Indoor Plants

Money Plant Care in India: The Complete Guide

Light, water, soil, feeding. Plus the 3 problems every Indian money plant owner runs into, and what actually fixes them.

If you're reading this, there's a good chance you've owned a money plant. There's a slightly smaller chance it's still alive.

We make plant nutrition at our own plant in New Delhi, and the photo we get most often on WhatsApp is a money plant with yellow leaves. So here's everything I'd tell my mother if she asked. (She did. That's how this whole business started.)

What It Actually Is

The plant most of us call "money plant" is Epipremnum aureum. Some books call it pothos, golden pothos, or devil's ivy. The variegated one with cream patches is marble queen. The bright yellow-green one is neon. They all behave the same way in a Delhi or Mumbai apartment.

People ask if it matters which direction the plant faces. Vastu says yes. The plant doesn't care. It will grow in any corner with decent light.

Light

These are forest plants. They like bright light but not direct sun. Roughly one to two metres back from a sunny window works. East and north windows are perfect. South window in May? Pull the curtain. Direct afternoon sun browns the leaves within a week.

Quick check. If new leaves are big and dark green, you got it right. If they're pale and far apart on the vine, the plant is reaching for light, move it closer to the window. If you see scorched yellow patches, move it back.

Water

The most over-watered plant in India. People water on a fixed weekly schedule and that's why so many die.

Push a finger 2 cm into the soil. Dry? Water. Still moist? Wait two more days. In a 6-inch pot, that's about every 5 to 7 days in summer, and every 10 to 12 days in winter. Stop trusting the calendar, trust the soil.

Soil

Half garden soil, half coco peat, with a fistful of sand or perlite for drainage. The pot must have a drainage hole at the bottom. Plants in sealed jars do look pretty on Pinterest. They also rot within a few months.

If you bought your plant from a roadside nursery and the soil feels heavy and sticky like clay, repot. That mix is mostly silt with no drainage. It's why your plant is struggling out of the box.

Feeding

Money plants grow fast when they're happy. They burn through nutrients quickly. We push two of our Plant Food Sticks into a 6-inch pot every 45 days. They feed slowly, no burnt roots, no chemistry.

For a faster top-up, mix one capful of Plant Growth Promoter in 1 litre of water, pour around the base. Once every two weeks. Skip in winter. Plants barely grow below 16 degrees indoors, so feeding is wasted.

One thing we keep telling people on WhatsApp: please don't double the feed when the plant looks unhappy. Nine times out of ten the issue is light or water. More food makes things worse.

The Three Problems Everyone Hits

Yellow Leaves

If the bottom leaves yellow first, you're overwatering. If new leaves come in yellow, the plant is hungry or sunburnt. We wrote a longer post just on this because it's the most-asked question. Read why your money plant has yellow leaves for the full breakdown.

Leggy Vines With Sparse Leaves

Light is too low. The plant is stretching to find the window. Move it closer. Within two weeks the new leaves should come in bigger and darker.

White Cottony Stuff at Leaf Joints

Mealybugs. The most common indoor pest we see. Mix 5 ml of our Plant Booster Oil in 1 litre of water with a drop of dish soap. Spray every 4 days for 12 days. They will be gone. Full step-by-step is in our mealybug post.

Making Free Plants From Cuttings

This is the easy bit. Cut a 15 cm piece of vine that has 2 or 3 leaves on it and a brown bump on the stem (that's the root nub). Drop it in a glass of water on a windowsill. Roots show up in about two weeks. Once the roots are 3 cm long, plant the cutting in soil.

People who buy from us often message back a couple of months later with photos of new plants they've propagated. It's the most fun part of running this shop, honestly.

Repotting

Every 18 to 24 months. Or sooner if roots are coming out of the drainage hole. Move up by one pot size only. Jumping from a 6-inch to a 12-inch pot is the fastest way to kill a happy plant. Bigger pot holds more water, soil stays wet too long, roots rot.

WhatsApp Questions, Answered Short

Can I keep it in only water?

Yes. It will live for years. Add one drop of liquid fertilizer once a month, change the water every two weeks.

Is it safe if my cat chews it?

Not really. Pothos is mildly toxic. Place it out of reach.

My plant stopped growing.

Probably winter. Wait till March.

If you've got a problem this didn't cover, send a photo on WhatsApp. We answer within a few hours during shop time, and we like seeing other people's plants.