How To Propagate A Chinese Money Plant For An Endless Supply

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Pilea peperomioides is a much-loved houseplant that goes by many colorful names, including Chinese money, friendship, pancake, UFO, and coin plant — thanks to the single, round leaves that seem to balance on the ends of long petioles. They're one of the houseplants believed to bring good fortune according to feng shui, since their leaves are shaped like coins. But there's another reason this unusual species might be associated with abundance: You can create an endless supply of vegetation when you propagate a Chinese money plant through either cuttings or offsets, little plantlets that pop up next to the mother and that are also known as pups.

If you aren't familiar with these round-leaved wonders, you will want to know what makes them so attractive before hitting up your friends for Chinese money plant cuttings or pups to use for propagation. Pilea peperomioides is a popular houseplant you can grow in bright, indirect light. It is low-maintenance, adaptable to different humidity levels, and can even grow outdoors all year round in USDA Hardiness Zones 9 to 11. These fast-growing evergreen perennials with dark green, fleshy leaves are fun to propagate in different ways, but whichever method you try, wait until the plant is actively growing in spring or early summer.

One of the methods you can use to propagate Chinese money plants is to remove offsets from the houseplant and root them in small pots. Choose a pup that is a few inches tall, dig down into the soil, and cut the plantlet from the mother Pilea using a sterilized pair of scissors. If the offset already has roots, place it directly into a small pot filled with moist potting soil, such as Tank's Green Stuff House Plant Potting Mix. If the offset doesn't have roots, put it in a jar of water for a couple of weeks to prompt roots to form before transferring it to soil. Once potted, it will take a few weeks for the pup to get established in its new home.

You can also create an endless supply of babies by taking leaf cuttings. In order to get the cutting to grow into a new houseplant, you need to take the whole leaf petiole or stem, as well as a piece of the brown trunk it is attached to. Take multiple cuttings in case any of them fail, and then place them into a jar of water. Change the water regularly to keep it clean, and when the roots of the new plants are at least an inch long, you can pot them up in the same way as offsets.

Whichever method you use, make sure to allow the top layer of the new Pilea peperomioides to dry slightly between waterings, and situate them in bright, indirect light. With enough time, you'll end up with enough thriving Pilea houseplants to turn any corner into a vibrant space.