Help w schefflera plant

8 years ago

I bought this guy from an estate sale weekend before last for $10-- he was in a sunroom with lots of other plants, most in various states of near death. I liked the size and weird shape of this one and he alone looked to be very healthy, albeit bone dry. Not having time to repot right away, I gave him some water and put him in a morning sun window in my dining room, away from other plants just in case he had something icky on him that my eyes couldn't see.

I guess I overwatered? because he started dropping leaves the next day. I figured he'd dry back out and be ok and then I'd repot but as the days have gone by, he's dropped a lot more leaves. So today I decide to repot and I can't even get him out of his current little pot, he's so rootbound I had to crack the pot off around him. So at this point I figured I'd better hop on here to see if I'm even on the right track. I have some 5-1-1 mix that I was planning on putting him in... Is that right? And do I leave this huge dry dirt chunk on him or try and gently soak/spray most of that off and get him in totally fresh soil mix?

I know he's not what many would call pretty as the ones I google all are more bushy-looking... "leggy" seems to be something you want to avoid and he's looking kind of leggy? I don't know why but I really like this shape and I'd like to bring him back this way if I could, so I don't want to go lopping off most of his shape to start over. Just fyi because I'm thinking that might be the general suggestion... And I'd rather not go that direction if at all possible

Any thoughts? Thanks in advance,

Nicole

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Comments (5)

nnmjdklil
Original Author
8 years ago
Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
8 years ago
I think the leaf loss may have been from getting too dry. I would soak that for a few hours to soften everything up before attempting to get in there & remove the old soil. Trimming off the outside edge of the root ball will help you see if that's even possible.

This plant just looks tall, not leggy (etiolated, excess space between leaves.) No need to cut off anything if you like it as-is. I do.
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I'm not familiar w/VOC. I know spider mites can be difficult to eradicate, that's I mentioned something strong. I would have taken mine outside, hosed it down first (to loosen up and get rid of what I could), let it dry a bit, then sprayed w/the hard stuff. I'd spray over the soil too just to keep anything from hatching and crawling up. then I'd wait a few days, hose it down again to get rid of the bodies, take it out of the soil, hose down the roots, wash out the pot (or get a whole new one) with Dawn,,,,,,put in brand new potting soil w/the now freshly washed roots and tree. (of course you will be very gentle during all of this) and replant the tree into the fresh stuff. Then I'd spray the leaves again w/ insecticide. water the soil lightly. let the stuff on the leaves dry, and bring it in. then get a mister bottle and mist daily, making sure to reach under the leave. once a week take a wet paper towel and wipe off each leaf. you may get stragglers. now you can treat w/an inside insecticide that's safe for a week or two or until they're all gone. Lot of work? yep. or you can plant this guy in your yard, spray it, and get a new one for the house.
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I agree the leaf loss has nothing to do with you over-watering day before. It resulted from the plant's prolonged state of dryness (or if the plant had been moved to a dim corner, from the change in light). If you want to keep the plant's shape and are going to repot and root prune, you need to defoliate the tree completely when you do the repot, otherwise the stems are likely to die back.

Defoliate by cutting through the main leaf stem with a scissors. Get a pruning saw and cut the bottom half of the roots off, then work until you have all the soil removed from the remaining half of the roots. Then use sharp bypass pruners to remove large roots that are growing downward from under the trunks or back toward the center of the root mass. Repot with new soil and secure the plant to the pot so it can't move in relation to the pot, and keep soil barely damp. I would put the plant in shade out of wind until it starts to bud back, then move to full sun.

Your root mass should look something like this when you're done. The next time you repot, you can remove long roots that tend to circle around the outside of the root mass. I didn't remove them because I'd already removed at least 90% of this plant's root mass. Keep the roots wet at all times while you're working on them.

Al
zzackey
8 years ago
Yikes! I wouldn't cut the roots. You have so few compared to the size of the plant. I would repot it into a larger pot, stake it and fertilize.
nnmjdklil
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks everyone for your input!

I think I'll take my chances with the repotting, just a little root pruning, staking etc, minus the defoliating. Al, I have the utmost utmost respect for you and feel grateful when I even see a response from you on one of my questions, but the truth is I have 2 young kids and a brand new puppy and am literally running around most of my current days, never feeling like I'm getting enough done and infrequently sitting to just enjoy it-- and I just don't want to walk by this plant without leaves for however long it'd take to gain enough new ones! I'm on the market for instant gratification these days, or as near I can get. For $10 I'll take my chances with what I can accomplish in 20 minutes. I definitely learned something here though-- I've never even heard of "defoliating"! How very interesting, just wild really.

Hopefully I can post a decent happy picture of this guy in the months to come. In the meantime, there's this:

Help w schefflera plant

Comments (5)

nnmjdklil
Original Author

Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL

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

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Help w schefflera plant

Comments (5)

nnmjdklilOriginal Author

Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL

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

zzackey

nnmjdklilOriginal Author

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nnmjdklil
Original Author

nnmjdklil
Original Author