If you haven't repotted recently, I'd make your worst problems out to be that the plant is severely root bound (symptoms fit that condition well) and you have a high level of soluble salts in the soil (because of how you water), including a LOT of excess phosphorous that is likely causing problems (due to your fertilizer choice). W/o going into details yet, I think you should A) flush the soil thoroughly, B) change your watering habits after you arrange things so you CAN, C) change fertilizers, D) pot up temporarily (if your plant hasn't been repotted recently) until you can E) do a full repot around Father's Day. If you're up for the work, let me know & I'll help you through it. You might want to look at an over-view with a good amount of helpful information, too. See below. What you learn will help you with all your plants. Al Here is a link that might be useful: Growing practices - an overview ..... if you click me.

I, too, love Polyscias! The last ones I bought were just the other night, in fact. I was browsing around Wal-Mart and went into the garden section (outside) as I always do just to look. Its now November and it was about 60 degrees but has been getting down into the 40's at night recently. Anyway, outside there were an assortment of tropical plants, the usuals. Then I look down and see 3 beautiful little variegated Balfour Aralias. I couldnt believe that I would find these at Wal-Mart, but they were outside and I couldnt stand to think they would spend another night in the cold so I bought them all at a whopping $5.88 a piece. They are about 5-6 inches tall and in nice little autumn tin containers. I found that to be a very pleasant score! Back on the topic of Aralias or Polyscias, I have several others, all of which are in a set of 3 large north facing windows. They get bright afternoon sun and they love it. I have 2 small fountains set up beside them for humidity and have all of them on wet pebble trays. I also mist them in the morning a few times a week. I allow all of them to dry out considerably before watering again. When I water, I drench and let all excess drain out. I keep all of mine in lightweight plastic greenhouse pots so that I can pull the rootball out and examine it every so often. I'm giving all of this advice because I have never had one complaint from any of my aralias, so I guess they are loving their environment. I keep the heat on 67 in the fall and winter and a/c on 76 in summer. I prune them usually late winter-early spring. As for the ones I currently have, I have 2 Mings (one scraggly looking one I purchased at Home Depot recently, now 4 variegated balfours, 1 4 foot parsley, and 2 small variegated parsleys. Can you tell I like Aralias? Hope some of this information helps. -Chris South Carolina

Yes, they can often stabilize themselves & come back after a bit (see example directly above). Personally, I never found them temperamental to being moved, but took a Ming I'd grown for a few yrs. to an Indoor Gardening Society Mtg & the moderator was suprised at how well I'd grown it & that I'd even consider moving it, much less bringing it out of the house into the weather (it must have been fall?). I was careful & it was just fine (lost a few yrs. later). Just today, I got a cutting of another Aralia I've never had before. Solid green leaves, roundish, circular, I think I've seen it called something like Aralia "Ruffles". It's in a cup of water, I think I'll try & root it in water instead of moist perlite. Sorry to digress, bur really, just observe yr. plant while you give it time to recover, likely it will.

If I was you I would post this question on the Bonsai forum. Look for a posting called "Project Tree" from a guy called "head cutter" in Vietnam he has an old tree that he cut back with good results. Your Aralia might make a beautiful Bonsai. Katie