Silver Dollar Vine Care InfographicThe silver dollar vine plant is one of the best succulents to keep as a houseplant. Its vine-like stems grow coin-like leaves that look simply adorable. They are also very straightforward to care for.
Read our guide to learn the easiest methods of looking after and propagating this plant.
Contents
What Is Silver Dollar Vine?
Silver dollar vine, or Xerosicyos danguyi, is a climbing vine type of succulent. It is also known as the penny plant or the money plant because of its round, flat, coin-shaped leaves. These leaves are greyish green in color and one and a half inches across. It blooms rarely, producing star-shaped flowers in clusters.
Silver Dollar Vine Care
Take care of this plant by providing it with full, bright sun, moderately warm temperatures around 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit and only mild humidity levels. Fertilize every month during the growing period and use a well-draining potting mix.
Read on to learn more about its care needs in the upcoming section.
– Water Requirements
Water this plant only when at least one-quarter of its soil dries completely. It will tolerate conditions of drought, but is quite susceptible to overwatering.
Continue reading to find out how to fulfill its water requirements here.
– How Often To Water Xerosicyos Danguyi
In spring and summer, you will need to water this plant once every second or third week. In the winter, watering them once every second to the sixth week should be enough.
How often you water this plant actually depends on how quickly your soil dries up. You must not water your dollar vine plant until one-quarter of its soil is dry from the top. And this, in turn, depends upon the weather conditions of your region.
You can see how dry the soil is by using an instrument called a moisture meter. Alternatively, you can just insert a pencil into the soil and see how moist it is when it comes out.
– The Right Way To Water Your Succulent
Use a moderate amount of water each time, and don’t pour water all over the stems and leaves, water the soil at the base of the plant instead. Water slowly and allow it to soak all the way through into the soil. Keep an eye on when the water starts coming out of the drainage hole, which is when you can stop watering.
Collect the draining water in a pan. Don’t forget to drain out this water as well. If the pot stays on top of this collected water, you will end up with pretty bad root rot.
– The Safest Water for the Dollar Succulent
The safest water for this plant is distilled water. Using reverse-osmosis or filtered water is the next best option you have. Of course, you can also use common tap water.
Succulents are tough plants. They will generally tolerate all sorts of water, but the minerals and salts present in tap water prove detrimental to houseplants over time. At least let tap water sit in the open air overnight before use.
– Light Requirements
Silver dollar vine light needs are just like any other succulent. They need full, bright sun for a minimum of six hours each day. This allows their thick leaves to carry out photosynthesis to the maximum level.
Find out more about their light needs below.
– Growing Them Outdoors
You can safely place this succulent outdoors in a yard or a garden. There is no need to provide any shade for them. In fact, low light conditions are not well tolerated by this plant.
– Growing Them Indoors
Choose the brightest room in your house for this plant. This room should have large windows. Keep the plant as near to these windows as possible.
- The southern-facing window receives direct sunlight for most of the day. This window is the most suitable for this plant.
- The second-best options you have are the eastern and the western side windows. These windows receive direct sunlight for three to four hours during morning and evening, respectively. But for the rest of the day as well, the light from these windows should be adequate enough.
- The most inadequate window in the house is the northern-facing one. This window receives no direct light. Placing this plant near such a window isn’t a good idea.
- Remember that light intensity decreases exponentially as you move the plant away from the windows. Don’t keep this one in far-off corners of the room, no matter how well-lit they are.
– Using Artificial Grow Lights
Sometimes, plants kept indoors don’t get enough light. This is indicated by the leaves of your plant turning darker and deeper. You will need to use additional artificial grow lights.
Artificial grow lights need to be turned on for twice the duration of natural light. Make sure yours are kept on for about 12 to 14 hours daily. You have the option of choosing between fluorescent lights and grow lights. Fluorescent lights are more effective, but LED lights are more energy-efficient, so why not go for a combination of both?
Install these lights ideally on top of your plant. Their distance from your plant should be about 20 inches.
– Soil Requirements
Your soil must have the fastest drainage as this plant cannot tolerate waterlogging at all. It also needs to have enough moisture and nutrients that are needed by the plant.
A cactus or a succulent potting mix is the best as it comes premixed with nutrients. Add some pieces of bark to your potting mix to loosen up the soil. Perlite is another ingredient that improves the drainage of your soil mix. Peat or sphagnum moss helps in moisture retention and also provides nutrients.
– Temperature Requirements
Keep your plant in moderately warm temperatures all year round.
Average daytime temperatures should be 68 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s best to move this plant inside during fall. Average nighttime temperatures need to be 50 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Don’t keep the windows open at night.
– Humidity Requirements
Xerosicyos danguyi likes humidity under 40 percent.
They thrive better under drier conditions, which is only natural since they are succulents.
– Fertilizing Requirements
You only need to fertilize your penny plant once a month in the growing season. There are two general types of fertilizers you can use.
Slow-release fertilizers come in the form of pellets that need to be buried in the soil. They continue to release nutrients slowly for two to three months. On the other hand, liquid fertilizers provide immediate nutrients. Always dilute them to one-third of their original strength.
– Pruning
This succulent plant has a vine-like growth habit. It will keep on growing taller and bushier with time. Use clean scissors to regularly prune it to your desired size and shape.
While pruning, cut the stem under a node at an angle of 45 degrees. Also, remove all dead and old leaves and flowers to declutter your plant.
Propagation
Instead of looking for a silver dollar vine for sale every time, why don’t you propagate it at home by yourself? All you have to do is to take some seeds or a stem cutting and plant it in the right soil.
Continue reading to learn the steps of propagation below.
– Using Seeds To Propagate Your Plant
It is quite easy but time-consuming to propagate Xerosicyos danguyi using seeds. However, propagation via seeds is the only way the resulting plant will form underground tubers.
Learn the step-by-step process below.
– Obtain Good Quality Seeds
The first step is to obtain the best quality seeds that you can find. The silver dollar succulent seeds are tiny, round and black. Buy them from a trusted vendor. You can also collect the seeds directly from an adult plant’s flowers.
– Place Them in a Seedling Tray
The next step is to take a shallow seedling tray and fill it with an appropriate nutrition medium meant for succulents. Sprinkle some water over it to moisten it a bit.
Now take each individual seed and start pressing it gently into the medium. The distance between each buried seed needs to be at least two inches.
– Provide the Right Conditions
Take your seedling tray and cover it using tin foil or a transparent plastic sheet. This will increase the humidity around this plant.
Keep the tray in the brightest and hottest part of your house, as these conditions are essential for the seedlings to germinate. Keep the nutrition medium moist at all times too.
– Transplant in New Pots
In one to two months, some of the seeds will successfully germinate. Roots and shoots will emerge from them. Allow them to grow one to two inches long, then gently take the baby plants out and transplant them to newly prepared soil and pots.
Take immense care of the plant for the first couple of weeks after transplantation.
– Using Stem Cuttings To Propagate Your Plant
Silver dollar vine propagation through stem cutting is far simpler and easier than using seeds.
– Take an Appropriate Cutting
Look for the healthiest and sturdiest stem in your plant. Inspect it carefully to make sure that it is not under attack by pests or diseases. Take a disinfected gardening knife or scissors and cut off four to five inches of this stem.
Your cutting must have one to two leaf nodes in it. These nodes are the sites from where new growth will emerge.
– Allow Callus Formation
Place your cutting on a piece of paper and allow it to dry for a few days and form calluses at the cut end. You can also apply rooting hormone to the cut end of the cutting. This greatly improves the chances of success for your propagation.
– Plant the Cutting
Take a fresh new pot of a relatively small size. Fill it with the correctly mixed soil for succulents. Make a hole in the center of it and gently insert your cutting into it.
– Provide the Right Conditions
Move the newly potted cutting somewhere it can receive loads of bright sunlight. Water adequately. Also, don’t forget to maintain the right temperatures and humidity levels as well.
In a couple of weeks, your cutting will start to produce leaves. This means that it has started developing roots and your propagation has been successful.
Problems
The foremost problems you might face with this plant are leaves falling due to overwatering, pests, and lack of nutrients.
Find out the solutions to these problems here.
– Leaves Falling Off Due To Overwatering
Overwatering is one of the most common reasons why the leaves of your plant might be falling down. Remember, this is a drought-tolerant plant. This property makes it susceptible to getting overwatered.
The leaves of your plant will become swollen and mushy. They will lose their perkiness and become limp. Ultimately, they will start falling off one by one. Lift your pot up, it will also appear heavier than usual.
To revive your plant, keep a strict watering regime and never water unless one-quarter of the soil has thoroughly dried up. Check the drainage of your plant, and if the soil is retaining too much water, change it. Also, replace the pot if its drainage hole isn’t adequate enough. Don’t let the plant sit on the water saucer underneath it for too long.
– Leaves Turning Yellow Due to Lack of Nutrients
If you notice the fresh green leaves of your plant turning yellow, this could be due to a lack of nutrients. The potting mix we use for making the soil of this plant comes packaged containing nutrients.
However, over time, these nutrients are used up by the plant. Some are flushed away by water. If you don’t fertilize to replenish the lost nutrients, after some time the leaves will start turning yellow. However, make sure that the plant isn’t being overwatered or under an infestation first.
– How to Remedy This Problem
Fertilize the yellowing plant right away. Liquid fertilizer is most suitable at this point. It releases nutrients into the soil quite rapidly.
For the future, maintain a regular fertilizing regime. You can also use compost and mix it with the soil as a source of nutrients. Using casting worms is another brilliant idea to add some nutrients to your soil.
– Pests
Mealybugs and aphids are the two most common pests you will encounter attacking this plant.
– Mealybugs
These are tiny, white-colored bugs. They suck the nutrient-rich sap from your plant.
The appearance of yellow or brown spots on the leaves announces the presence of mealybugs. Total yellowing of leaves and the appearance of a sticky substance over the surface of the leaves will follow quickly.
To treat this infestation, wash your plant with water and soap. Scrub the plant with a piece of cotton or toothbrush to get rid of the bugs. Apply neem oil to kill the mealybugs and spray commercial insecticides.
– Aphids
Aphids are also common bugs. They are too tiny to be seen, but you can detect them using common signs and symptoms.
Initially, yellow spots will emerge on the affected leaves. If you inspect them closely, your leaves will have proper puncture marks on them. Over time, your plant will become weak and it might even begin to die.
Wash the plant using insecticidal soap and water, then spray with a strong insecticide. You can also use neem oil or baking soda mixed with water.
– Root Rot
Persistent watering or poor drainage of the soil almost always leads to the development of fungal root rot. This disease can destroy your plant in weeks.
Brown and black spots will appear all over the plant. A foul smell will also begin to emanate. Leaves start turning yellow, begin to droop, and then eventually fall off.
The first thing you must do is to remove the plant from its soil and pot, then use a knife to cut the rotten parts off. Repot in fresh new soil and pot. Apply a copper-based fungicide every week.
Frequently Asked Questions
Learn the answers to some common questions below.
– Is Silver Dollar Vine a Hoya?
No silver dollar vine is not a hoya although it is often mistaken to be one. The reason for this is that both plants are succulents with coin-shaped leaves.
Secondly, the silver dollar vine bloom closely resembles the flowers of the Hoya species. Both are in the form of clusters and the individual flowers are star-like in appearance.
– What Is the Difference Between Silver Dollar Vine vs String of Nickels?
The main difference between these plants is that the string of nickel plant has a hanging habit, unlike the silver penny plant.
They are both epiphytes and grow on stems with their stems hanging down. Their leaves also look like coins but are more pointed.
– What Is the Difference Between Silver Dollar Vine vs Peperomia Hope?
The main difference between these plants is that the Peperomia hope’s oval, coin-shaped leaves are not flat and fleshy like those of the silver dollar penny plant.
Peperomia hope is a hybrid of two peperomia species, so people often confuse the silver penny plant with the peperomia hope plant. Although these two plants look similar, there are marked differences between the two.
Conclusion
This plant with its minimalistic care needs is the dream of every plant parent out there. Here are a few important takeaway points from this guide:
- The silver dollar plant is succulent with bird-like growth. It has small and fleshy coin-shaped leaves. Keep this plant in bright sunlight for at least six hours a day.
- Water this plant only when one-quarter of its soil dries up. It’s best to use lukewarm distilled water, and your soil should be well-draining.
- As a succulent, this plant naturally likes warm temperatures. However, humidity levels should be slightly lower.
- You can easily propagate it at home using stem cuttings or seeds.
Xerosicyos danguyi loves bright, warm places, and they also look lovely placed on window sills and patios. With a little live and care, they will surely become your favorite plants.
- How Long Do Hibiscus Flowers Last: Ways To Elongate - May 24, 2023
- Aeroponics vs. Hydroponics: Comparison of Two Planting Ways - May 24, 2023
- Monstera Deliciosa Light Requirements: The Ideal Conditions - May 21, 2023
