous branches from a tree that has already flowered and set seed as the scion. In mid-to-late February, use the cleft grafting method, with a survival rate of 80%. After grafting, the money tree flowers the following year, which can advance flowering and fruiting by 5 years.
Money Tree Cutting Propagation
1. Collecting cuttings: Choose current-year semi-lignified branches that are vigorous, free of pests and diseases, and of good characteristics. Cut them on a cloudy day or a windless morning, leaving a length of 6 to 7 cm, with the lower cut made in a horseshoe shape, positioned below a leaf or axillary bud. The cut should be smooth to help callus tissue form. Generally each cutting carries 2 palmate leaves. Be careful not to damage the leaves, so as to aid photosynthesis.
2. Timely cutting: Carry out the cuttings from late June to early August, and cut and insert them in the morning and evening. Before cutting, soak one half of the cutting in 25PPM No. (1) ABT rooting solution for 20 to 24 hours, then take it out and rinse it clean with water. Use a small wooden stick to make holes in the seedbed surface, then insert the cuttings along the holes, and seal and firm the holes. Short cuttings can be inserted straight, and longer cuttings can be inserted at an angle. The insertion depth is just enough to keep them from tipping over, generally 3 to 5 cm. After inserting, water thoroughly in time, straighten any crooked cuttings, cover with plastic film, and firm the edges with soil.
3. Seedling stage management: After cutting, ensure environmental conditions suitable for rooting. Generally the soil temperature is 3°C to 5°C higher than the air temperature, the relative humidity of the air in the cutting bed is kept at 80% to 90%, and the light requirement is 30%. Ventilate and exchange air 1 to 2 times a day. In June to August, when temperatures are high and water evaporates quickly, spray water once in the morning and once in the evening with a fine sprayer, keeping the temperature between 23°C and 25°C. After the seedlings survive, fertilize in time, mainly with quick-acting fertilizers: in the early stage mainly nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer, in the middle stage an appropriate combination of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, and in the late stage, to promote lignification of the seedlings, spray 0.2% monopotassium phosphate before the end of August and stop using nitrogen fertilizer. Generally callus tissue forms in about 15 days, and rooting begins in about 30 days.