Cut off all of the brown leaves and hope it comes back.

Thanks zzackey. I've found a forum post that says I should only expose it to morning light during recovery, to avoid the higher intensity of afternoon sun. I'm going to look at possible new locations now. Fingers crossed for it.

Also, do not give it too much water right now, if you want it to come back.

It has practically no leaves and it won't be using much water.

Dont keep watering thinking they'll do it good. Also, the misting won't do anything for those dead leaves.

Thanks Dave, I will avoid over watering. I have trimmed the dead leaves, and there's very few viable leaves left. Two of the five braids don't have any leaves at all :-(

Thanks greenman28. I'd already removed the dead leaves, but I have moved it back to the conservatory. It's definitely not going to get significant direct light, but lots of indirect light through the blinds and the corrugated plastic roof.

I've also temporarily taken it out of its pot, just to air out the soil. It seems in my haste to revive it two days ago I overwatered it.

Here's a couple of photos from a few hours ago:

Moving your tree back into a shaded location to grow its new leaves in shaded light will only produce the same leaves that had gotten sunburned the first time. I agree with Josh about leaving your tree where it was. Pachiras can easily tolerate full sunlight. Any new leaves that have grown in full sunlight will already be acclimated to that intense sunlight and won't burn. I place my money tree outside in direct sunlight in springtime. It stays there all season long, all throughout the summer, and loves it. All I do is keep it well watered and never let it dry out. Growing your tree in shaded light will only cause it to grow weaker leaves that could easily burn all over again.

Originally, when it got fried, it was in the opposite corner of my conservatory to where it is now. It's been cloudier/cooler here the last day or so, so less of a risk moving it back there. But then if it's in shock after the other day shouldn't I be more conservative with light levels, at least initially, until it starts sprouting?

The majority of the advice I've read on the web suggests indirect light is best for pachiras, and the garden.org forum post I linked to, 'dyzzypyxxy' suggests the same to the OP in a similar situation to me.

I guess these things aren't an exact science, and with so many variables there will be at least some trial and error.

When it still had those leaves, then, yes, you should've been more patient with moving it into brighter sunlight. That's only because those leaves would've needed sufficient time to adjust to those conditions. But those leaves are gone now. Any new leaves that grow in full sunlight will already be used to the more intense conditions. They wouldn't have to adjust to full sunlight, because they were exposed to full sunlight ever since they emerge. But by moving your tree to a shaded location with indirect light, you will be growing weaker leaves that could easily sunburn just like before.

Here is a photo of my money tree. As I stated earlier, I move it outdoors in the springtime, as soon as it's warm enough to do so. It stays there all throughout the growing season. Where it gets direct sun almost all day long. All I do is just keep it well watered and it takes care of the rest. In fact, one year, I severely pruned it back to where it had no leaves whatsoever. I left it in full sunlight and my money tree grew back even stronger than before. :)

Wow, that's one beautiful looking tree! Thanks for your advice, I have acted on it and now I think all I can do is wait and see. Any thoughts on rough timescales for growing new leaves?

With growing plants, patience is most definitely a virtue. You'll see it budding out before you know it. Just give it a little time. It won't take long.

I just remembered that right before I took this photo, a severe thunderstorm rolled thru and knocked my money tree over, because it is so top heavy. You'll notice that some of the lower leaves are torn or broken. I was so mad about that, lol. We spend so much time tending to our plants, and one little mishap is all it takes to set them back.

New growth should appear in 2 - 3 weeks.

Josh

I had my money tree inside the house and because it’s spring now i decided to put it outside. Big mistake! the leaves turned pale almost white... do I bring it back inside or should I let the new leaves grow in direct sunlight? 😩 help.

@Indie Lux, I did that, once, too.

The sun bleached every single leaf to a thin parchment that fell off, leaving my tree completely leafless. I kept mine outside after that, and the new growth that came in was all fully acclimated to the sun exposure.

Josh

What Josh said about leaving the dead leaves on to shade the trunk is an important consideration. Any green or smooth bark can suffer from photo-oxidation (sunburn) just as the leaves have.

While it would be an ideal situation to leave the plant in a full sun position so the new leaves are perfectly acclimated to that spot, you do need to be concerned about exposed green/smooth bark. For that reason, I would expose it to moderate light now and gradually decrease the plant's proximity to a full sun position. This can be done within a 10 day period.

You will not get single leaves when the plant back-buds, except at the ends of existing extending branches. All new growth other than that which comes by extension of the existing trunks or branches will be in the form of new branches. If any leaves appear within the time it takes to acclimate the trunks, they will still acclimate to full sun w/o protest; and, even if the first leaves did suffer from sunburn, it's not a big loss because they will have been the first leaves to appear on a new extending branch.

Al

@greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a thank you so much for your help. I thought I killed it 😩