Latest Money Tree Planting and Care Management Techniques Tutorial

The money tree, also known as Pachira aquatica or Malabar chestnut, belongs to the Malvaceae family as an evergreen small tree, native to Mexico and Costa Rica, and is now widely cultivated in southern China. Because the name ”money tree” represents good fortune and auspiciousness, combined with its graceful form, bright green leaves, and ease of management, it is suitable for indoor decoration and beautification after potting. During festivals and holidays, hotels, restaurants, and citizens mostly rush to purchase them. Therefore, the money tree has developed rapidly in China's flower market in recent years, and cultivating money trees has become a good project for growers to make a fortune. Today we will introduce the cultivation techniques of the money tree.

Biological Characteristics of the Money Tree

1. Morphological characteristics of the money tree: The money tree is an evergreen tree with an upright main trunk, and the tree can reach a height of about 10 m. It has thick fleshy roots and a swollen stem base. The bark of young trunks is smooth and emerald green, and can also be braided. The leaves of the money tree are palmately compound leaves, with petioles 10-28 cm long, bearing 5-9 leaflets. The fruit of the money tree is a hard capsule. When the fruit matures, the pericarp turns from green to yellow-brown. Each fruit contains 10-20 seeds, with a light brown seed coat and an umbilical scar on the belly. The flowers of the money tree are pale yellow, with slender filaments and 2-3 small bracts.

2. Growth habits of the money tree: The money tree likes light and is also shade-tolerant. It can grow under full sun, partial sun, or shaded environments, but long-term lack of light will weaken its growth. The suitable growth temperature for the money tree is 20-30°C. It can also grow below 10°C, but below 5°C it is prone to diseases, with mild cases causing leaf drop and severe cases leading to death. The money tree has swollen roots and stem base that can store a large amount of water, so it is relatively drought-tolerant. However, too much soil moisture will cause the fleshy roots to rot. The money tree is not very demanding regarding soil, and as long as drainage is good, it can grow normally.

3. Shapes of the money tree: The shapes of the money tree can be divided into single-trunk shape and braided shape. The braided shape is more traditional. Common ones on the market include “three dragons”, “five dragons”, “seven dragons”, and several other types. It has the soft beauty of intertwined branches, graceful and elegant, with a myriad of postures. The single-trunk shape, however, is natural and beautiful, with strong vitality, and can grow into a spectacular large tree stump, very impressive, becoming a new favorite on the market. For growers, the cultivation techniques of both are basically the same.

Propagation of the Money Tree

The propagation of the money tree can be divided into seed propagation and cutting propagation. Because cutting propagation has the defects of a non-swollen head stem and an unattractive seedling stalk, it is generally rarely used in horticultural production. Seed sowing and seedling propagation, however, has the characteristics of uniform emergence, straight roots and smooth seedlings, being easy to braid, and being able to grow round and lovely “radish heads”, making it the propagation method commonly used by flower growers. The specific method is as follows:

1. Seed collection and selection: The money tree blooms twice a year, and seeds can also be harvested twice. The first time it blooms in April-May, and the fruit matures in July-August. The second time it blooms in September-October, and the fruit matures in December. Growers should choose mature and plump seeds, remove shriveled, cracked, and moldy seeds, and must not use seeds from inferior trees or trees with obvious diseases.

2. Sowing: Before sowing, the land should be deeply plowed and finely harrowed, and seedbeds suitable for seed growth should be divided. At both ends of the seedbed, we respectively stretch a rope, insert a bamboo stick every 0.3 m to set the row spacing, use a wooden board to connect the bamboo sticks on both sides and draw a straight shallow furrow. On this shallow furrow, sow one seed at a plant spacing of 0.1 m. One mu of land can raise about 10,000 seedlings. When placing the seeds, pay attention to keeping the seed hilum facing downward, so that the money trees that grow will be straight and upright. The thickness of soil covering the seeds should be about 2-3 cm, not too thick, so as not to affect the emergence of money tree seedlings. After covering with soil, also pay attention to covering the seedbed with a black shade net to prevent the seeds from being scorched by the hot sun. Only when the seeds germinate can the protection of the shade net be removed.

3. Daily management during the seedling stage: After 4 days, the seedlings can emerge. After emergence, the following management should be carried out.

① Watering: After removing the shade net, water once every 1-2 days. A nozzle should be installed in front of the water pipe, and water should not be applied directly with a faucet. Watering should be done until the surface layer of the soil is fully moist. After the seedlings are fully emerged, water once every 3-5 days. After 1-2 months, water appropriately according to weather and temperature conditions.

② Fertilizing: During the entire seedling period, fertilizer can be applied 3-5 times. The first time is after the seedlings are fully emerged. Compound chemical fertilizer can be used, with about 2.5 kg per mu, applied by manual broadcasting. Because the root system of a single seedling occupies a very small area, it is very important to spread the fertilizer evenly on the soil. This requires the fertilizer applicator to be especially experienced, and the speed of hand swinging and walking must be uniform and consistent. After fertilizing, rinse the leaf surface with water so that the fertilizer can be absorbed quickly. After that, fertilize once every 1-2 months, with the amount gradually increasing, at 2.5-7.5 kg per mu.

③ Weeding: Because the seedlings are densely grown and need a large amount of nutrients, if there are too many weeds in the seedbed, it will affect the growth and development of the seedlings. Therefore, growers should promptly pull out the weeds on the seedbed.