Propagation · 4 min read
Propagating a Chinese money plant, step by step
A Chinese money plant makes pups all by itself. Here is how to separate them, root them and end up with a little plant to give away.
The Chinese money plant is the one people pass on. A healthy plant produces little offsets, or pups, that pop up from the soil next to the mother plant. You can separate them and grow them on. Within a few weeks you'll have a new plant for yourself, or one to give to a friend.
When to propagate
Spring and summer are best. The plant is growing hard and cuttings root quickly. You can do it in autumn too, it just takes a bit longer. Wait until a pup is about five centimetres tall with a few leaves of its own. The bigger the pup, the easier it takes.
What you'll need
- A clean, sharp knife or scissors
- A glass or jar of water, or a small pot of moist compost
- A bright spot out of strong sun
Separating a pup
- Find a pup coming up from the soil beside the mother plant.
- Gently push the soil aside with a finger or a teaspoon. You'll see where it's attached to the mother plant's root.
- Cut it free a couple of centimetres below the surface. If it already has a few roots, all the better.
- Firm the soil back around the mother plant and give her a little water.
Rooting in water
Stand the cutting in a glass of water with the leaves above the surface. A bright windowsill is fine, as long as it doesn't get full afternoon sun. Change the water every week. After a couple of weeks you'll see white roots. Once they're a few centimetres long, the cutting can go into soil.
Did your pup already have roots? Then you can pot it straight into a small pot of moist compost. Keep the soil lightly moist for the first few weeks, not wet.
After potting up
Choose a pot of six to eight centimetres. In a pot that's too big, the soil stays wet for too long. Skip the feed for the first month, the plant needs to make roots first. And give it a quarter turn every week: a Chinese money plant leans towards the light and will grow lopsided otherwise.
Just as easy
Got the bug? These two are just as simple to propagate.
- Satin pothos: cut a piece of vine just below a node, the little bump where a leaf grows. Pop it in water and it'll have roots within a few weeks.
- Spider plant: makes baby plants on long runners. Stand one in a glass of water, or pin it onto a small pot of soil.
No mother plant yet? A Chinese money plant from our growers is healthy and growing well, so the first pups usually come along on their own. And here's how to help a new plant settle in during its first few days.
