Help! dying schefflera tree

Hi,

I have a beautiful schefflera tree that I recently replanted from the plastic pot I bought it in. The tree has four twisted trunks, like you commonly see on a ficus.

Shortly after replanting it began losing a lot of leaves--this happened for a while and then stopped. I had the tree in a corner behind a couch, so it wasn't until I moved a couple of weeks ago that I realized that one of its trunks is completely shriveled and dead. Of course, all of the dropped leaves came from this trunk. And now I can see that the top of another trunk is beginning to shrivel as well. The other two look completely fine.

Does anyone know how I can save this plant? Did I mess something up when I replanted or did I overwater and rot the roots and am just now seeing the results? Is there any way to stop/reverse the damage to this beautiful tree?

Thanks for any advice.

Amber

In a corner behind a couch sounds like very little light to me. I have many scheffs at office & home, several of which have been growing as bonsai. Some of the trees are more than 15 years old. I site all my scheffs in full sun, all summer long. They also appreciate a highly aerated soil and being allowed to go very dry between waterings. Check carefully for signs of scale disease or spider mites - two very common pests that are attracted to schefflera.

Good luck.

Al

Thanks Al.

The store told me it would work well in low light!
I now have it in a very sunny location.
I also took a closer look at the damage. It doesn't seem to be scale disease or mites. The leaves do get brown spots on them, and the dead leaves turn black and are covered with largish round grey spots.

one of the four trunks has died completely, and a second trunk is beginning to shrivel and die from the top down. Any ideas? I really want to save the other two trunks, and even the bottom part of this third, if possible.

thanks,
amber

Most houseplant growers will cringe at the thought of a scheff in full sun. They love it - I have all mine there. There is a problem, though. It's likely your leaves will burn (too late- damage already done) when making the transition from dim indoors to full sun. The leaves will all scorch & drop off. Leave it in the sun now. There will be a new crop of leaves appearing soon. Schefflera has lots if chlorophyll in stem tissues & is able to carry on reasonably efficient photosynthesis even when defoliated. Leave your plant outdoors until night temps start to dip below 50* F. Then, either bring it in for winter, or move it in at night & back out during day, as long as temps remain above 50. Sudden chills (cold injury) can cause subtle damage to tissues that usually shows up for two or three generations of new leaves.

Good luck to you.

Al

Amber,

First of all, newly purchased plants are best left alone for a few months to acclimatize to your environment. One stressful event at a time here, OK? A change of environment is a stressful event, besides, it probably spent a week to 10 days bagged up on a truck!

Second, when you repotted it, did you, by any chance, end up putting an inch or more of soil on top of the plant? This is a common mistake, and the plant will suffer as a result of it. Usually, it starts yellowing leaves and drooping a lot.
Whenever repotting a plant, add the extra 2" of soil at the bottom first to make up for the difference in depth of the larger pot, NEVER on top. Plants have fine roots that "live" on top of the soil and are used to being there. If they are burried by more than 1/2" of soil, there may be a problem.

Not saying you did this, but if you did, you can take the plant back out and repot it correctly so that the plant sits at the same level it was growing before. Check all the roors foe any rot or damage while you have it out. After repotting, keep it on the dry side a bit.

Sheffleras are beautiful plants! One of my favorites. Yes, they do well in low light or filtered light and do not like full sun. Wipe the leaves off now and then with a sponge dipped in some soapy water to keep them clean. In time, the Sheff. will drop a lot of its lower leaves and assume a semi-tree form. I like it that way too.

If you did none of these things and the trunks just died, It may be some kind of root fungus. Take it back to the store for a refund or an exchange. I knw HD guarantees all their live goods for one full year, as long as you have the original receipt. Where did you buy it? Call the store/nursery and see what heir return policy is.

And finally, ALWAYS make sure you use good quality potting mix ( I am partial to MG brand), make sure your pot has good drainage, never allow it to sit in water in the saucer for more than 15-20 minutes--dump it! --and DO NOT overwater!!! A sheff. can go 2 weeks easy between waterings.

Hope something here helps you. Gita

Jeepers. ;o) I find much to disagree with in Gita's post. New plants can always be moved to a more favorable environment with no signs of stress. Moving a plant from cold to warm, dim to bright, or changing habits from soggy to barely moist will not stress the plant. Since you moved your plant from dim to full sun, the damage is done & the new leaves will emerge acclimated to full sun. How I know this: I have about a dozen scheffleras in various states of development as potential bonsai material. I grow them under bright lights and controlled temp/humidity in winter. Around Mem day, when night temps allow, I move the plants directly into full sun. ALL the leaves burn & drop off (I usually just defoliate as they die) but are soon replaced with a fresh crop of leaves that spend the rest of the summer on grow benches in FULL sun.

The new scheffs you buy are rooted cuttings. For the first several years of a scheffs life, it will do no harm to add as much soil to the top of the container as you wish. In situ trees grow at the top of the soil because of an aeration issue. Aeration in a 6 - 12 inch deep pot should be a non-issue. If it is, the roots would not be able to colonize the entire pot. You will not kill roots by adding an inch or two of soil and potting depth is insignificant in young scheffs. You can take a 3 foot high scheff, remove the lower foliage, & bury all but the top few inches w/o the plant complaining a bit.

Scheffleras drop lower leaves as a response to the canopy shading them out or low light conditions. As upper leaves shade the lower, or light levels diminish, photosynthesis is slowed & a reduced flow of auxin across the abscission zone allows an abscission layer to form. The result is shedding of leaves. Keeping light levels high will allow the tree to retain leaves for extended periods - years in many cases. To keep your tree bushy & full, simply pinch the growing tip of the stem when the plant reaches a preferred height. This will force back-budding & branching from the main stem(s).

I agree that you should depot & examine roots. Remove black or dark brown roots that are mushy or break easily all the way back to healthy tissue. Repot in a fast soil. After root pruning is the time to give your tree some shade & only water when soil becomes dry at the drain hole. When normal growth resumes, you can return the plant to full sun.

Al

Personally, I've never seen a braided Schefflera....are they common?

The reason I ask this is I'm wondering if you have a braided Pachira....they are commonly being sold this way recently. (I saw some large ones in 10" pots at a WalMart.)

I know there are some sellers out there that *think* these are Scheffleras.

If it is a Pachira, the care is much the same as Al has stated above (they're touted as low light plants but they slowly deteriorate if grown in low light) and they really don't need much water.

The big mistake (if it is a Pachira) is watering near the trunks. I've found that watering them from the bottom and not allowing any water near the trunks to be the best method.

Here's some google images of Pachira:

http://images.google.com/images?q=pachira&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&sa=N&tab=wi

Put my Pachira outside on a south-facing porch and it's grown IMMENSELY!

Al,

We can agree to disagree! No problem.

For someone who is such an expert on Sheffs as you are, I am sure you know what can and cannot be done and when.

My advice was of a more "generic" nature that covers MOST houseplants and aimed at people who are not all that experienced. I still stand by all that I said! One CAN repot a newly purchased plant if one knows how to do it safely and properly. Too many people just do not. THey buy a plant in a 10" pot and then ,immediatly, want to repot it in a 14" pot. They put the plant in and just fill the pot up with fresh potting mix. I have seen this happen many times and have "preached to the choir" more times than I care to remember.

You CAN kill a Spath or an Aegloanema or many other plants by repotting it the wrong way, as I mentioned. Your focus, Al, was on just the Shefflara. Good advice for newbies owning one.

I believe that the plant Amber has is the commonly sold S. Arboricola" which comes braided, as well as twisted and as a standard in all the big stores. A MOST common plant. I have had a bush-one of these for about 15 years. I keep it outside in pretty bright light and it just thrives! It has gotten way too big-- has been cut back a couple of times but I hang on to it for sentimental reasons. It was a reject in a 5" pot when I was working for a local grower here, so I took it home. It has lived in a 14" plastic pot now for about 8 years. Needs a hair-cut, but I missed the time to do it this summer.

One reason of leaf-drop on the Arbs. is definitely overwatering. I have also seen the stems on these turn to a smelly "mush" from the bottom up--all slimy under the skin. Then all the leaves will turn brown amd fall off. Sometimes it only affects one or two of the 3 stems. That is a fungus of some kind.

I was assuming the plant Amber has is the true Shefflera Amate. THAT is the plant I love so much. I am NOT too fond of the Arboricolas....except mine......

I hope this explains WHY I said some of the things I said, Al.

Gita

This is all really good information Al and Gita! I am also having a problem with my Schef and while you're here maybe you can help me too.

My grandmother gave me a beautiful 20 year old Schef around Thanksgiving last year and when I went on vacation for Christmas, I did not instruct my plant sitter to move it in during a freeze. It was in an atrium (I live in an apt) which probably had the door open during a snow storm. Anyhow, plant had frost damage and lost all leaves. I tried my best to love it back to life and got nothing - so I began to ignore it and then some growth appeared. About a week after the second second leaf emerged, they turned brown and slowly fell off (without any change in care).

Ever since then, no growth has appeared. I dug it up and looked at the roots and there appeared to be some good roots (as in no rot, plump, healthy roots) and so I ripped the whole thing in half (it had several trunks) desperate to encourage growth and set one pot of it inside and one outside. So far nothing, and that was about 2 months ago.
Is there ANYthing that will save this plant? The last time I saw growth was in about March or April...I'm very desperate to save it since it's practically a family heirloom. Thank you for any help you can give. Susanne

Keep soil on the side of very dry & the plant outdoors in full shade until new growth appears or until you determine stem & roots are completely dry. I'm afraid your plant might be gone, as it is very unusual for schefflera, even plants that show general decline, to sulk during the summer.

Hi Gitagal. We know that very large plants can be grown in very small pots (bonsai), but it is also possible for very small plants to be grown in very large pots. The key is aeration & the speed of the soil (drainage). As pot size increases, so should the size of soil particles to insure drainage. I frequently use extremely large pots in relation to the size of the plant for material I want to grow quickly but cannot put in the ground because of hardiness issues. But I generally agree with your point - especially since most grow in a commercially prepared, peat-based soil.

Al

Susanne,

You did not say, but when you "ripped the whole plant in half" did you also cut back most of the existing tops to some healthy, live tissue? Is there any healthy tissue in the stems? How far down?

Generally, when you "prune" the root-ball in any way (as you have done), you should consider cutting the tops back to the same proportional level (pecentage) as you have taken off the root-ball. It just gives the plant a better chance at re-growing.

You did not say, but is your Sheff. the comon Arboricola also?

If it is an Arb., you can cut it back severely and it should regrow, assuming the roots are OK. I feel it is your only option here.
Also, be patient!!! The roots have to re-establish first, before the plant will put energy into re-growing the tops.

Again--just my 2 cents worth! Gita

Thanks for your input Gita and Al. I'm afraid its a goner. I've been too upset about its death to post on here and legitimize its demise by putting it in writing, if that makes any sense. Its so strange how plants can be so special.

I have had it in full shade, experimenting with dry soil and wet soil pretty much all summer. The other half I have had inside virtually bone dry all summer- nothing with that one either. Gita when my grandmother gave it to me, she pruned off most of the stalks and the growth that had appeared between that and the freeze is what fell off. The only thing left on top of the soil is extremely hardened wood, about 5 stalks which are about 6 inches tall. I would have to buy a chainsaw to get that thing pruned any more. Oh, and I assume it is S. Arboricola.

I am out of town right now, but when I get back I will pull it out of the pot and check the roots again. Thanks yall for your help! Susanne

Hi Al & Gita -- thanks for all your advice, very helpful for a newbie like me. as for my scheff, i think it is an arbicola. I think my first post was a little misleading ... i actually had had it for awhile before I replanted it. Pot size was just a little bigger than the plastic pot it came in. i think i might have overfertilized when i repotted. i ran this theory by someone at my nursery and he advised against digging up right now, on the premise that any more trauma to the roots right now would be unwise. he wasn't too optimistic but suggested i could try some Superthrive.

so, i cut out the one dead trunk and as much as possible of the other dying trunks. and then i hand picked out as many of the fertilizer balls as i could find and watered with the superthrive. that was two weeks ago. last weekend i watered again with the superthrive. i still have the plant in full sun. it's not dropping any more leaves and the remaining trunks don't seem to be dying. best of all, there is new growth on one trunk!

so i will keep nursing it this way and hope for the best. do you guys still i think i should check the roots?

susanne, you might want to give the superthrive a try! I used 1/4 teaspoon per 1 gallon water once a week for two weeks so far. (it's super hot and dry right now where i am, and i'm letting the soil get really dry between waterings as everyone advised ;-)

thanks!
amber

Amber,

I am NO huge expert, but if what you are doing right now is workin--"don't fix what ain't broke". And you have some new growth! How great! Forget checking the roots for now! Must be some life down there! If any roots were rotten, they probably fed the sections of the plant that died. Dead roots--dead growth!

I would just watch the overwatering! No leaves, no transpiration. I think you are wise to keep things on the dry side. Do you think the full sun may be a bit too much? How about AM sun--afternoon shade until it recovers a bit, OR--filtered good light all day long?

I have never used "Superthrive". From all I have read here on DG, it sounds like a miracle drug! It IS expensive--NO????

Thanks for the update, Gita