Chinese Money Plants are one of those household plants that are beautiful, a little exotic, and a joy to care for.
Not to mention, if you believe the superstition, having a Chinese money plant might even help your household be more prosperous and successful!
Formally known as Pilea Peperomioides, Chinese Money Plants have distinctive green coin shaped leaves that emerge from tiny stalks.
Like a lot of green houseplants, Chinese money plants are a relatively easy plant to care for.
However, like a lot of other tropical houseplants, they need the right environment and condition to thrive.
Chinese money plants can be a difficult plant to find at your local nursey. If you want to try your hand with these beautiful plants, you’ll probably need to find a friend who can give you a starter.
Once you’ve got a Chinese money plant, you’ll probably be pretty motivated to keep it as healthy as possible.
However, curling leaves on your Chinese money plant are one of the first signs that something isn’t quite right. Addressing curling leaves quickly will help you keep your Chinese money plant happy, healthy, and thriving.
Common Conditions that make Chinese Money Plant Leaves Curl:
- Lighting problems
- Overwatering or underwatering
- Low nutrients
- Heat stress and cold drafts
- Pests
Fortunately, Chinese money plants are resilient so they will recover when given the right conditions. Lighting and watering problems are usually the most common problems for curling leaves on a Chinese money plant. Providing the right water and light will allow the Chinese money plant’s leaves to uncurl.
Let’s cover the most common reasons for curling leaves on a Chinese money plant and how to fix them.
We’ll also provide a quick care guide to help keep your Chinese money plant healthy and happy.
1. Lighting Problems Causes Chinese Money Plant Leaves To Curl
Chinese money plants can be a little picky about their lighting. Chinese money plants don’t need a ton of light, but they will react to both too much light and too little light.
Too little light will cause your Chinese money plant’s leaves to curl, and the curling can be relatively rapid.
Too much light is a little different. The leaves will still curl, but they’ll also show brown spots and other signs of light damage.
Chinese money plants want a moderately high level of indirect light. Grow lights are a good option but placing your Chinese money plant in a well-lit room or in the indirect path of light from a window will work just as well.
2. Over or Underwatering Makes Pilea Peperomioides Leaves Curl
This is one tropical plant that will actually show signs of stress from overwatering faster than underwatering. Leaf curling is one of the earliest signs of overwatering stress, along with general leaf shape distortions.
However, you can also expect your Chinese money plant’s leaves to curl if the plant goes too long without water. In that case, you should see both leaf curling and slightly drooping leaves.
Ideally, Chinese money plants should be watered every few days, where the soil underneath the plant is mostly dry before you water again.
3. Low Nutrients Causes Chinese Money Plants To Curl
Chinese money plants are used to slightly better soil conditions than many tropical plants, which means that they thrive best in soil with plenty of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus (The big 3 plant nutrients).
Other micro-nutrients are also critical for long-term health, which is why it’s important to use a complete fertilizer that provides more than just the big 3 nutrients.
Your Chinese money plant will show fairly severe leaf curling when its soil doesn’t have enough nutrients. Some fertilizer will help your Chinese money plant recover from this kind of leaf curling, and ongoing fertilization will keep it healthier.
It’s also important to be careful not to overfertilize since that can cause root damage and make your plant’s leaves curl and eventually wilt. If the soil looks chalky or like there is a layer of salt on the top, it’s likely overfertilized.
Repotting your Chinese money plant into new soil is likely necessary after overfertilizing.
4. Heat Stress and Cold Drafts Make Pilea Peperomioides Leaves Curl
A lot of people think that Chinese money plants are going to be like most tropical plants and prefer warm temperatures. But Chinese money plants actually prefer cooler temperatures than most plants.
One of the first signs of heat stress in Chinese money plants is that they will develop curling leaves. Heat stress is most likely to make your Chinese money plant curl up, forming small cups in the middle of the leaves.
If you notice that your Chinese money plants are starting to form small leaf cups, try moving it to a slightly cooler space and see if the leaves uncurl.
Try not to make too big of a shift in temperature, moving more than about 5 degrees at a time will also stress your plant.
Chinese money plants also have a hard time with drafts and locations that have a lot of temperature changes. Placing your Chinese money plant near a door, window, or vent is likely to stress the plant.
Instead, try to put to somewhere that’s very temperature constant, or at least doesn’t vary too much day-to-day.
5. Pests That Make Chinese Money Plants Curl
One place where there usually aren’t too many problems with Chinese money plants is pests. This plant is relatively pest-resistant and doesn’t have as many common pest varieties as other houseplants.
That said, all of the main pests that affect Chinese money plants can cause leaf curling, especially when the infestation gets out of hand.
- Spider Mites: Spider mites are often first recognized when you start to see small webs on your plant’s leaves and in between the stems. Spider mite infestation usually has to be fairly severe to cause leaf curling, so you’ll probably see the webs before too much damage has been done.
- Mealybugs: Mealybugs are a little harder to spot, but they look like small white dots on the plant. They are slightly fuzzy and leave fuzzy white patches on your plant that look a bit like cotton balls or mold.
- Aphids: Aphids cause leaf curling in severe infestations and can usually be found by inspecting the underside of your plant’s leaves for light green dots.
- White Flies: Whiteflies don’t cause a lot of damage on their own, but they can start your Chinese money plant’s leaves curling. More importantly, the honeydew whiteflies produce (the same kind of droppings as aphids) leave your Chinese money plant vulnerable to powdery mildew and other fungal infections.
Fortunately, all of these insects can be eliminated using insecticidal soap. Here’s a handy recipe for homemade insecticidal soap that’s very effective, and more affordable than store-bought.
If you have a persistent mealybug infestation that won’t go away after using insecticidal soap, you can remove them with a cotton ball soaked in rubbing alcohol.
Chinese Money Plant Care Guide
Now that we’ve covered the most common problems that cause your Chinese money plant’s leaves to curl, let’s talk about what your Chinese money plant needs to thrive.
Well Drained Soil Is Critical
Chinese money plants need soil that drains well in between watering to stay healthy.
That means that they need fairly light and loose soil in a pot with plenty of drainage holes.
It’s also a good idea not to overwater your soil too much, and not to use a saucer underneath the pot since that can trap nutrients and pathogens that would normally drain away when water drains away.
Medium Light
Chinese money plants want moderate indirect light most of the time. That means that they don’t want to be right on the windowsill, that’s too intense.
Under a mild grow light your Chinese money plant should thrive.
Chinese money plants can also do well in well-lit rooms, under skylights, and anywhere they get a moderate amount of light that isn’t too intense for the leaves.
Propagating Your Chinese Money Plant
Chinese money plants are thankfully fairly easy to propagate. That’s great since they can be difficult to find. Once you have one Chinese money plant, you can have many more thanks to the miniature plants they’ll start growing at their base.
Simply remove those little pups and pot them in their own soil, and you’ll have another Chinese money plant.
Repeat the process anytime you see those miniature plantlets and you’ll very quickly have a lot of Chinese money plants, plenty for you and your friends.
Additional Tips:
- Fertilizing: Your Chinese money plant will thrive best if you make sure it has a consistent source of nutrients in the soil. Monthly fertilizing is effective for keeping your Chinese money plant well-nourished.
- Leaves should be broad and flat, if they are cupping, curling, or appear elongated those are the first signs of stress in this plant.
- Rotate your Chinese money plant about once a week to help develop even and symmetrical growth.
Final Thoughts on Why Your Pilea Peperomioides Leaves Are Curling
For a plant that’s supposed to bring success and prosperity, Chinese money plants really are surprisingly easy to care for. These plants are great for beginners and advanced growers alike thanks to their low maintenance care and beautiful broad leaves.
Watching for leaf curling on your Chinese money plant is a sure way to help keep it healthy.
Since leaf curling is a relatively early sign of stress, fixing curling leaves quickly will help keep your Chinese money plant from getting too stressed and vulnerable to other problems.
