Howdy! Pachira aquatica will do well in a soil that drains quickly, indeed. Yes, you'll need to water more often during the growth season - but the trade-off is that the roots will be healthy and won't rot during the winter months. I'd make a 1:1:1 mix of bark, pumice, and perlite. Instead of pumice, you could also use Turface, or Napa diatomaceous earth, part #8822. These ingredients are similar in that they have a solid structure and great internal porosity (to hold moisture and nutrients). I use quartz gravel and perlite together - the gravel gives some weight to the mix, while providing excellent stability and air-circulation and while holding very little moisture. I've also read that rough, sharp grit in your mix will promote fine root-growth. The bark that I use is called Micro Bark: it is pine/fir bark. I screen my particles so that they are between 1/8 and 3/8 of an inch. Ideally, however, all of my ingredients would be just about 1/8 of an inch. This is the critical particle-size at which a container mix will retain moisture (under 1/8 holds water - over 1/8 gives up water). This is a general rule, assuming equally-sized particles. There are many ways to modify this basic blend to get the mix right for your growing conditions. Since Pachira aquatica (Malabar Chestnut) comes from wetland areas in South America, I have always assumed that it likes to be flooded...and then allowed to dry. Outside in partial shade, my Pachira is drying out every 2 - 3 days. During the winter in the house, I cut watering back to once a week (sometimes longer). Oh! Almost forgot a final piece of advice! Avoid the braided Pachira...in my opinion, they're nothing but trouble (often, one of the trunks is totally rotten from the start). A single trunk, with healthy foliage, will serve you better. Josh

I just removed 2 dead trunks out of the 5 that came in the pot when i bought it. I was inspecting the plant and noticed bark missing on one of the trunks, so i felt it and it was mushy. I just carefully removed the wire holding the braid and pulled the dead trunks out without disturbing the roots from the other trunks(I hope). I kinda just snapped it off at the bottom. I did it today so we will see how it does in the coming days/weeks. I'm wondering if it was a mistake to just snap the trunk at the bottom and pull out the dead wood pieces?

No pretreatment lightly cover soil temp 70-80F if need 3 stems plant 3 together OR plant singulary & then combine 3 plants in one pot. plant prefers to be pot bound.....

If the humidity level is high enough, the fan won't be a problem, but if it's sub-40%, it will be. I'm not sure how you have your plant set up for drainage, but at least one hole should be through the bottom at some point. Even if the holes in the sides are 1/8" above the bottom - that's a problem. There should be no way the effluent that exits the drain hole should have a pathway back into the pot. If it was my plant, I'd be using a wick to assist drainage, I'd water it over the sink, then tip the pot at a 45* angle with the wick hanging down from the lowest point in the pot bottom (as though you tipped figure E 45* to the right)until the planting stops draining. 3 weeks between waterings is a certain indicator you're leaving a lot of your plant's potential untapped. Another way of saying that is, 3 weeks between waterings is a sure indication there is a significant degree of limitation in play due to an overly water-retentive soil. You would be doing well to flush the soil and fertilize with regularity, and plan a full repot (as opposed to potting up) into a medium that allows you to water correctly. Al