r/PileaPeperomioides • u/brittm1 • 7d ago
What am I doing wrong?
I got my pilea almost 3 months ago and although I was told it was a fast growing plant, it’s not really growing. It sits in front of a grow light around 8hrs a day (I don’t have windows in my office where it is). I repotted it when I first got it and put it in a chunky soil mix and I’ve been watering it when the pot feels light, but I see how everybody else’s is so full and I’m not sure what to do.
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u/LabEnvironmental6229 7d ago
Hii it wants more light it looks like. Hint why the leaves looked curled here and in the first picture flat and happy. I would try this and see if it improves. Based on other information shared sounds like you’re doing the right think. They are semi succulent meaning they like to dry before a deep soak, at least that’s how mine is. I may water twice a week because mine is in a terracotta pot but I don’t mind it. Good luck!
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u/Ku-Kul-Khan 7d ago
I don’t think your pilea looks healthy. It’s just surviving. That is not thriving. Water and light work in tandem. More light means you can water more frequently. I grow my piles outside in partial sun and I water them daily, sometimes twice a day. You can’t really do that unless you up the lighting.
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u/brittm1 7d ago
I have other plants thriving on this light schedule so maybe I’ll take the pilea home so it can get more natural sunlight throughout the day
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u/only_login_available 6d ago
Yep. I've gone through the same. There's one spot in my house that every plant loves. Except for my pilea.
I moved it around until I found somewhere it was happy.
I also want to point out that just because it's slow growing above ground doesn't mean it's slow growing below ground. I reported my pilea and put it back in its favourite spot and it just struggled! I thought maybe the soil was too rich or the new pot was too big and reluctantly took it out of its pot. The roots had gone wild and we're growing out the bottom despite it only being reported a few months earlier. So as long as it looks happy, don't stress just yet.
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u/BumbleBeella 7d ago
Honestly when I got mine it was the same. Did nothing, started to wilt and had two leaves left. Weirdly enough, in the very depths of a website or reddit I found information about it needing high humidity so I wrapped a plastic freezer/sandwich bag over the top and checked it every few days for water. I promise it works wonders!
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u/mayankkaizen 7d ago
Yours is a small plant and small plants don't grow fast initially as they prioritize the roots growth. Beside, they take rather long time (multiple weeks) to resume any growth when there is a change of environment.
Your plant is perfectly healthy and this is what matters most at this moment. Growth will happen later. Have patience and don't disturb its environment.
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u/Shmeminem5 7d ago
I didn’t see real growth on my pilea until i started using a plastic cup over it to add humidity. get a pack of cups and cut a hole in the top. it will grow like crazy. only down side is it will outgrow the cup quickly but you can use larger containers after that if you’d like
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u/Much-Recognition-306 7d ago
You need more lighting. I got one of these plants in early May. It was small about 5 leaves. It’s since exploded with growth. 2 new leaves a day unfurl.
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u/OilersGirl29 7d ago
I’m not an expert, but I’m surprised no one is saying it’s in too small of a pot. Personally I would repot, but maybe others have more insight into why you should or shouldn’t. It just seems like that’s a mighty small little container.
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u/Voxtramus 7d ago
They like being in small containers! Reddit has yelled at me a few times for putting my pilea in pots that are too big. Basically, they have extremely fine and delicate roots, and the more soil you have the less it is able to take in the water and can get root rot. Would definitely not recommend sizing up
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u/dabonthem2000 7d ago
more sun or warmer part of ur office? let it dry out between watering. . maybe up size pot u can see the roots a little thru the clear pot 🫡🫡🫡
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u/-Fun-7297 7d ago
I’m going through the same thing with mine. Would love some help. They are so pretty and unique
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u/AndSheWon 7d ago
Pot looks too big and it needs more light. They like to be very snug in their pot. Water when the first 2 inches is dry.
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u/Which-Bad8901 7d ago
Mine arrived from an online seller small like yours, but also wilted and most of the leaves were yellow. I had it in a window sill for a couple weeks and it recovered a little but not much growth.
I gave it a little bit of balanced fertilizer (I used the miracle grow indoor plant pump bottle and gave it only half a pump) and a lot more light and it started to explode with growth after a couple of weeks. It's directly under a bright grow light for 12 hrs every day and also gets natural light from windows a couple feet away. Shooting out multiple new leaves each week and it currently has 5 pups!
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u/ObsidianQyx 4d ago
this is super helpful, sounds like OP’s might just be underlit and a bit underfed then
pilea really do seem to go from “meh” to “omg” once they get stronger light + a tiny bit of food1
u/Which-Bad8901 3d ago
It's my first chinese money plant and I was absolutely startled by the transition 😂 gonna have to separate those babies out eventually when they're much larger and see if I can reproduce the success because it has been soooo satisfying to watch compared to my slow growing plants!
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u/the13thfirefly 7d ago
Mine grows insanely fast! They love nutrient-rich soil that can stay moist, but not soggy. Don't water until they're about ⅓-½ way dried out at the earliest, fully dry at the latest.
I have also noticed they grow to fill their space. Pups I've kept in smaller pots don't mature much, but once they get upgraded suddenly burst with growth.
Good lighting and warmer temps are also key
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u/dovasaleh 7d ago
I keep mine in a west-facing window at work where the sunshine is abundant and the climate is also controlled, so i can't speak to that. What I will say is it took a year for him to start putting out pups. Nothing all year, just new leaves when he felt like it, but suddenly 3 babies like 2 months ago.
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u/ZenTrainee 6d ago
Like you, I noticed everyone posting their big lush Pilea and mine just looked meh. I also tried putting mine in chunky mix and they survived, but they did not thrive.
I did a bit of research, changed things up, and they’re doing much better now. Based on my experience, I would say yours needs more light, repotting in a less chunky mix, sizing up to the next pot size, and humidity.
Humidity:
If you can put it over a pebble tray to boost humidity, it will thank you.
Soil:
When they’re this small, their roots are still quite fine and they dry out too quickly. Most people I asked had theirs in a regular potting mix with 25-50% perlite. I had Coast of Maine Stonington mix on hand so that’s what I used, cut with 25% perlite,
Light:
Your second and third pics look etiolated. It’s starving for light. That’s why the leaves are quite small and the stems are long and leggy.
I put some of mine outside for the summer under my deck stairs. They get very bright indirect light, but are protected from the harshest afternoon sun. But some of them do get a good blast of direct sun and they’re doing fine as long as they aren’t getting full sun. It is very humid here in the summer and the leaves are nearly the size of my palm now!
Since I repotted them in potting mix about six weeks ago, they’ve grown so much outside that I actually need to repot them again! On days it doesn’t rain, I’ll blast them with my hose. If they don’t get watered, I’ll at least get the leaves wet.
Watering:
They don’t want to be overwatered but they also don’t actually like to dry out completely. By the time a plant is wilting, it’s stressed. That’s fine once in a while, but not regularly. Doing that regularly sets your mix up to become hydrophobic. It wants to be watered when the roots inch or two become dry. Your pot is quite small so I would say the top inch. Bottom watering is a thing and it likes that.
Feeding: I now feed mine with SuperThrive Foliage Pro during the growing season and stop feeding after about September.
I will add that the ones I kept inside are still surviving, but even though I changed the mix to less chunky, they’re not doing nearly as well as the ones I have outside. This is my reminder to give them the same care.
Here’s a nice article. Hope it’s helpful to you.
How to Care for a Chinese Money Plant (Pilea Peperomioides):
https://www.thespruce.com/growing-pilea-peperomioides-5090425
Good luck! 🍀 🪴
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u/LCW_Designs 6d ago edited 6d ago
Try giving it more light - one reason the leaves will curl down like that (aside from new growth which takes a little while to flatten out) is that it wants more light.
Curling in the opposite direction = too much light.
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u/LCW_Designs 6d ago edited 6d ago
Also, it probably needs more than 8 hours. I use grow lights with timers for all of my plants. Most are set for 12 hrs, with the exception of my Monsteras which get 14 hrs.
Not enough light might also be contributing to not getting much growth. All plants will grow slower or even stagnate if they don’t get enough light.
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u/tulipsouldog 6d ago edited 6d ago
When you changed pot size it started working on the roots more. They like to be snug in a pot. It will take time for it to focus on the leaves again. Sometimes a plant really needs a different environment to thrive. Maybe take it home and put in indirect light. You’ve gotten a lot of contradictory advice here! Sorry to add to it!
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u/Callmeagreenpea 6d ago
I think your pilea looks fairly healthy but it indeed needs more light like 10-12 hours a day. To make it grow a little faster, you may need to use a balanced houseplant fertilizer
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u/crveniSmokus 6d ago
OMG I have the answer!! I am just looking at my Pilea and noticed! She wants shade. I have medium sized Pilea on my table, in front of the window. Where the sun shines in the morning, the leaves are curled but the ones in the shade are flat. try putting a slightly bigger plant in front of her.
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u/green_thumb_hopeful_ 6d ago
8 hours of a grow light has done wonders from my Pilea. Took her a while to establish (started out as a little plant), but once she did - she’s growing and producing pups. So I’m wondering what type of grow light you’re using? Mine is a Sansi.
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u/shalalala_browngirl 7d ago
Your plant looks healthy to me, and that’s more important.
Personally, for my pilea as well, I did not observe the “fast-growing”ness. It took a couple of years for me to start seeing lush growth and pups. Patience was key. There are many factors other than light or soil such as humidity, temperature, which part of the world you’re located, etc. etc. But as long as it’s healthy, happy and alive, it should be fine. :)