Hello!

I am new to this site so please bear with me.
I got a Chinese Money Plant (CMP) a few years ago. It had been super happy and easy to take care of. This time last year, it was producing so many pups that I was begging my friends to take them.

I wouldn't say it is super unhappy now, but girlie just isn't where she was last year. I wasn't educating myself properly at the time, so I let the stalk get really long. It went through a period of dropping it's bottom leaves, but hasn't done that in 2-3 months. As far as I can tell, it only has 2-3 pups popping up through the soil right now (compared to the 30 I gave away last year).

I repotted over the winter and there were no issues with root rot or overcrowding at that time. I bottom water to avoid attracting gnats. I sometimes spray the top layer of soil with neem oil just in case. It is by an east facing window (direct sunlight from about 5 AM - 8 AM in the summer and hardly anything at all in the winter). I do have any ivy plant that I am currently treating for spider mites, but as far as I can tell, that isn't an issue for the CMP. I'm going to wipe down all of the leaves just in case.

I know becoming top heavy, falling over, and then rerooting is a part of the natural life cycle. However, I've seen some sources recommend cutting the long stalk off and placing it in water to grow a root system and letting the stem grow new leaves.

If anyone knows if I'm making obvious mistakes (soil, potting, sunlight, etc) or ways I can improve it's conditions, I would love to learn more about how to take the best care of the CMP.

Adding another view in case that helps!

It sounds to me like you're doing great. Its hard to find information about this plant so anytime anyone has a plant with green leaves, its a good plant.

As we don't have any photos of Pilea Peperomioides in situ, its hard to say what they are supposed to look like. I suspect, if we could find one out in the forest, it would be lying down, not standing up. And no one is taking the pups off the sides. If you look closely, all those photos of tall skinny Pileas are staked. The bottom stems do tend to shed their leaves but if the pups are there, you won't notice. Yours looks good to me.

I went out and stared at mine yesterday after writing this answer. Its got flowers - for the third time this year. Yay!

I'll take some photos later.

Amazing, thank you for your feedback! I'd love to see a picture of how yours is doing

Sorry! I went out and took some photos this morning but then life got hectic. Here you go. The first is the flower, its not impressive but, at least to my mind, it proves the plant is happy. (My husband would disagree. He would say the plant is about to die as it has bloomed. Bloom and die. I explained to him once the difference between annuals and perennials and this is the only part he remembers. )


Second is the whole plant. The lighter leaves get the most light. The dark green leaves are practically in the dark. I had to lift the Spanish moss off the top to get a photo of the whole thing.

dmd5795, after trying to find information on dealing with this growth habit in my money plant, I finally just gave up and cut the long stalk off, stick the tip of it in water and waited. So far so good. The pups of the original plant are growing up and the cutting is rooting in water. It may take a while for it to fill in, but now I know this is ok and won't hurt the plant.