Question
I have a Pachira aquatica for a house plant - i need to trim down the leaves but the last time i did this, the whole branch died and now I'm scared to do it again.  Please can you suggest a suitable way to prune it so that it stays fairly small in height but still produces foliage.  

Answer
Fran,

Pachira aquatica is a tree, not a house plant or even a shrub. I had the same problem. It is not possible to keep it as a small cute potted plant. If you get lucky you might find one you can keep pruning for awhile but probably not for long. They just don't like the pruning. Sorry.

Darlene