Al advises against repotting in the middle of the summer. I would wait. I have enough difficulty pulling it off in mild 60-70 degree situations. I wouldn't try it mid-summer unless you have to. I would suggest using a large container of water and submerging the root ball to wash off the soil rather than the hose/sprayer. I've found that I lose less roots that way. Just don't keep the roots submerged for too long (ie: don't wash all 5 at once and leave them all sitting in water while you try to pot each one). Some people might be fine keeping their plants in sun after repotting but I find it's best to move them to filtered shade for a few weeks. It's not the pot temperature that is the immediate concern (though it does matter) - it's that you will lose roots in the repotting process and hinder the plant's ability to transpire. If it sits in full sun and there is more evaporation from the leaves than the roots can keep up with you will have leaf drop and maybe some dead branches.

And it's just not what we can figure out on our own... it's actually that the generally circulated information about container growing is so riddled with fallacy and misinformation that it's difficult to sort through it all and figure out what's valid and what's not. The gardening industry does nothing to dispel misinformation or old wive's tales, which is par for the course when profit is more important than consumer happiness and success. I realize we live in an age of convenience, but that's really no excuse for the industry to only offer products aimed at convenience. Not every grower needs or wants to take the shortcuts. Some of us want to know how it works, and why we do the things we do. The internet is a vast library... but we have to know what we're looking for because anyone can upload anything, whether truth or not... and since so much of the truth is written in more scientific terms than most average growers are able to decipher, so they can put it into practice, it's nice when someone like tapla (Al) comes along and does the hard work for us! Al has taken the time and effort to break down all the scientific information and basic physics of growing in containers, and written it in layman's terms so anyone can easily grasp the concepts of what really happens under the soil surface, and what plants really need to maintain healthy roots. I will be forever grateful to Al for his generosity in sharing such fantastic, and factual, growing information! He has helped me become a much more successful gardener! If I had learned the real basics decades ago, I'd be so much further ahead. But very little vetted information is part of the general knowledge passed around. Most folks are under the impression that gardening is gardening... when the truth is, there are massive differences between growing in containers and growing in the ground. Therefore, different approaches work better for each type of growing. And a lot of people think you need a green thumb to grow nice healthy plants. But the truth is... a green thumb is just applied knowledge. There's no luck to it. You just have to learn a few basics. Anyway... in most areas of life, I've learned never to take anything I hear or read at face value. It's always wise to research, to think logically and independently, using a good deal of common sense and taking it all with a huge grain of salt! Happy Growing!

Lorraine, were you able to rinse off ALL that old mix out from all those roots? A lack of air movement, oxygen and salt toxicity were probably a major factor in the decline of your tree..But it seems that the surface roots look ok, telling me that they were the only ones able to breath in that mix... I would NOT bury that root to the far left..It would add character to the trunk of your tree besides keeping it from rotting under the soil line.

I did the same thing last fall with a big sprawling and very sad looking schefflera that had lost most of its leaves, and found the same thing--virtually no fine roots, just thick and mostly woody encircling roots. I did prune almost all the thick roots but left one woody one alone to hold the plant up while I filled the pit with 5:1:1, shaking and tapping the pot to make sure the mix filled in all the books and crannies. Be aware that the plant will sulk longer than if you repotted in the spring, but it will grow a few new leaves in the winter and really liven up in late spring and summer with longer days and more light. A south or southwest facing window will help, and I recommend adding supplemental light in the winter, even if it's just a few 100W bright white (5000-6500k) CFL or LED bulbs in regular fixtures close to the leaves. All my plants, including the repotted scheff, went from practically dormant to getting new leaves after I added the light in late fall.