I'd sure appreciate anyone's help in ID with this houseplant -- I was given a teeny tiny 3 inch plant about 4 years ago, and it just keeps growing. I'm also not sure how to rein it in -- I'm afraid it will topple over if I don't do something soon. Thanks!!
Your plant is a Schefflera and can grow to be HUGE. In fact, they grow into large trees outside in Florida.
Here is some information on it:
http://www.plant-care.com/schefflera-arboricola.html
I would recommend getting a HUGE pot and putting it on the floor as a floor tree :) They are beautiful!!
Kim
We keep ours outside in big pots year around................just cover them with a sheet if it gets cold................they are so bushy and pretty ................6' is the max we let them get both vertically and horizontally.....................
You have the Schefflera 'Trinette' there. I love these plants. Down here in Florida in some area's they are using them as ornamental hedge plants. I have a couple in pots in my screened pool enclosure. Here's the Plant Files Info on this plant: http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/716/
And .... a photo of a couple of mine:
Lin, I can't believe I sent you rooted cuttings of something you already have!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gail: The one you sent me is different .... at least it looks different to me. I love it! The variegation on the leaves seems to be a lighter, more cream color than the two I already had which seem to be more to the yellow shade.
it looks so pretty against the red wall.
i have one too. small still, but mine isn't varagated. so pretty yours is!
Hi Jonesartist! I love the non-variegated Sheff's too! I have some huge ones growing in my yard .... I pulled the lower branches off to make a nice canopy and so I can get to the plants in the bed below. Otherwise, the branches come out all along the trunk of the plant even down to ground level! You may have seen this pic I've posted before:
plantladylin, wow, thats exciting! i had no idea they could get so huge outside. i'm in NJ, so i bet it woudln't survive the winter.
We have pretty mild winters down here. Sometimes we do get hard freezes but they are few and far between .... haven't had one in many years now. If we get real cold weather and frost, these huge trees will freeze down to the ground .... leaves are brown and mushy with nothing but the trunk sticking out of the ground. In spring it comes back from the roots! Of course when we do have a cold spell with frost, it usually only lasts a few hours and warms back up during the day.
Thank you all so much for the help! I will get a bigger pot (and a bigger stake) and see where it goes.
You could repot it a little bit deeper to stabilize it, then stake it with a bamboo stake until it straightens up a bit. This one looks like it was leaning towards the light, and shows why it is important to turn your plants every week, so that all sides get exposed to the light and it doesn't keep growing in one direction.
I had to severely cut one of these back once, but it all came back, so don't be afraid to prune. Also, the reason I pruned it was becuase it had scale and that was the only way to really get rid of it all, it was a friends plant and she let it go too long without treating it. I think these are susceptible to scale, so be on the lookout for it.
pic of mine. I let it get shaggy cuz i use it shield us from nosey neighbors while we are out in the gazebo.....
