The Chinese Money Plant is easy to grow, but it can be frustrating when you’re not seeing any pups or plantlets.
Or maybe you have some already on your plant, but they don’t seem to be growing at all. There are quite a few factors that determine how well Pilea peperomioides grow, and if one element of care is out of balance from the rest, you’re unlikely to see pups for a while.
Here’s how to encourage your plant to produce plantlets, so you can have more Pilea plants for free!
Let’s get started.
How To Get Pilea Pups To Grow On Your Plant
If the plant care is right, and your Pilea peperomioides is mature, it should be producing plantlets.
But chances are, it’s not, and that’s why you’re here. Let’s look at ten ways you can encourage your Chinese Money Plant to produce pups.
If you do all ten, you’ll be seeing that new growth in no time.
Wait For Your Plant To Mature
If your plant is not old enough, it will not produce plantlets just yet. It will focus all of its energy on growing the roots, stems, and leaves it needs so that it can extract more energy from the light and nutrients it has access to.
Once it has those building blocks in place, and it gets old enough, it will start producing pups.
If you’ve got a very small Pilea, it may take up to a year (depending on the growing conditions you give it) until it produces plantlets.
Some people prefer to let the first few plantlets stay on the plant, so the Pilea can get as large as possible.
If you’ve been caring for your Pilea plant for over a year, and you still haven’t seen any plantlets, there are plenty of things to try to make that happen.
Usually, this is a problem in the growing conditions.
Give The Plant More Light
Light determines how well a plant grows. Without light, the plant cannot make the energy it needs to grow through photosynthesis, leading to a weak plant with pathetic-looking growth.
The Chinese Money Plant needs to be as close to a window as possible, and this will ensure that it gets plenty of light (see also Chinese Money Plant Care Guide).
Eastern-facing windows are best, where the plant can reap the benefits of some direct morning sunshine, which isn’t harsh enough to cause the plant any damage.
Try to stay away from putting this plant in a sunnier position, as this can cause sun scorch. You need a balance when it comes to light: enough so that the plant doesn’t get leggy, but not too much that the sun ruins the leaves.
Giving the plant enough light is key to getting the plant to produce pups. Without it, you’ll simply never see any plantlets.
Give Your Plant Enough Water
You may think that giving your plant a very small drink each time you water it will help prevent root rot, and while you’re right, it can lead to other problems that are just as debilitating.
The root system of your entire plant will be much weaker, causing the plant to grow poorly, and it won’t be able to withstand any pests or less-than-ideal conditions, either.
Not watering properly will mean that some of the roots will get bone-dry, killing them off quickly and it will lead to a very sick plant.
The only real water to water any plant is to do so thoroughly. Circle the watering can or bottle around the surface of the soil to hydrate it.
Make sure you pour away any water that collects in the decorative pot or saucer, as you don’t want the plant sitting in water. That will lead to root rot.
But watering properly is not enough on its own. There needs to be a balance between enough moisture, light, temperature, and the size of the pot the plant is in.
If you think the soil isn’t drying out quickly enough, try putting your plant in a warmer and brighter position.
It could also be that there is too much soil with a smaller root system, in which case, it may be a good idea to move the plant to a smaller pot until it gets bigger.
Feed The Plant Regularly
It’s important to give your plant enough light and water, but just as vital is to give the plant the nutrients it needs.
While it’s very easy to overdo fertilizer when it comes to any sort of plant, they do need a boost occasionally, otherwise, the growth will be very slow, and you won’t be able to help the plant reach its full potential.
If you feed it regularly during the growing season, leaving about two waterings in between each feed, you’ll see a remarkable difference in how your plant grows, how many leaves it puts out, and even how many plantlets you may get.
Always use a balanced houseplant fertilizer, and don’t forget to follow the dosage instructions on the label.
Repot Your Plant When It Gets Pot-Bound
There will be a point when your Pilea outgrows its current pot. You’ll notice that the roots will start to emerge from the drainage holes, the growth will dramatically slow down or even stop, and any existing plantlets will stop growing.
You may also struggle to keep the plant hydrated, which will make things worse growth-wise.
Once you repot your Pilea into a pot that is one size bigger than the current one, the growth will take off again, and you may notice that it will put out a lot of growth very quickly.
When you are repotting, make sure that you give the plant the best chance possible, by teasing some of the root system out of the pot shape the plant has grown into.
If you don’t, the roots will continue to grow in this shape, and you won’t see any difference in the rate of growth.
Give It Consistent Care
When you’ve got to grips with the care that your Pilea needs, and you give it this regularly, making sure that the plant doesn’t completely dry out, it’s got enough light, and plenty of nutrients, this is the key to getting Pilea pups to grow.
Pilea plants will not be able to fend for themselves for long, so don’t leave them to their own devices.
Keep checking the soil moisture levels to make sure they are in balance with other care aspects.
Once you’ve gotten this balance right, everything else is easy, and you’ll see lots of plantlets on your Pilea in no time.
Cut Off The Top Growth
It sounds counterproductive, but giving your plant a trim to encourage growth is one of the best ways to rejuvenate your plant.
Especially if you have a single stem and some plantlets at the bottom of the plant. Cutting back the main stem (and putting it in water to propagate it) will help encourage the plant to put its energy into growing the offsets rather than the main plant.
Once the cutting has rooted, you can put it back in the same pot or in a different one to get another plant for free, too.
Trimming back your plant will also mean that the growth will get denser, and you may find that where there was one stem, there will now be two.
Separate Existing Pups From The Main Plant
Once the pups are bigger, separating them from the main plant and potting them up individually gives the original plant more energy, but it also means that the pups will get fresh nutrients and water in their pot, helping them to grow faster.
Summer Your Pilea Outdoors
Hardly anyone considers this, but if you want to give your plants a boost during summer, simply take them outside.
The conditions they get outside are much, much better than indoors. The airflow is better, the light levels are intensely brighter, and the rainwater is much better for your plants than tap water.
However, you need to introduce your plants to the great outdoors slowly. Increased light levels are good for the plant, but only when you gradually increase them.
Otherwise, plonking your plants outside is a quick way to damage the leaves. Introduce them to a shady position to start with, allowing the plants to get used to these conditions over a week or two.
Gradually increase the light to what they can cope with, and you’ll see a real difference in the number of plantlets you get and the plant’s overall health.
Just don’t forget to bring your plants back indoors before temperatures plummet, and make sure you check the plants for pests before you reintroduce them to indoor life.
Take Off Any Dead Or Dying Material
Always take off any plant material that’s yellow, brown, or completely dried up. Dead and dying plant material can sap some of the plant’s energy, and you want those resources going into healthy growth, instead.
This will help the plantlets to grow as much as possible. If any leaves are partially yellow, leave them on the plant until they are fully yellow, as they can still make the food that the plant needs.
Taking off dead or dying plant material will also help stop any diseases or infections from taking hold of your plant, keeping it healthy.
Final Thoughts
Pilea peperomioides is a gorgeous plant, and in the right conditions, it will grow quite quickly, even when it comes to the plantlets.
But if the conditions aren’t right for your plant, you’ll notice that it simply won’t be as healthy as it should, resulting in slower growth, and any plantlets at the base of the plant may not grow at all.
If you do notice that your plant isn’t growing very much, and it’s still the middle of the growing season, it’s worth taking a look at the different elements of care, and seeing how you can balance them better.
Try to use all the tips in this post, as this will not only help your plant to grow pups, but it will make it into the most resilient version of itself possible, helping to protect it against disease and pests.
