I got a Money Tree a little over a year ago. It was doing well at first and then I repotted it into a bigger container resulting in me watering it too much (before I knew better). Leaves began to yellow and fall off, so I was left with tall green trunks with no leaves. Well, I started to take better care of it and read up on its watering needs. It grew more leaves but was still bare from where it had lost leaves before, this gave it an odd uneven look, in my opinion. So I decided to prune. Its still very bare but I think that this was better for it in the long run and the plant will become more full and will have a better growth pattern than before. More robust as opposed to lanky and tall.

Here is a before photo: As you can see, there are small lower leaves, nothing in the middle (where the leaves died off) and then big leaves at the top. I didn't like the bare middle so I decided to trim for a fuller look...also the new growth at the top was too big for the lower leaves to receive sunlight so the trunks ans leaves remained small.

This photo was taken after the prune. There is already new growth on the trunks, its the small green nodes on the sides by my fingers.

Here is its on the 15th of this month. Still a very bare but loads of new growth! The branches lower than where I pruned are very thin (lack of sunlight), which makes me wish I had pruned all the way down to where the braid ends. Should I trim these back even though they have new leaves sprouting from the tip? I was afraid to trim them when I had pruned the larger trunks because I didn't want to shock the plant too much, also I didn't know if anything would sprout from the larger trunks after the prune.

I transplanted it into a slightly smaller pot, I think there was too much space for the soil to stay wet. The reason I say this is because I didn't have problems with my plant until I repotted it into the blue pot you see in the first 2 photos.

From the looks of it, and thinking far into the future, I think this plant will look great even though I didn't trim very far down. In my opinion, once the trunks thicken the tree will have a very full look. What do you think? Should I prune it more?

Thanks
Ashley

I think I would let it grow for a while. Then, next time you prune, you might get a little more drastic!
(Of course, I'm no one to talk...I haven't pruned my Pachira yet...). ;)

Josh

Too bad you didn't take a photo Ellen, but by the way it sounds your plant will be even more full than before! I think everyone feels the way you did when they first prune a plant but it usually works out for the best in the end. :)

Ashley

I wanted to let you know that I liked your pot so much that I had to hunt one down! Does this look similar?
I had to drill a hole in the bottom, but otherwise it's perfect - not too big, not too small, with a smooth terra cotta finish.

I got it last weekend, along with a 3 gallon bag of pumice ($4 - total score!). I also mixed soil for a re-potting...
but I'm nervous, since the Pachira is actively growing:

Josh

I like the one you found. And what a steal! Your pot looks like mine except my base isn't rounded off. I also have little horizontal dashes all over it. I'll get a better shot of it when can get my photos on my comp...having issues right now.

I'll get an update of this soon!

Ashley

These aren't the most recent photos...wow, I just looked at the date and I took these on the 28th of May. I will definitely post newer photos possible tomorrow or next week.

The prune job was a success! New growth is beautiful and flourishing!

The one down fall to my prune job is that I didn't prune as far down as I should have, as you can see in the 3rd photo. I was afraid that new growth would not growth from the stems that were already hard with bark....but maybe next time I'll chop more....we'll see.

Josh, here's a better shot of the pot you liked. Ours are very similar! I do like how yours is rounded at the base though, very nice.

Thanks for looking!

Ashley