Houseplantfoliage houseplantStraightforward

Chinese money plant

Pilea peperomioides

Round coin-shaped leaves on slender stalks, and one of the most generous houseplants there is: it produces offsets around the base constantly, which detach with their own roots and are the reason it spread through Europe by being passed between friends rather than sold.

Position: Bright, out of direct sun
Water: moderate demand
Drainage: Free-draining
Grows to: 20–40 cm × 20–40 cm
Frost: Frost tender
Difficulty: Straightforward

August

Take cuttings

Chinese money plant’s year

Resolved for United Kingdom (general). Every window is stored against a climate event rather than a date, so a late frost pocket runs later than the band shows. What else August calls for.

Activity	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
Take cuttings			March.	April.	May.	June.	July.	August.

Timing that travels

The band above resolves this plant's windows into months for one region. These are the windows themselves, stored against a climate event rather than a date — which is the form that survives being carried to a colder garden, a frost pocket, or next year.

Conditions it needs

Light: Partial shade, Dappled shade
Frost: Frost tender
Grows best at: 16–24 °C
Soil: Peat-free compost
Soil pH: 6–7
Drainage: Free-draining
Water needs: moderate
Drought: moderate tolerance
Waterlogging: poor tolerance
Heat: moderate tolerance
Wind and exposure: poor tolerance

Where these figures come from

LightSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Pilea — position
Checked 2026-08-13
FrostSourced guidancehigh confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Pilea — hardiness
Checked 2026-08-13
Grows best atSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Pilea — temperature
Checked 2026-08-13
SoilSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Pilea — soil
Checked 2026-08-13
Soil pHSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Pilea peperomioides — culture
Checked 2026-08-13
DrainageSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Pilea — soil
Checked 2026-08-13
Water needsHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
DroughtHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
WaterloggingHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
HeatHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
Wind and exposureHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13

On your soil

Computed by comparing this plant's recorded requirements against each soil's recorded characteristics. A recorded horticultural fact overrides the comparison where GrowingHQ holds one.

Soil	Verdict	Why
Heavy clay	Works, with one condition	Chinese money plant will crop on heavy clay, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. For a crop lifted before winter the risk is not rot but the season: waterlogged ground is cold and unworkable in spring, so sowing is late and germination patchy.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.
Sandy	Grows well here	Chinese money plant grows perfectly well on sandy without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose.
Chalky and alkaline	Works, with one condition	Chinese money plant will crop on chalky and alkaline, but one thing has to be dealt with first. The soil is substantially too alkaline for it: it wants pH 6 to 7, and this soil sits around 7.8 to 8.5.The pH is the obstacle. Small shifts are achievable and slow; large ones are not. On chalky and alkaline the dependable answer is a container of the right compost rather than an attempt to change the ground.
Loam	Prefers this soil	Loam suits Chinese money plant as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 7, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering.
Silty	Prefers this soil	Silty suits Chinese money plant as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 7, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering.
Peaty and acid	Works, with one condition	Chinese money plant will crop on peaty and acid, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. For a crop lifted before winter the risk is not rot but the season: waterlogged ground is cold and unworkable in spring, so sowing is late and germination patchy.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.
Shallow over rock	Grows well here	Chinese money plant grows perfectly well on shallow over rock without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose.
Made ground and urban soil	Works, with one condition	Chinese money plant will crop on made ground and urban soil, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. For a crop lifted before winter the risk is not rot but the season: waterlogged ground is cold and unworkable in spring, so sowing is late and germination patchy.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.

Not sure which you have? Four hand tests will settle it.

Space and spacing

Mature height: 20–40 cm
Mature spread: 20–40 cm
Rooting depth: 15 cm

Where these figures come from

Mature heightHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
Mature spreadHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
Rooting depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13

In a container

Minimum volume: 2 litres or more
Minimum depth: 12 cm

Where the container figures come from

Minimum volumeHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
Minimum depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13

Where and how you can grow it

Each way of growing is assessed separately, and “not assessed” is a real answer rather than a gap we have filled in with a guess.

Method	Suitability	What it needs
Indoor pot	Well suited source Sourced guidancemoderate confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability Checked 2026-08-13
Windowsill	Well suited source Sourced guidancemoderate confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability Checked 2026-08-13
Container	Well suited source Sourced guidancemoderate confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability Checked 2026-08-13	Indoors, or outdoors in summer only
Hydroponics	Not assessed source Sourced guidancemoderate confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability Checked 2026-08-13
Open ground	Not suitable source Sourced guidancemoderate confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability Checked 2026-08-13	Tender: will not survive a British winter outdoors.

Growing it

ProtectionTurn the pot a quarter-turn every week or two. Pilea leans towards the light more strongly than most houseplants and grows permanently lopsided otherwise.
PropagationCut an offset away below soil level once it has a few leaves, keeping whatever roots it has, and pot it up. It is among the most reliable propagations of any houseplant.
WateringWater thoroughly and let the top half of the compost dry before the next one; the leaves droop slightly when it is thirsty and lift again within a few hours, which is a reliable signal once you have seen it. From October water distinctly less — this is a plant that resents cold wet compost and responds by dropping its lower leaves, leaving a bare stem with a tuft on top. Turn the pot a quarter every time you water, because it leans towards the light hard enough to end up permanently lopsided in a single winter.
FeedingA dilute balanced feed once a month from spring into early autumn, then stop. It is a fast grower in good light and produces offsets around the base freely — those are the point of the plant and the easiest thing to give away — but they take from the parent, so a plant carrying several will look tired unless it is either fed or relieved of them. Nothing in winter: fed in poor light it makes large thin leaves on long stalks and loses the neat domed shape.

Where this guidance comes from

ProtectionSourced guidancehigh confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Pilea — care
Checked 2026-08-13
PropagationSourced guidancehigh confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Pilea — propagation
Checked 2026-08-13
WateringSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Pilea peperomioides — cultivation
Checked 2026-08-13
FeedingSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Pilea peperomioides — cultivation
Checked 2026-08-13

The rule is the same in all four: the new piece needs both a growing point and roots of its own. A cutting is the exception that has to make its roots afterwards, which is why the node matters so much.

Safety and edibility

Cats and dogs

Pet safety not established

Safety around cats and dogs has not been established for Chinese money plant. Absence from a toxicity list is not the same as being listed as safe.

Insufficient evidenceconfidence unknown

Pilea peperomioides is not named on the ASPCA lists. Pilea involucrata, the friendship plant, IS listed as non-toxic — and reading that across would be assuming a genus is uniform, which is the specific error this model refuses. The two are different species and only one was assessed.

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Pets and livestockpets
Not toxic to cats or dogs.
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Pilea peperomioides
Checked 2026-08-13
No precautions needed.

Sources for this page

GrowingHQ editorial synthesis · Plant Finder · Royal Horticultural Society

Each figure on this page carries its own citation, under the “where these figures come from” note in its section. Record last reviewed 2026-08-14.