My braided Pachira (money tree) also needs help

7 years ago

Hi all, our braided Pachira's leaves are also turning yellow or brown and fall eventually. One of the braided stems has dried completely within the last 4 months, and now it is hard and dry to the touch (also if you cut a bit with a knife). It is still very Okay in comparison to other posts where the trees are in a very poor condition, but I want to prevent, as today I collected almost 10 leaves while cleaning the dust from it. Also I have never fertilized since we bought it in June.

I carefully went through some discussions on Pachiras with same symptoms and I suspect it might have been over watered at the beginning or even bought with one of the stems half dead. That is why it has dried almost 4 months ago. Since then the tree was quite okay except when the winter came and we might have slightly over watered it again (I have recently read it needs even less water in winter than in summer).

The most clarifying post for me was "braided money tree dying" and I read from Josh comments it is recommended to isolate the healthy trunks and re-pot. Still the tree is quite okay and the trunks are really thick, I don't see how I can separate without mechanically damaging the tree, also roots separation seems to be damaging.

For now I'm planning to change the compost (even though it's january still), because mine seems very basic and no draining, I don't see any perlite in it and at the same time I want to examine the roots. Could you please help me with some doubts:

1. when changing the compost, sould I remove completely any old soil from between the small roots? I will have the same question if I decide to separate the trunks in future.

2. if yes, I will inevitably mechanically damage some of the small roots. Is it a problem?

3. is it safe to fertilize in winter?

I Hope I can let the dried trunk stay and improve the drainage by changing the compost and make my pachira save the braided and rich look. I will be deeply thankful for any idea, help, hint, reply, wish...: in the end I believe this is a luck tree and I can heal it with a proper attention and care. Some more pictures of the dried trunk (the one in the middle between the two green ones):

Featured Answer

floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK

7 years ago

I can't say I see a problem with the stems. They just look as if they are hardening and growing bark as any woody plant does as it ages. If one of the trunks was really dead there would be a corresponding chunk of the top growth dead too and I see no evidence of that.

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Comments (14)

Marina Courman
Original Author
7 years ago
Hi again, regrading fertilizers, it seems to be difficult to find the 9-3-6 here in Spain, I've got the 4-5-6 at home, would somebody recommend it? It is tagged as flowers and geranium fertilizer.

Thanks again

Marina
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greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
7 years ago
Hello, Marina!

Your tree looks nice, although the potting mix should be changed this early Summer. The new mix should have lots of drainage material, such as volcanic rock, perlite, or pumice, so that you can avoid the issues associated with excess moisture.

I can't see the dead trunk...which one is it? Yes, removing it will be quite difficult and will change the look of the braided trunk.

When re-potting, you can prune roots. It won't hurt the tree. The key is to remove as much of the old mix as possible, and work smoothly and swiftly, keeping the exposed roots moist so that they don't dry out.

Josh
Marina Courman thanked greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
Marina Courman
Original Author
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Hello floral_uk, Josh, thanks for your amazingly quick response. You are right, there is no evidence on my pictures about the dried stem/trunk, let me show you below.

The problem is, it started really losing leaves. I must add, since we bought the tree and it lost quite some leaves, the others became kind of giant. I think because the plant tries to capture more light or energy. Now they started falling really fast. Let me show some of the sick leaves.

If the plant can stay healthy until summer I will definitely re-pot
following your recommendations (I even bought perlite today already) but I'm afraid it started decaying and
wont stop.

The trunk is really dry and doesn't show any sign of starting to rot, at
least on the surface. So would you recommend to re-pot (in summer or not)
without removing the dry one? (I'd really love to hear that :))

Marina
greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
7 years ago
I always advise removing any dead material....but that will change the look, and could be very difficult. So, it will have to be your personal choice.

Those dark-splotched leaves are not good. Most likely from excess moisture in the rootzone. Until you repot, use a wooden skewer/stick to poke deep into the mix to tell if it is still moist.

Josh
Marina Courman thanked greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
Carlos Salcines
7 years ago
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
greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
7 years ago
No idea if it will regrow.

We really need to see the container and the type of potting mix you're using.

Also, where is it located? How much direct light?

Josh
Carlos Salcines
7 years ago
Hi Josh, Thank you so much for the quick response!

I repotted it about 2 years ago with just regular potting soil. I hadn't had any issues and the tree was thriving. This winter it started losing it's leaves and then this month it got really bad with the wrinkling on the tips. Here are some updated pics. The other ones were from last week. I haven't watered it.

Should I take it out to see if the roots are rotten? What does the rotten root look like? The brown parts of the plant near the soil all still feel healthy. None are soft.
Carlos Salcines
7 years ago
Forgot to answer your question about the light. It sits in a pretty big window. but doesn't get direct sunlight.
greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
7 years ago
Yeah, lift the rootmass out of the container and take a look at the roots. I will post a few pics of healthy roots so that you have something by which to compare. In general, rotted roots are brown, black, grey, et cetera.

I will be surprised if the mix is too wet. Rather, I will speculate that the interior of the rootball is compacted and not receiving water. My guess is, therefore, that the plant has been underwatered. I'm interested in what you find. Obviously, if the rootball is compact and dry, you'll need to rehydrate it completely.

Josh

Roots bound:

Roots pruned:
Carlos Salcines
7 years ago
Hi - Ok so I just pulled the tree out of the pot the roots definitely weren't dry. they were still moist. and from what i can see it seems like they are all a dark brown,does that mean they are rotted?

I knocked some of the dirt off to get a better look, here are those pics:
Carlos Salcines
7 years ago
Also, if they are rotted is there anything i can do to save it?
greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
7 years ago
They don't look rotted to me...just dark from the potting mix. *If* you were to find rotted roots, you would simply prune them off.

Since you've gone this far, you might as well re-pot (even though it is very early in the season). Are you able to make your own porous mix? If not, can you purchase a bag of fine-grade Orchid Mix (which is mostly fir bark), and some Perlite? To that, you could add just a pinch of this old mix as a "binder" for the bark and perlite.

Josh
Carlos Salcines
7 years ago
ok that's great news!! I can't make my own but I can definitely go buy some of that mix and Perlite. When repotting shoudl I try to remove this mix from the roots or keep it on there. I read in another post that you wrote to remove all the old soil and keep the roots wet the entire time. Does that apply to this?

Also, what are your thoughts on the tops of the branches that are starting to wrinkle. Do you think that's something that will just fix itself?