It's difficult to determine how appropriate a soil is by how the packager labels the product. What's most important is whats IN the bag, not what's ON the bag. It's primarily the size of the particles the soil is made of and the ratio of those sizes in the mix as a whole that determines how well a soil will perform. You can take 3 ingredients that have the potential to make an excellent soil, and mix them in such a way that the soil ends up being a poor choice. The only soils I've seen that I would use myself are 3 of the Fafard heavyweight mixes. I choose not to because I can easily make a better soil for a fraction of the cost. One of the keys to making any commercial soil you buy into an excellent soil is being able to find pine or fir bark in a size that's appropriate as a primary fraction of the soil. If you can find that, life just got a whole lot easier, insofar as the probability of consistently bringing along healthy plants. I wouldn't panic and start thinking you're doomed if you can't find pine or fir bark - we can work with a water-retentive soil if it's not too bad, but a soil based on particles larger than peat, compost, coir, sand, topsoil .... is a worthy goal. Almost everyone that spends any time on this forum recognizes there are usually inherent limiting factors associated with a very high percentage (almost all) of commercially prepared soils because almost everyone is 'amending' them to increase aeration and reduce water retention. This is certainly a move in the right direction, but if I can take you back to the thought that how you combine the ingredients has a very notable impact on the end product. If you DO find pine bark in a suitable size, making the bark the primary fraction of the soil (75-85%) will yield a product much different than if you added 15-20% pine bark to the soil you bought. We can talk more about soils if you're interested - and I'll give you some additional reading that covers container soils in greater depth. If you read it and understand the concept, you've probably taken the largest step forward a container gardener can take at any one time. While you're mulling that over, you can read about several ways to trick excess water into leaving the pot, which of course means more air in the soil (a good thing) and the ability to water correctly. I'm sure you'll have questions or comments - at least I hope you do. ;-) As far as light goes, your plant will probably tolerate the light load of full sun indoors, but the leaves probably won't tolerate the heat build-up unless you have a fan moving the air, so use your judgment. Outdoors, dappled or open shade with morning or late day sun would be ideal, and your plant will love it outdoors. My #1 choice for a houseplant fertilizer is Foliage-Pro 9-3-6, and the reasons are many. I don't want to get you thinking about too many things at once, so when you're ready to take on fertilizers, we can talk about that. The FP isn't easy to find in stores, but Miracle-Gro 12-4-8 in the yellow jug is, and it's cheap. It doesn't work quite as well as the 9-3-6, but it has the same NPK ratio (3:1:2) so it's about the next best thing. It also has any micronutrients you would have any cause to be concerned about in container media. All it lacks that's of concern is calcium and magnesium, but that will be in your soil, so you're covered for now. Questions? Al

hi! i have been having a problem with my money tree. it is only growing leaves from the bottom (near the soil) and no longer from anywhere ont he braid or the top. it looks pretty sickly at the top, just a branch basically lingering in the air. not sure what to do...it started not too long ago. we moved it and put it in more sunlight, but it's look really sad :( also, the braid feels very light/hollow. what should i do? thanks, stef

Hi - Hoping I can get a some help to save my tree... I took some pictures which are below. Only one of my four stems seems to be healthy and growing new leaves. The other three are in various levels of sick. Help! I usually only water when the soil is dry. Lately I've let it dry out a lot because I thought maybe I was over watering it. The tree means a lot to me and I really don't want it to die! Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated.This is the only healthy branch. This is the one that's the most sick. You can see that it's started to change color and wrinkle/twist. This one's leaves shriveled up. This is the only healthy branch. and here's the whole tree... looking sad. After reading a lot of these threads, I've stopped watering it. I think I over watered it this winter. I'm not sure if the wrinkled branch is dead or not. Is it possible to cut the tip of it off? Will it regrow? What about the one with the wrinkled leaves? Hoping someone has some advice! Thanks! Carlos

To give a more detailed story, I originally had this plant in a pot that was about half the size, maybe 10 in diameter which was flourishing quickly and almost too fast for what the main shoots were able to support. But then it started portraying these pictured features of wilting, weak leaves and unsupportive tall shoots. I went to the local store I originally bought the plant from and the lady seemed a bit uninformed but suggested I try transplanting it to a bigger pot with organic soil mixed with sand to help retain moisture. So now it is in a much bigger "self watering" pot (which I never use the reservoir because I don't necessarily trust it, I just feel into the soil to try to judge how much water to give it), with a soil/sand mixture. And ever since I transplanted it with these recommendations about 6+ months ago, it has never seemed to get better....