Pics of the plant will help.

The leaf posted appears to have suffered pest damage long ago when it was forming.

Josh

I would check the soil for fertilizer balls. Leaves don't look like they've been chewed on, rather too much or too little of nutrients when they were forming.
You can't go wrong with a repot into an appropriate soil mix a few months later when the weather is better and your plant is in the growing season.
If leaves are droopy, the problem may be in the root zone.
A pic of the root ball and soil and of the whole plant would be great.
Did the plant get cold when you brought it home?

This is the whole plant

I wasn't sure whether to repot or not so for now I just placed the smaller shop pot into my larger pot and built up the edges and underneath with some ordinary soil I already had

This is the best picture of the original soil I could get without lifting the plant out. The lighter coloured soil is what it was potted in at the shop and the darker stuff laying on the surface is just a sprinkling of my soil I used to covered the edges of the original container to hide its visibility. I'm a bit scared to lift the plant out to take a picture of the roots as I've never done this before and am afraid i might damage in. Do you have any advice for this? I've moved the plant into some indirect sunlight in another brighter room but I'm not sure that was ever the issue. It could have got cold on the way home, it was a very long drive maybe 4 hours or so in the car and it was also outside for about 15 mins the day after so I could put it in the larger tub of this helps with more detail. The soil feel moist but not too wet to touch.

Does the bigger pot have drainage holes? If it does not, I'd recommend removing the soil in the bigger pot so you can take the smaller pot out to drain excess water out.
Sitting in water increases the risk of root rot.

Money trees are pretty forgiving in regards to being repotted. They won't mind it one bit. Just try not to break any roots. But even if you do, I wouldn't worry about it. When I repot mine, I get in there with my fingers and knock away all of the old soil. As for the soil, I use the Miracle Grow soil for Cacti & Succulents, because it drains away water pretty well. Pachiras love lots of water, but they don't like soggy feet.

Since yours is currently sending out newer leaves, I would place the plant in the brightest location that you can give it. I wouldn't worry about any direct sunlight during the winter. Direct sunlight is not as intense as it would be during the summer months. Plus, this would give the newer leaves a chance to acclimate to the brighter light.

When it warms up enough in the springtime, I move mine outdoors. Preferably into a slightly shaded spot at first. But eventually, I move mine into direct sunlight, where it stays all throughout the rest of the year. Pachiras love lots of sunlight, even during the Summer. Just keep it well watered and it will do just fine.

The tree looks great. I wouldn't worry about one leaf.

As said, if there's no drainage in the white pot, best to lift the original pot out. The potting mix appears to be something like coco or peat, both of which hold too much moisture.

The best time to re-pot is around June. If re-potted at the wrong time of year, Pachira will sulk for months.

Josh

Do you have any advice for which soil to buy? I will keep it in the brightest room and repot in a few months then. The larger pot does have one drainage hole at the bottom but to be safe I will left it out of this one until I repot it in there with the appropriate soil. The leaves, although there are a few more that are like above, are not too much of a concern it seems. It is the drooping that worries me as I'm keen to do anything I can before it gets worse. It happened very quickly, perhaps two days after I brought it home as a very sprightly plant.

These plants love great drainage. They like to be flooded, and then drained.

For this reason, I can't stress enough that you make your own mix. Something like the Gritty Mix or the 5-1-1 are awesome for these plants....and using these mixes, you will dramatically reduce the chance of root-rot, yellowing or burned leaves, or limp leaves.

If you *can't* make your own mix for some reason, there are ways to make fairly decent mixes with off the shelf products. Many Pachira growers have had success with a fine-grade "Orchid Mix" (small pieces of bark, not chunks) - to which they add more Perlite, and sometimes a pinch of potting mix.

Please, ask questions. I'll also link you to a Thread I compiled on a couple years of maintaining my Pachira, which continues to thrive and has provided me with many cuttings.

Pachira (Money Tree) - Spring re-potting pics

Here's another cool rehab story:
Droopy Pachira aquatica in 3:1:1

Josh

Thank you so much josh, I've read through each of those. Much of that went over my head lol but I hope I have understood correctly.. It would be best for me to make a new soil mix made up of equal parts of very small bark clippings, very small pumice stones and perlite. Just those three ingredients. Do you you recommend repotting this sooner (the drooping is worsening each day) or waiting as your posts suggests until perhaps April/may? I also need to look into fertiliser, do you have any recommendations for something i can buy in England, lots of the suggestions online are American products. and once brought how much and how often would you recommend? Also my white pot is quite large but I am going to drill some more holes in the base ready for use, if the pot is too large can it do any harm? I'm sorry to plaque you with questions, when I said I knew nothing about plants I really meant it :). When I repot I will take pictures of the root ball aswell to see if this holds any clues. I'm very grateful for your help so far .

Thank you so much josh, I've read through each of those. Much of that went over my head lol but I hope I have understood correctly.. It would be best for me to make a new soil mix made up of equal parts of very small bark clippings, very small pumice stones and perlite. Just those three ingredients. Do you you recommend repotting this sooner (the drooping is worsening each day) or waiting as your posts suggests until perhaps April/may? I also need to look into fertiliser, do you have any recommendations for something i can buy in England, lots of the suggestions online are American products. and once brought how much and how often would you recommend? Also my white pot is quite large but I am going to drill some more holes in the base ready for use, if the pot is too large can it do any harm? I'm sorry to plaque you with questions, when I said I knew nothing about plants I really meant it :). When I repot I will take pictures of the root ball aswell to see if this holds any clues. I'm very grateful for your help so far .

As I've mentioned in my previous post, Pachiras don't mind being repotted. Just take it easy with them if/when you do. They also need plenty of drainage in whatever pot you decide to use. Money trees love lots of water, but they hate soggy conditions with poor drainage. They may love water, but they also love fresh air. Their roots need to breathe.

The pot doesn't look too big for your plant. Given plenty of light, your Pachira will quickly grow into it. Just so long as you use a soil that drains away water pretty well, it should do just fine. More drainage holes wouldn't hurt, giving your plant's roots access to more air exchange. And these plants aren't particularly heavy feeders. I don't really fertilize mine all that much and it still grows like a weed.

I would also suggest, if you haven't already, to give your money tree as much sunlight as you can. Winter sunlight isn't as intense as it is during the summer months. This will give your plant's new growth the chance to properly acclimate to the brighter light. These plants love as much light as you can give them. They can't get better if you don't give them the energy that they need in order to do so. Fertilizing only assists the plant, giving it the proper nutrients it needs, its primary source of energy is sunlight. Without this, fertilizing by itself wouldn't do much good.

This post was edited by ToMMyBoY69 on Sat, Jan 24, 15 at 18:43

They definitely don't like being re-potted at the wrong time of year. In England, I wouldn't risk it....given the gloomy conditions. What I *might* get away with in northern California at this time of year, won't necessarily work somewhere colder.

For this reason, I highly recommend waiting until the end of May or June to do the actual re-potting. Nothing wrong with putting the ingredients together now and getting a feel for the mix.

Josh

Catherine's money tree is actively growing at the moment. What better time for repotting than when it's putting out new growth? Sure the weather outside isn't optimal, but as long as it's kept in a bright sunny window, repotting it won't phase it one bit. Where I live may not be England, but it does stay cold, wet, and gloomy for much of the winter. I have never encountered problems with repotting my Pachira. Plus, they aren't all that finicky when it comes to having their roots disturbed. Not to mention how her plant isn't too happy with the conditions that it's already in, but leaving it in those conditions for several more months would probably only make matters worse. Sure, it's better to wait until it's warmer outside, but given the current circumstances, I think that her plant would do better with a repot into a fresh, free-draining soil. And it's already sending out new growth, so it would quickly recover from it as well, rather than persisting in the poor conditions for several more months. Just make sure to place it in the brightest location that you can give it, to give it plenty of sunlight (or as much as possible) to help aid in its recovery.

'......a bright sunny window.....' We average about 3 hours of sunshine per day in January. It is at a very low angle and consequently quite weak. I would definitely wait to repot. Plants are sold with a certain amount of nutrition in the mix to keep them going for a while. I don't really understand the mania for instant repotting. I'd allow it to settle into the OP's heat and light conditions and then repot if really necessary. Also, for a single plant I would not go to the trouble of making my own mix (anathema to say that on this site, I know). I've tried to find ingredients for Al's gritty mix and they seem to be pretty hard to find for the home gardener, especially in practical quantities. Perlite is £8.49 a 10 litre bag in Homebase which is quite possibly more than the plant cost. Fir bark is £9.99 for 15 litres on-line. And what is Catherine going to do with the rest of the bags? There are perfectly good house plant composts available ready-made and I'd just go for one of those. As for fertiliser, Baby Bio is fine, or any other house plant food.

Although the plant appears to be in active growth, since it is newly bought I think that is due to greenhouse conditions. It has been pushed along with heat and lights to ready it for sale. In a home it would not growing much.

What I would do immediately is to get it away from that radiator and into a window asap.

Hello, I said I would post back when the time came to repot. A quick update, the plant is very very sad, sooo many leaves have browned and dropped, growth is minimal and the dropping is very bad. So I'm glad to finally be reporting. Now for the mix: I couldn't get hold of any pumice stones at all :/ slightly annoying so I've had a bit of a guess and made a mix of 1 part mini bark 1 part perlite and 1 part orchid mix. Can anyone offer any insight into whether this is a good mix, I just had to work with what I could get my hands on. I took some of the larger bark bits out as I went based on some of Josh's other posts. I've taken the plant out of its horrible soil, gently massaged away as much of the attached soil as possible to reveal the roots, whilst making the mix I sat the roots in a shallow bowl of water and baby bio because it was a due a feed anyway. I drilled a few smaller holes in the base of my plant pot to hopefully increase the air flow and filled the pot halfway with the new mix, stood the plant in and topped up to maybe 10cm off full. I've then topped the mix with some decorative but weighty larger stones to completly stabilise the plant. I've brought it back inside and will leave it in the brightest spot in the house for a few weeks to see how it gets on. But if you guys think the mix, pot etc can be improved or if I've made an error at any part I would really appreciate the guidance. I'm desperate to help this plant to thrive, the mix cost me heart £60 in total lol, but it will be worth it to see growth and the existing leaves lift. Any comments on the mix and roots would be really appreciated. To my completly amateur eye, I would have expected bigger roots for a 1.5m plant but that's not a very well informed opinion. Thank you in advance, il pop a load of pictures up now.

Those pictures of the leaves should be portrait, so tilt your head to left to see the drooping

The brown and orange handful is the orchid mix. The first is the mini bark for an idea of size. I've just realised I put the wrong ratio on my post above, I did use less of the mini bark because it looked as though there was also bark in the pre brought orchid mix so I probably used more like 40% orchid mix 40% perlite 20% mini bark.

Hello!

First comment: the new mix is very chunky, and that will mean superfast drainage. As such, you'll need to water slowly, slowly, slowly.....and then come back in ten minutes and slowly water again.....otherwise the water will run right through and not saturate the mix thoroughly.

Second, isn't it amazing how paltry the root systems can be? And isn't it even more amazing that those little roots were supporting a plant of that size? Now, the primary goal is to get a nice set of roots under the tree.

In a week or so, fertilize the plant with 1/2 strength dose of fertilizer.

Josh

Thanks josh, I'm going to keep looking for pumice stones and maybe a suitable siv and run the mixture through as I notice myself that the size difference is not ideal. But I'm working long hours for a while now and just didn't want to leave it the way it was. How often would you recommend watering with this current mix and how much liquid? By half strength do h mean a 50/50 mix of water and fertiliser? I currently only have baby bio at home, do you know of anything better in the UK? Thank you so much for your help

I would stick the pot inside a bucket and soak the mix for a few hours so the bark can absorb some water. I would forget the pumice and just use your potting mix with some bark and perlite. Give it good light and air and I think it will recover.

Mine grows in a standard potting mix with perlite and small bark (mostly potting mix and perlite) and grows well. It does get full sun and I let it go almost dry before watering. Doesn't seem to bother it.

I use a time release fertilizer on my plant. I don't fertilize with watering.

Jane