Pachira aquatica emergency rooting?

11 years ago

I have been posting a few too many questions on the forums, so hopefully this will be the last I'll bother you guys on. ; )

My money tree has root rot from overwatering during the winter (which I now know not to do.) I cut off the dead parts, and have a few questions on the rooting:

Can hardwood be rooted or should I cut to the green part?

How should I root it exactly?

It only has a sickly new leaf, and part of the stem is showing the faintest yellow hue. Is there any hope left?

Thanks in advance, right now it is sitting in a cup of water. It is not yet a foot tall...

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Comments (5)

Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
11 years ago
Are you saying that you took a previously potted plant and put the roots in water? Or a separate cutting? I don't know this plant well enough to give advice but I think one would need to be clear on what's going on give you advice. If you browse threads on the house plant forum, you might find some pertinent info there, or may want to also ask there. There are 4 pages of search results in HP forum for Pachira.
HelloPandaNF
Original Author
11 years ago
Purpleinopp: Oh, yes, thank you for pointing that out. It's base completely rotted, so I cut the trunk above the point of rot. The 'cutting' was in water, but after reading some posts, it is in moist soil now.

I guess my main question is just if hardwood cuttings will root, or if I need the green part to root.
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That is a tragic story, indeed! I have done this very procedure many times, so have courage. You can go about this two primary ways: the first is simply to repot the entire tree; the second is to cut off the healthy top and root it, and also repot and hope the trunk and rootmass survive. I think it is imperative that you use a free-draining potting mix. I use bark, perlite, lava rock, and just a little potting mix as a binder/moisture retentive ingredient. And when I say "a little potting mix," I mean less than 10% of the overall mix. If you can't mix your own, I recommend a fine-grade Orchid Mix, to which you will probably add some coarse Perlite. Repot keeping the roots moist at all times, thoroughly water and saturate the new mix when done, and place the tree in outdoor shade if available - no direct sun. Keep the mix uniformly moist with light waterings for at least a week after repotting. You can either repot the tree first, and the cut the top off....or you can cut the top off and repot the tree all at once. It's a bit of a gamble, as I don't know the vitality of the tree, but I have confidence from repeated experience that the top will root (if it is healthy as you describe). I place the cut top in a vase/jar of water, and I wait for white root primordia to appear. As soon as they appear, I transfer the cutting into a container of the same moist, free-draining mix, and I keep it moist while the cutting continues to root. I use #1 nursery containers.
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Justin, since the trunk is wrinkled.......... Not a good sign. If you fear repotting, 'I'd repot,' insert a stick/stake deep inside container. If the stick comes out moist, the soil is still wet. Don't water. Wait a few days and retest. What size and material is the container? I don't care for self-watering pots, but some people swear by them. Daily watering in a self-watering pot is murder. Did your friend water the soil or down a tube? Can you place the plant outside? Since it's so warm, the soil will dry faster. If it was my Pachira, I'd carefully remove 'and toss' its current pot, add fresh, well-draining soil, pot up, then place in bright light. But it's up to you, of course. Good luck, Justin...Toni
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Sugi - In restrospect, I would have gone one pot size up. At the store, the pots looked so big that I didn't want them to start taking over the living room. They also looked like the same size as the existing pots, but ending up being just barely smaller which caused all my troubles. As for cutting in half/whacking them, I've gone with Al's advice to wait and see how they grow. Repotting was just the first step to improving their health! Hopefully I'll be able to control their growth a bit, while still keeping them both very healthy. The Schefflera is doing great with lots of new growth. The tree is growing now in three places: the left side straight up, the top (very small near the ceiling), and the right (obscured). I'm pretty happy about that! The Dracena... not so much. I kind of suspected it because the tree wasn't doing the best even before root pruning. It is in a very slow decline since repotting - the upper leaves have drooped a bit, while the lower leaves have just begun yellowing the other day. I'm really hoping the tree can balance its canopy to roots quickly. Here are photos of each that I just took (to compare with the original photos in the OP):
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This link will be helpful: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/2842847/container-soils-water-movement-and-retention-xxii?n=419 give it as much light as you can. If you're in the Southern Hemisphere, a south facing window would be best. Place it right up in front, not a few feet away. Water from the top only. Water until it runs out the drain hole, but discard the collected water and never let it sit in that. Water as the plant needs it. Stick your finger a couple inches into the soil, or feel the soil at the drain hole. Water when it feels dry.
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HelloPandaNF
Original Author
11 years ago
Oops, I will repost this to House Plants forum.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
11 years ago
check out the link

Here is a link that might be useful: link
stevelau1911
11 years ago
I would suggest bringing it outdoors under full sun, and keep the soil well drained. I'm not sure if your stem is rotting, but if you have plenty of live parts, they are pretty easy to root when they get stuck in soil with some type of a rooting gel, but the key is to make sure the soil is well draining and never gets damp.

Here's a link to when I propagated mine. I got 8 out of 14 of them to root as it seems like the smaller green parts don't make very good divisions due to their vulnerability to rotting off. I simply plant them, and leave them alone for the most part. It has been just over a month and they are starting to form buds to generate new leaves, but rooting usually takes another month or so. I split up my pachira aquaticas every year.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dividing up pachira aquatica

Pachira aquatica emergency rooting?

Comments (5)

Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL

HelloPandaNF
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Pachira aquatica emergency rooting?

Comments (5)

Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL

HelloPandaNFOriginal Author

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HelloPandaNFOriginal Author

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