Chinese Money Plant
Pilea peperomioides
Through the year 🗓️
☀️ Summer now
Rotate weekly, since it leans hard toward the summer sun, and keep moisture even.
🍂 Fall
Growth slows; give the last feed.
❄️ Winter
A cool windowsill is fine; water when the leaves just begin to soften.
🌱 Spring
Pup-harvest season; repot the mother plant while she is between growth spurts.
The details
Light & placement
- Light
- Bright indirect; it rotates toward light, so turn it weekly for an even dome
- Ideal PPFD
- 150–300 µmol·m⁻²·s⁻¹
- Grow-light distance
- 18–24 in below LED
Water & feed
- Watering method
- Water when the top inch dries; leaves droop slightly when thirsty and perk right back up.
- Fertilizer
- Balanced feed at ½ strength, monthly in spring–summer.
Home & habit
- Soil
- Light, well-draining mix with perlite; pH 6.0–7.0
- Humidity
- Average (40–60%)
- Temperature
- 60–75 °F
- Mature size
- ~12 in tall & wide
- Repotting
- Every 1–2 yrs
- Propagation
- Baby plantlets pop up from the soil around mum: cut, pot, gift.
When something looks wrong
- Overwatering signs
- Yellowing lower leaves, drooping despite wet soil
- Underwatering signs
- Curling, dropping leaves; dramatic slump
- Common pests
- Fungus gnats, spider mites, mealybugs
Common problems 🩺
The usual suspects when Chinese Money Plant looks unhappy. Most houseplant trouble is watering or light, not disease — see all plant problems if you are not sure which plant is the culprit.
Leaves curling or cupping
Likely cause
Light imbalance — too much or too little, and it curls either way.
What to do
Aim for bright indirect light and rotate it regularly so the coins stay flat.
Yellowing lower leaves
Likely cause
Overwatering, or the plant retiring the oldest leaves.
What to do
Let the top inch dry out; remove the odd yellow leaf at the base.
Tall bare stem with a tuft on top
Likely cause
Not enough light, so it stretches and drops lower leaves.
What to do
Move it brighter. The bare stem stays bare, but new growth comes in compact.
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