i love this plant and it is another special one from grannie's whom we lost on the fourth. i love the variegation on it. i had one of these several years ago and it would shake a little and some leaves would fall off. it did this until it died. i want to keep this one : ) any tips are appreciated greatly! i know this pict. isn't the greatest but hope it will help.
kelly
Sorry about your granny! Here's the entry for it in Plant Files (this is the green one, but yours is the same species). I have an all-green one, and I keep it near a sunny window and water it occasionally--the PF entry says to keep consistently moist but I definitely let mine dry out between waterings and it seems to do fine. I had a variegated one at my old house that I kept in a pot outside and similarly neglected it and it also did fine. The biggest trick to any houseplant is watering it correctly, many are killed by overwatering and a few by underwatering, so the best advice I can give you is to make sure and check your soil before you water--if it's dry a few inches down then go ahead and give it water, but if it's still moist then don't. And if it starts looking less than healthy or if it starts dropping leaves like your other one did, come back here and post pics and a description of where you have it, how much water you're giving it, etc and someone here will hopefully be able to help you save it.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/716/index.html
thanks so much! i appreciate the link.
Kelly,
So sorry to hear about your grandmother!! That is a beautiful plant...I've never seen one variegated before! I know there will be those that think I'm weird (I assure you, I am - LOL) but your grandma will "help" with the plant!! The type I had of that years ago I kept in filtered light and watered about once a week...didn't drown it but gave it a bit 1x/week. The only thing I wanted when my grandmother passes 12 years ago was her plant. She had a Christmas cactus and ALL kinds of papers copied on how to get it to bloom. That plant bloomed for me that fall - days within her birthday!! It does this almost every year - last few years it's bloomed probably 5x for me...I just look up each time and whisper "thanks." I'm sure just as much has to do with the fact she lived in FL and these plants need a bit of a cold snap to bud...but I like better to think she's "helping" me from above.
Good luck with you plant...keep us updated!!
thanks chantell! i don't think you are weird a bit! i am happy you shared your story with me. the day we burried grannie it rained all day except for the burial. she had complained so much about it being too hot and dry before she died. i told my husband grannie was telling god we needed some rain and to be cooled off a bit. my husband said you watch by time for the burial it will stop and it did. i would love to see pictures of your grandmothers christmas cactus when it comes into bloom!
kelly
Ah Kelly be glad to share a pic...this was its last bloom...this past March
Hi Kelly,
I'm sorry to hear about your Grandmother passing. ((((Hugs)))))))
My first two tries with the Scheff were not successful. Like yours, my variegated one suffered some leaf drop when I got it home. It eventually stopped, thank goodness. That was pure torture to watch those leaves fall everyday. I found out that was normal too. They are sensitive to cold and location change and I'd bought my first one in the dead of winter.:( To make matters worse, I kept the soil too moist. It died a couple months after I got it. I also didn't keep it where it got some sunlight(it got bright light, but no sun).
The one I have now is Schefflera 'Aboricola'(my 2rd) for almost 1 year and it's still growing beautifully. It's very rootbound and could probably use a pot up or at least some new soil. I'm so paranoid about changing the soil because it's growing so beautifully! It also gets about 2 hours of morning sun. It's not enough sun, apparently, because it's losing some of it's variegation.
I'd say let the soil dry out, keep it in some good sunlight, keep out of drafts and try not to move it once it's situated.
Good Luck with yours,
GH
That's a beautiful one, Kelly!
Is that variegation yellow or white?
Good advice from everyone.....I'll vouch for the fact that they do need a lot brighter light that we're led to believe, as GH noted (good to see you back and posting, GH!)
And as ecrane3 stated, I also let mine dry out quite a bit....it was even to the point of drooping one morning.
I think they do better with less water than with more.
I had 2 at home that were doing quite poorly so I brought them to work, where there's a very bright and very large east facing window.
They're both fluorishing now!
One of them is even standing about 8 ft. from that window, and still holds it's variegation (it's about 5.5' tall now, and is a single stem, so appears sort of as a 'standard').
So I think the key to growing these indoors is *consistent* bright light with a little bit of direct sun each day....not necessarily hot south sun.
Chantell....that's a beauty of a CC, too, and congrats to you on keeping it so well in your grandmother's memory.
the variegation is yellowish one this one. hope everyone has a great weekend!
chantell very pretty!
kelly
I was actually getting ready to post a question about my new schefflera and right before I posted was drawn to the title of your thread without even knowing it had anything to do with that particular plant! Glad I found this thread... questions answered, but more than that such a very sweet story about taking care of your grandmother's plant for her. Thanks for sharing and keep us posted! Also, I like purple too and loved looking at all your pictures!
Ellianor :)
Lovesdaylillies, I was thinking about you.... how's your grannie's plant doing?
it has lost a few leaves but looks great other than that. thanks so very much for asking! i am missing my grannie lots but little things i have of hers help me to remember all the fun we had together : )
kelly
I miss my grandma too... probably why I was thinking about you. Judging from the state of my schefflera, it's probably a good thing I didn't receive any of my grandmother's plants lol
I'm so glad her plant is doing well! ... and I'm glad you're doing well too :)
