this is the stem/trunk of it. Can I fix that curve? Should I make more grow to twist together? How? Air layering or cuttings?

I also think it may be in too big a pot ????

Thank you for any help with this thing. My mom gave it to me and i want to make it as full and healthy as i can

Ashtash, you've posted this to several threads in the house plant forum already. Did you notice your responses there?

google propagation of the name you have..

and start over with new plants ..

this is a very aged plant.. that needs rejuvenation .. and probably has not been repotted in a long time..

you should very easily get 10 to 15 plants out of this ..

and since you have the name.. why here????...

ken

purple- i did post in other places, I apologize. I am new here and was not sure if the comments I made on someones elses posts would be read by the "right" reader. Also, I admit, I could not get back to some of them. And Ken- HERE because I wanted VERIFICATION as I am very new to anything other than a Spider plant. I know NOTHING about trees and was hoping for some good advice. I have been told that the brown color was scales, I have been told that it was cancor, i have been told that it was normal. I HAVE googled the name and read a lot of information. And learned. I guess I just wanted someone to "hold my hand" with this because I do not want it to die. One of the trunks already died and this one seems weak.
Thank you all for your replies. I will be sure to post in the proper place next time.

This post was edited by Ashtash on Thu, May 30, 13 at 17:50

If you decide you want the curve out of it you can air layer it. Not sure it will grow more limbs lower down. You can root some peices and plant with it to make a fuller plant. Good luck!

If you decide you want the curve out of it you can air layer it. Not sure it will grow more limbs lower down. You can root some peices and plant with it to make a fuller plant. Good luck!

Ashtash, GW is "big" as far as having a lot of forums, and some of them go so fast, the discussion you're seeking may get bumped off of the first page by the time you get back. You're not the only one to get a little lost.

Hope these links get you back to the info you're looking for, without reinventing the wheel, so to speak...
1, 2, 3, 4.

Some of these may be the same as the above 4 links, but here are search results in house plant forum when searching "Schefflera tapla." Tapla is the moniker of a potted tree expert who can often be found in that forum, helping with the trees. Whatever of his info that you can read will be accurate and technically correct.

There are also some discussions about Scheff in the propagation forum if more reading material/pics are desired.

If you still have questions, please feel free to start your own discussion in the house plant forum. Ken talks to about everyone that way, don't take it personally.

No worries. and thank you. I will certainly be finding out everything I can before I try to cut it. I have only owned one house plant in my life that I did not kill. Thank goodness for the resiliency of the Spider Plant. :) However, I really really want to have indoor plants and now that I actually have a yard, I will be planting there as well. I have some roses coming up that the neighbors said were once lush and beautiful until the city cut them down repairing water pipes. SO I will asking questions there, as well as finding out about shade plants since my entire yard (save one little square where the roses are) is deep shade and woody. I appreciate all the help I have gotten so far so I thought I should give a friendly little warning: I know nothing but want to plant everything. LOL Thank you

I am going to challenge the idea of this being a schefflera - it looks more to me like a money tree or Pachira aquatica. First, the foliage of both looks very similar but the curvey, windy stems look much more like Pachira, which is often sold braided or the stems wound together. Have yet to see a schefflera grown/sold in this manner.

And in all defense to Ken, there comes a time - revered, hereditary plant or not - that one needs to take some drastic measures. And this plant is a prime example. It will NEVER produce foliage lower on the stems....that's just how it grows. And you will be fighting a losing battle to ever get those stems even semi-straight. Your best plan is to cut the plant back hard. It will sprout out from the cut surface and you can root the tip cuttings to create additional plants

btw, this process can be followed for either plant, schefflera or pachira.

Purple, I do respect your opinion but a good gardener knows when to call it quits and when to start over or take drastic measures. These are just plants afterall - not pets, not members of our family :-) If it looks ugly and ungainly, it's not gonna get any better looking by just coddling it along.

A Scheff could come to look like this after years inside, leaning toward the light, first one way, then another. Many plants could end up looking like that in those conditions. Nobody on the house plant forum has rejected the idea of this being a Scheff.

The bend in the trunk looks like it has become too stiff and woody to straighten, but if kept in sufficient amounts of light, rotated regularly, new foliage will be upright. To induce foliage lower on the stem, pruning the top will do that.

GG, you could have made your point without the insult, you're certainly intelligent enough to accomplish such. If I didn't know Ashtash's plant could be improved (assuming it's not affected by some disease,) based on experience, I wouldn't be spending time on this post.

The Scheff below had its' top removed in October so I could share it with someone else. New foliage appeared at the base a lot sooner than never.

This post was edited by purpleinopp on Tue, Jun 4, 13 at 11:14

Beautiful! What an update!!

(My gifted umbrella plant almost looks like yours from three years ago, I hope I can turn this one around, too!)

Wow, that's completely awesome! Well done, standing O! TY for the great update! Go ahead, you made my day...

Glad you shook off the negativity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfWlot6h_JM

Wow.. I love this great story, I have soft spot on Schefflera too, it was a variegated S. arboricola, my mother gave it, long-long times ago, I was still a child back then. Still have it, and every time I see Schefflera, it brings back memories, don't ever lose yours.

I also have several of these -- all rescued from a college when the annual student move-out saw them left behind & headed for the trash.... Over a decade later and I still have them =) Not that they look anything like the scraggly things I rescued back then... One is plain green and the others variegated green/white. Wonderful, easy to care for plants and great at removing pollutants from the air!

Congrats on saving yours!! Nice work =) Especially in a day 'n' age where people's first recommendation tends to be "just throw it out and buy a new one".... It may be "just a plant" but it's still a living thing!