This plant that has some very round green leafs mounted in the center on a long stem is called Pilea Peperomioides. It is a plant native to the Yunnan province in the South of China. And due to its origin and the resemblance between its leafs and coins, this plant is also known as the Chinese money plant.
Since I have already drilled some holes on the bottom of this wooden Japanese bowl, I had no choice but planted my Chinese money plant in soil. But like pathos and lucky bamboo, Chinese money plant is a hydroculture plant that is very suitable to be planted in water without soil or any other growing medium.
You can check this post for a list of plants that are suitable to grow in the water.
As mentioned earlier, roots that are grown in water (called water roots) are more brittle than soil-grown roots. Hence, growing houseplants in water isn’t exactly for those serious gardeners who take their plants to exhibitions or competitions.
But for the rest of us who haven’t yet tried hydroculture, I would recommend you to give this fun and easy way of growing plants a try. And it can be very educational too! With a transparent container, kids can observe the development of the roots as the plant grows.
Check out this post if you want to learn how to make container garden – Money Bowl.
And you can go to this post to learn how to pot plants in hydroculture.
It looks very much like a Nasturtium but I like the name ‘Chinese money plant’ better!
Louise, the leafs do look like those of Nasturtium, don’t they. Only that the Chinese Money Plants never blossom (umm… at least I have never seen any that does so far 🙂 ), in addition, the leafs of the money plant will get thicker as the plants grows larger.
Hi,
The indoor money plant is really charming. What is the kind of growing medium you use? Thanks for your post.
ap
hi ap,
By then, I hadn’t yet started making my own potting mix. So, I used a soil mix I bought in a gardening shop.
Cheers,
~s
Thanks for your prompt reply. Yes,The roots seen through the glass container can teach a lot of things in real (studied in botony class).
Do you add any nutrient, how often?
ap
Hi ap,
Sorry for the late reply, somehow I missed your message.
Yes, I use fertilizer, around every 10 days – 2 weeks 😉