PlantFiles: Money Tree, Malabar Chestnut, Guyana (Guiana) Chestnut, Provision Tree, French Peanut
Pachira aquatica

I too fell in love with this as my first new addition to my then new apt. Shopping for furniture at Ikea, I purchased a money tree for $2 as it was tiny. Looking up the care info online, I found it's supposed to be good luck for new houses! Wow. So it has worked so far and also it seem crazy-happy in my 8x4' north lit window. It's grown from 5" to nearly 7' over the last 4 years.
I had a couple trouble times though. Once, it seemed that something was eating holes in it's leaves from the center areas out. This killed leaves and they dropped for the first time! I didn't know what to do so I took a warm, soap sudsy cloth and wiped the remaining leaves down. This seemed to work. It's been a year since that problem and now it's occasionally dropping a leaf or getting yellow/brown tips. Im not sure if it's a repeat of the last problem or a result of sun/water supply needing adjusting.

I keep it well lit, and during the summer the north window and a nearby east facing window (yes, I live on a NE corner) supply it with an abundance of light. I water it regularly but wonder if too much. When it was growing up, too much was not possible. Contact me if you have any insight to my leaves getting spotty, yellow tipped and of course sappy. The sap is regular behavior I believe. Also, does this tree bloom indoors? and when? at what point it is matured?
I'll post my picture here.

Actually the name aquatica is not misleading, it's a tellin! My wife's small braided plant is thriving in 4" pot that sits in a Asian style glazed ceramic pot with its roots constantly sitting in water. The Pachira is about a bushy foot a half tall in that tiny pot!..with the thick trunk. Amazing how large and healthy in so small, a container.

Fertilizer? What fertilizer? lol. I have had Pachira's with about 8' of trunk(no braids) bloom in a greenhouse.

They also do grow outdoors in Southern California with a bloom almost identical to the Pseudobombax ellipteca and the true Bombax ceiba. I suspect it can be grown outdoors in the bay area as a tropical deciduous shrub.

I own one of these for about 6 months now.
Plant is braided, about 6 ft tall, beautiful specimen.
I keep it inside, infront of window with blinds slanted to give it enough light without allowing direct sun light since I am afraid the leaves may not tolerate full exposure to sunlight., water about once a week, but then the pot gets at least a gallon of water. Since I live in northern California and have a nice,
shady spot outside I will probably move it outside by the end of May.
Pachira Aquatica is a little bit misleading on the Aquatica part. Trunks have all the characertistics of a succulent plant and I would be carefull of overwatering it when kept inside.

Since my plant is a large specimen once a week watering is enough, smaller ones need to be adjusted accordingly.
If your specimen comes in a Bonsai pot - do yourself and your plant a favor - replant into a bigger pot. Potting soil mixed with some sand to allow better drainage should do the trick.

I live in the High Desert of Calif. (Barstow). This plant will not last in our summer heat and sun light. The leafs will burn and the plant will die. I grow mine indoors in defused sun light and I keep the soil moist at all times. (Good Luck)

I love my tree!

I have had my Guyana Tree outside for 6-7 years. It's about 16 feet tall and we have yielded many chestnuts. We get lots of butterflies around the flowers when in bloom and the scent of them is intoxicating hanging outside at night! And now that I saw someone mention the bat attraction, I can see the connection now, as we get them too.

My problem is a bug, "tiny leaf notchers." I also have a couple of leaves with that brown coloration.

I've found this tree to be very hardy, and drought tolerant. The flowers are the best part of it. It's a night bloomer. The flowers only last one night and into the early afternoon before falling off. The fragrance is delicate yet powerful, even overwhelming - especially at night, and even more especially when there's a cluster of trees since they all flower at the same time.

I really do enjoy this tree, and have many of them growing.

I've had a six-foot pachira aquatica for several months. Lately the leaves have been turning brown and dropping off. Some have a clear sticky substance under the leaf before they spot and brown. It's in the sun.

i own two of these (indoors)... one only 10 inches high with 1/2 inch trunk and the other is 30 inches with a 5 1/2 inch braided trunk. both have fought something that looks like powdery mildew, but turns into something that looks like blackspot. maybe its both. then mass leaf-dropping of the diseased leaves. ive been using specticide's immunox systemic fungicide with temporary success. i have to re-treat every 1 1/2 weeks to 2 weeks. i dont like using chemicals at all. the little one seems to do better when on the dry side. contradictory... the big one seems to be stressed if on the dry side and i get more of the leaf-drop. maybe because i bought it rootbound and havent repotted it. maybe repotting (IN WHAT TYPE OF SOIL?) would bring the balance the tree needs... light is medium... not bright enough to for my bird of paradise next to it to flower but enough to grow well... and bright enough for 2 types of spaths to "flower"... its other friends among others are a tetrastigma, a fig, philodendron (and a new sago palm... hope it does well enough with that light!).

Frequently sold for good luck, and potted like small bonsai trees with braided trunks. Fairly good indoor plant, and good outdoor plant in warmer climates. Surprisingly easy to care for and surprisingly drought tolerant in pots.

I have had this tree three years now living on porch out of sunshine, and also out of path of watering... so gets underwatered, yet still does OK.. .what is interesting to me is that it has produced a number of long, rope-like roots that have left the pot, trailed all the way off the porch and dove into the planters below... like an alien in search of another body... sort of creepy. Pretty resourceful plant!

Im not much of a green thumb, but I just started my own business, and one day shopping at home depot, I came across the "money tree" so I picked one up(being superstitous a little) and I have had complete success with this plant--as in, it's been alive for more then 3 months, and it's grown a tremendous deal... I plan to re-pot it out of it's bonsai pot today, in hopes that someday it will bloom...(4-5 years from what I hear).

I have really enjoyed the money tree we purchased. It has substantially gotten bigger since it's purchase a couple months ago. It is being grown indoors in direct sun/shade and the soil is kept moist. It has not flowered nor produced any nuts though-only grown. I think it could be attributed to the lack of shade... Nonetheless, the plant is really cool to look at and a pleasure to own.

This palm will only be beautiful if you water the heck out of it. It loves water and when I saw them in their habitat in Costa Rica, they re usually partially submerged in the water.

This tree is extensively used for urban arborization here in Rio de Janeiro. The flowers are big, cream colored, with long and pink stamens, fragrant. Flowers stay open for one night, and attract bats - interesting to observe.

The fruit looks like a cocoa, but it dries in the plant and expels the seeds, which are edible and very nutritious. Ironic because I see people starving here while there are nuts of Pachira aquatica available everywhere for everyone. They just don´t know that they can eat it.

This is the plant that is sold as the Feng Shui "Money Tree", otherwise known as the Malabar Chestnut, native from southern Mexico to northern Brazil. The edible nuts [seed kernels] taste like peanuts when raw and like chestnuts when roasted.