Schefflera (arboricola?) problems

9 years ago

Hi all, first timer here! Have used this forum a lot as a guest but have a unique issue I can't seem to find any exact information on. My friend's umbrella tree has been slowly failing since its recent move from Colorado to Indiana (about 3-4 months ago). When it first arrived, I helped transplant it and it had new growth that was curling under then, but no sign of discoloration or spotting. We transplanted it and it was having issues with drainage, so about a month later I repotted it again with chunks of styrofoam to help with drainage and aeration as well as some powdered mycorrhizae to ease the transplant shock. It's been probably two months since the last transplant, and throughout this time it's been receiving indirect sunlight. It's now in full sun and beginning new growth again which is still curling, and many of the older leaves have fallen off. The picture I posted was sent to me today, as you can see the petioles seem to be rotting down to the stem.

Can't seem to put my finger on it, at first I thought it was just environmental shock then I thought we'd give it time to recover from the drainage issue, but it's still struggling. I've been reading about broad mites that cause new growth to curl like that, but it still doesn't explain the brown petioles. I haven't had a chance to look closely at it to see if there are actually mites on the plant. I think there's a variety of things going on here and would just like to see if anyone has had a similar experience or might have any advice based on what I've been able to recall about the plant.

I appreciate any advice anyone might have!!
Cheers,
JL

Comments (4)

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
9 years ago
While a scheff doesn't like to go dry, it's better too dry than wet. There are a number of cultural influences that can cause the symptoms shown, but a soil too wet is always the first suspect when we see symptoms as shown. Adding chunks of Styrofoam or perlite won't do much for soil aeration/ drainage/ water retention if the rest of the soil is all fine matter (peat, coir, compost, composted forest products, sand, topsoil .....).

How are you caring for the plant in terms of additives, like fertilizer or other things you have used in hope that it will stimulate better growth or vitality?

Al
jamiekinmecrzy
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks so much for your response! No fertilizer was added, just a mild humic acid added to the initial watering (with RO) after the last transplant and I imagine he's just been using tap water since. I used a soil blend of happy frog and coir, along with some crushed up egg shells I had laying around. I dusted the roots with VAM when we transplanted it the second time and I think I sprayed the leaves with Nitrozime, though I can't remember for sure. Do you think it's too soon to try another transplant? The pot is really heavy, what do you think we should do to help with the drainage, maybe shale rocks mixed in to the media? What kind of media do you think would be best?
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One clue 'might ' be that several roots are trying to escape from the bottom drainage holes. I say 'might ' because it's not a sure thing by any means. The best way is to simply slip the plant gently out of the container so that the root ball can be examined. Contrary to what some people seem to think, taking a plant from its container for minute does no harm whatsoever to the plant. I inspect plant roots before purchasing if I have any question or concerns. Always for any woody nursery plant. A root bound plant will have a mass of encircling roots or the root volume will greatly exceed the soil volume.
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Wow - that is a gorgeous scheff! I have some seeds that I'm waiting to germinate (apparently it takes 40 days!?) and my plan was to bind them and similarly allow inosculation to fuse the trunks. The seeds have not yet sprouted and I'm losing interested - its not fun watering a pot of dirt when you have a nice plant already, lol! As far as the form, I looked for a scheff that had a central trunk and I think mine does (your's certainly does), while most seem to more-so fall into the clump (banyan?) style, like a dense forest. I always like some form of nebari, but I see what your saying about the neagari (exposed roots) looking spider-like. At first, I felt it drew away from the central trunk, and made it more of the clump/banyan style plant. Looking at my scheff, a spider didn't come to mind, but I do think the neagari provides a sense of movement - for me, in an almost anthropomorphic way: the image that comes to my mind is a person walking through a swamp or bog and leaning to the side in order to pull his/her feet out of the mud. A sort of struggle to move forward and survive that I think are central to the nature of designing a small tree to look like an older, weather-torn specimen. Considering that, I actually intentionally expand the roots: when potting the plan, I washed off nearly an inch of dirt that was over the root system. Maybe not ideal if you are going for a small bonsai (shohin or something), but I'd rather give it some size personally. I'd love to know your thoughts about ramification for a scheff. I had 3 golden cappelas that I sold / gave away recently and my experience with schefferlas is that sometimes you cut the terminal and another one grows back with no ramification. Other times, the terminal does split and even a shoot/bud comes out lower on the plant, but I haven't found consistency in this.
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
9 years ago
The best media are those you can water to beyond saturation w/o having to worry your soil will remain soggy so long it affects root function/health. I use this
{{gwi:1295}}
as my soil, and nothing more than Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 as a fertilizer. I have no trouble, after a little pinching, growing attractive and healthy plants:

{{gwi:71692}}
{{gwi:3149}}

My impression is, you're going to much more trouble than what's required to grow consistently healthy plants. If by chance it's not an over-watering issue, the problem probably lies in some of the other ministrations you described.

If you can get your plants in a soil you can water appropriately, and provide favorable light/temps for your plants, fertilizing and just maintaining plants in a state of good vitality suddenly becomes MUCH easier.

Al
jane__ny
9 years ago
I have a large Schefflera in a pot. I have had it for over 15 years and has been repotted many times. This will happen when repotting isn't done at the right time. I've had this happen.

Leave the plant alone, put it outside when temps warm up in Spring. I think it will turn around.

I've seen this happen and the tree will recover with enough light and warmth. Give it time. You sound like a good gardener.

Jane

Schefflera (arboricola?) problems

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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)

jamiekinmecrzy
Original Author

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Schefflera (arboricola?) problems

Comments (4)

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)

jamiekinmecrzyOriginal Author

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jamiekinmecrzy
Original Author