I'm not sure this will offer the kind of help you are looking for..but, I did some research and this is what I came up with as far a possibilities for the issues you are having.
According to the Time-Life encyclopedia of Gardening with foliage houseplants it states...

Wait 4-6 months before feeding a newly potted Polyscia.
And, you are familiar with the soil used to repot.
Perhaps it is a feeding or watering issue? It states to keep the soil barely moist, and to keep humidity at 50%.
I can undrstand how it could also be sunburnt if you repotted in the full sun.

I wish I could have been more help to you.....if all else fails, you can still take stem cuttings and propagate.

If it completely defoliates it SHOULD backbud without much difficulty. I'm just not overly keen on losing like two or three years worth of growth.

Anyway, soil's moist-but-not-wet. The plant isn't wilting, which it would do if it was too dry. Humidity's 50% or thereabouts although my hygrometer's not ENTIRELY accurate.

I don't think I've actually fertilized it in *quite* some time although I used miracle grow perlite, which has fertilizer added, so it's possible I'm seeing nitrogen burn or something, maybe? Except I thought that tended to look more like tip burn that went from out to in and less like chlorosis starting at the leaf veins.

Josh, I don't blame you being upset..Ming's take forever to grow...
I doubt the Euphorbia sap would cause problems. Did a stem/leaf break off and land inside the pot?

How sunny was it? A sunburned plant doesn't yellow foliage..if anything, it reddens.

You're right..Mings don't like their roots touched..and prfer being underpotted.
That's ashame..2' tall.

Mings won't survive in wet soil. I lost my 4-yr-old Ming in June..it rained everday. The pot didn't have drainge holes. After setting it outside, among other plants, I didn't think about it, so it was drenched..

Mings do best when soil is left to dry, 'like cactus/sux,' or as a bonsai.

Let the soil dry completely. When you do water, add SuperThrive. It can't hurt, right? Since the Perlite has fertilizer, there's no need to add more...I didn't know they sold Perlite w/fertilizer..I don't like it in soil, let alone Perlite! A ripoff, for sure. Toni

Who's Josh..?

Anyway, it seems like messing with the roots is what did it. Maybe I shouldn't have. They really did look like they were in bad shape and girdling, as far as I know, is never a good thing.

In any case, it has buds, and there's no rot -- light potting mix and I keep it on the dry side -- so maybe it'll come out of it. I hope. It sounds like defoliation sort of happens with aralias although it also sounds like as long as they're in otherwise good health they come out of it.

If your plant was healthy when you repotted, it will have plenty of energy (especially at this time of the year) to push a new flush of growth, You have the right idea .... keep it barely moist & in the shade (outdoors if possible) and wait.

It's probably transplant shock, possibly made worse if you didn't take pains to keep the fine roots wet while you worked on them. Sunburn (photo-oxidation) is unlikely if you're only concerned about the amount of time in the sun during the repot, but if you're looking for symptoms - leaves turn silver or whitish - never red. The sun releases a free O- radical (the same one that is so loosely attached in hydrogen peroxide) which bleaches (oxidizes) the pigments in the leaf so they turn silver/white. It can't turn leaves red.

Al

Amccour said "If it completely defoliates it SHOULD backbud without much difficulty." Could you explain that? I have an aralia I repotted and I do believe it will completely defoliate. What is backed and how can I stimulate that?

She got you to respond ..... ;-)

Al

What is that, tapla(Mid-MI z-5b-6a)? A pug bug???

Karen R. Sternberg(NYC, 7a, 7b), now I don't understand your question. I think it will defoliate because since repotting it, ALL the leaves and limbs are tuning VERY YELLOW. WHAT is backbug and how do I encourage it??

Plants don't self-destruct. If your plant is defoliating, the reason doesn't go in the "Why my plant is happy" category. which means there is no good reason to help it along by finishing the job. Each leaf is a little factory where the plant's food is manufactured through the process of photosynthesis. If you're going to intentionally defoliate, it's incumbent on you to make sure the plant can tolerate the stress of having its food source removed by falling back on any stored energy it might have. Since early to mid-spring is usually when plants are weakest and just beginning to produce more energy (food) than needed to surpass the break even point, it's not a good time to repot or to intentionally defoliate.

Al

I did NOT mean to suggest I was intentionally going to defoliate it. It is doing it all by itself.

..... and that is illustrative of the fact you are asking the plant to function at beyond what Mother Nature has programmed it to tolerate. There are many cultural conditions that can cause seemingly spontaneous defoliation, but there is a reason behind every case.

Back-budding occurs when the plant has high energy reserves and metabolic rates, and/or when the flow of a particular growth regulator is interrupted - usually by pruning activity, defoliation, or damage to apices (the growing tips of branches).

Al