Money plant: care guide

Myths and legends

The money plant ( Plectranthus verticillatus ) owes its popular name to the belief that owning and caring for it brings good fortune. Among the myths and legends that circulate it is said that if you manage to reproduce it from a cutting (it is not worth it) and you get it to grow healthy and beautiful, luck will smile on you and you will earn a lot of money. And another maintains that burying a coin in the land where it is planted calls for more money …

Photo: @chlorofyldesign

For indoor and outdoor

Whether or not the legends that surround it are true, what is true is that it is a very resistant and grateful plant that with little care is always beautiful. It works very well as an outdoor plant for balconies and terraces, and has nothing to envy of resistant (and suitable for denial) indoor plants.

Photo: @juliasplantsta

Essential features

Plectranthus verticillatus is an evergreen plant with a fleshy texture, oval shape, serrated edge and bright green color. And its size does not usually exceed half a meter.

Photo: @ maihaven2018

When it blooms

From mid-autumn to mid-winter, but when it is comfortable it can flower almost all year round.

Prized for its leaves

However, the money plant is not appreciated for its flowers but for its glossy leaves. And it is that its light flowers, with purple or blue hues, and grouped in clusters are so small that, for most people, they lack interest at an ornamental level.

Photo: @ele_alemi

Money plant care

It is very comfortable in warm and bright environments, but does not want direct sun. It likes high humidity (you can spray its leaves with water from time to time). And she wants them to water it a lot in summer (but without flooding) and little in winter.

Photo: @crazywildgreens

Suitable for flowerpot

In shady outdoors and warm climates, it can be planted in the ground. But where it is more common to see it is planted in pots both indoors and outdoors.

Photo: @smartplantapp

Hanging plant

As the Plectranthus verticillatus is a creeping plant and develops branches that hang down, its best fit is in hanging baskets or perched on ledges and balconies where its branches can hang without problem.

Photo: @agencecomquat

How to multiply the money plant

You can do it by dividing the bush, when it has already grown a lot or taking advantage of a change of pot, or making cuttings like this. It is very simple. You just have to cut a branch, put it in a pot with water and, when it develops the roots, you can transplant it to the ground.

Photo: @theivyandbirch

Suitable for cats and other pets

If you have pets, you have nothing to fear because the money plant is not toxic to cats or dogs. And it is also considered as an air purifying filter.

Photo: @jardindeatras

Money plant (Plectranthus verticillatus): technical sheet

Scientific name: Plectranthus verticillatus.
Common Name: Money Plant, Dollar Plant, Swiss Creeper, Swiss Begonia.
Origin: Southeast Africa. Typical of wooded places and scrubland. It has become naturalized in areas with a warm climate.
Characteristics: It is a perennial plant with fleshy, oval-shaped leaves, serrated edges and a bright green color. As it is a creeping plant, it is usually placed in hanging baskets or in pots on railings or ledges where its branches can fall freely. Except in some exceptional cases, its size does not usually exceed half a meter.
Flowering: Although its flowering time ranges from mid-autumn to mid-winter, under optimal conditions it can bloom all year round. However, its light flowers, with purple or blue hues, and grouped in clusters are so small that they are not the most remarkable thing about this plant.
Location: It can live both in warm outdoors (whose temperature is not very low) and indoors. And its ideal location is in semi-shaded areas.
Brightness: Likes clarity but does not tolerate direct sunlight for long.
Environmental humidity: High but without waterlogging of the earth.
Watering: It is recommended to water abundantly in summer and little in winter.
Cold resistance: Poor. Its ideal temperature is above 15º.
Fertilizer: During spring and until the end of summer you can add a mineral fertilizer with watering every 15 days.
Toxicity : It is not toxic to cats and dogs. Find out which plants are toxic and which are not for dogs and cats.