Money Tree in Ceramic Egg

Ok, so I see this great little Money Tree growing in a ceramic egg. Cute. It says "when transplanting, use a loose houseplant potting soil. Fine and dandy. However, it's in a ceramic egg!! Do I leave the tree in the egg and plant that way? See, the trunk of this little tree is exactly the diameter of the opening in the egg. The bottom of the egg has an opening where you can see soil.

Anyone ever worked with this plant? LOL. Here'a link to the picture LOL http://www.goodluckplants.com/Detail.bok?no=19

Thanks!
Cis

That's a cute but very impractical sort of pot! If it's time to repot it, you're going to need to somehow remove it from the egg. I don't know what the bottom of it looks like, but when the roots run out of room it's not going to help you much to just plant the egg in something else. Also, the trunk will grow thicker as the plant gets bigger, and you don't want the egg squeezing into it, that won't be good for the plant. I don't know how you'll get it out of there without breaking the egg, so that's my thought on what you'll have to do.

LOL Ecrane.......it's one of those funny things I could not resist. It's weird that their website gave no indication on how to handle it. A hammer comes to mind ;)

Thank you!

~Cis

They probably didn't think about the future when you have to repot--you've already bought it by then so why would they care once they have your money! They're counting on the cute factor to get you before you really think about the logistics of maintaining the plant in the long term.

That is cute but I think the little ceramic egg planter is just a gimmick. That plant is not going to survive long in something so small. I have a money tree in a pot and it's about 3' tall and I need to repot it cause it is root bound.

That price of $9.99 plus shipping seems outrageous to me for such a teeny plant. I think I bought mine at Wal-Mart or Home Depot a few years ago and paid $4.97 for it but it was not in the ceramic egg ... which I think is just a novelty.

I would take it out of the ceramic egg and plant it in regular pot. You can run water over the opening in the egg to see if it will loosen up the soil and maybe the little tree will come out easily. If not, if it is tightly root bound, you will have to break the egg.

The Money Tree can grow to 15' tall and is actually a Malabar Chestnut tree! http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/56220/


edited to correct spelling

This message was edited May 2, 2008 4:31 PM

Thanks eveyone! I bought it at Orchard Supply today. I paid $6.99. Anyway, I am going to break the egg so I can transplant properly. Thanks ecrane and plantladylin

~Cis (who's always a sucker for "cute"

I hear ya Cis ... I must admit, I have been a sucker for "cute" many times in my 60 years!

I just went out to the deck and brought my Money Tree in to take a picture of it:

I have also my money tree,and bought it in Baguio City somewhere in april 2006,it cost 100 pesos and really fascinated with the twisted trunk,(just wondering how)! Now my money tree is 20 inches tall and planning to replant it in a bigger pot, cover the soil with a small whiterocks and place it in our living room!!!

It's me again. Back in February, I broke the egg and planted in normal pott indoors. It's grown a lot and now sits near a window, doing great! Plantladylin, I love all your plants on your fireplace hearth. How beautiful!!

~Cis

Why thank you Cis ... sometimes there are more than those crammed on the hearth! I have a lot of plants but most can stay outside year round. When we have an unusually cold winter I have to drag a lot of plants inside and try to find places to sit them until it warms up enough to move them back out. Luckily the past 6 or 7 years we haven't had real cold temp's last more than a day or so. The plants prefer being outside.

Glad to hear that your money tree is doing well. This time of year things are starting that spring growth spurt and I bet your plant is loving the bright light coming through the window!

Hope you can post a photo of it sometime!

Lin

The Money Tree can stay in the Ceramic Egg and last for a very long time. Its not necessary at all to replant it, its growth will be very slow, maybe even years before you need to replant it if ever. If you feel your plant can no longer stay in the egg, you can transplant it by just pulling the stem out of the egg and putting the bottom of the stem in a pot with houseplant soil. Don't worry about breaking the roots, they will grow back. It will grow new roots by itself very easily.

Chris: Is this Money Tree your company sells in the ceramic egg the same one I linked to in my above post, the Malabar Chestnut Tree which gets so huge?

My posting is just my own personal opinion regarding the pricing of that plant but I realize it would seem to be a very good price for a novelty item that some folks would really enjoy growing.

I'm not understanding what would keep it small though ... I would think those roots would grow and eventually crack the ceramic egg?

My plant came from either Wal-Mart or Home Depot but was not in a ceramic egg. It was in a quart container and it has grown quite a lot since I first bought it. Maybe having a little sapling in a ceramic egg stunts the growth?

Anyway, it is a cute, novelty item that I know is probably very popular!

Lin,

The information I have is that all of our Money Trees are Pachira Aquatica but a quick google seach for Malabar Chestnut Tree show many webpages stating they are one and the same. I'm not too sure why the roots don't seem to outgrow the egg, maybe its because the egg restricts it? I'm just the webmaster for my company so i don't know too much but from personal experience I can tell you that I have 3 or 4 of them at home and they are doing great but they really havent grown terribly larger than their original size. Maybe thats a good thing?! I've seen larger MoneyTrees like the ones you bought grow much much larger!

This a a great site, everyone seems really friendly and willing to help each other by sharing their knowledge/experiences. I'm glad I stumbled upon it. Thanks again everyone for your interest!

Hi Chris:

Yes, Paquira aquatica is the botanical name of the plant, with the common names being Malabar Chestnut, Money Tree and a few others!

I wonder if maybe being in the small ceramic egg, it causes the roots to be dwarf and stunted to keep it a small size? I don't have a clue but it is a neat looking plant in that egg. It's amazing that it can be kept so small like some bonsai plants, as well as growing to be a huge tree in the landscape.

Check out this picture in Plant Files: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/28971/ ... growing in Brazil! It sure is a pretty tree.