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Why has my money tree changed colour?
Q My money tree is flowering beautifully but has turned from green succulent to a paler green/yellow with lots of red. Why should this be? I have not fed it through the winter months or watered it much.
Richard Simpson, Hastings, E Sussex
A What a splendid money tree (Crassula argentea) – you must be thrilled with it. The fact that its foliage was green and is now showing red tints indicates that it is hungry.
It may be because it is pot bound and needs repotting into a slightly larger container, or it could simply be that repeat liquid feeds are required to restore its green hue.
Initially, tap it gently from its pot, watering it the night before so that roots don’t stick to the pot sides. If the rootball is solid and congested, carefully tease out spent compost, taking care not to damage roots.
Then reset the plant in a loam-based ericaceous mix augmented with a third part, by volume, of coarse grit. There should be a 3in (8cm) gap between the root ball and pot.
After six weeks, when the compost’s reserve of nutrients is almost depleted, continue feeding fortnightly, from spring to late summer, with Vitax Liquid Seaweed.
