November 2016 vs today. In the same spot under the same light.

Enjoying the outdoors.

Beautiful!

Great Pic, Dave, I will keep the info , u gave me. My 10+ Sheff, plants are Going Wild with all the Rain we have had , Topped 8 or so back in early may & they are 'blooming ' like Crazy , Some better than others. Even the Top's I Dipped (the bottom inch or so ) in rooting dust. & put in a glass Vase are Growing Roots 'Nicely'. Oh No ....Another 8 Plants to pot (already put 1 in Soil last week ).

These plants are special to me , as the original Nov , 2001 Plant I got is still thriving , it still needs the roots trimmed & maybe /most likely a larger container. It weighs est, 30 + lbs & is Hard to work with.

If you know anybody in N Metro Atlanta GA , who would like a plant , I will gladly give them 1 or 2 ,as long as they will love them.

I still want to post pictures , (it would be so helpful) but there would be Many & don't want to clutter your thread.

Maybe E-Mail would be easier??? I want you to see them ,Others as well but I may need my own thread. I'm still computer Dumb But Still got the Wife to help , & a Smart Phone is in my Future.

Rant over , well almost GL with your plants & Life.

Davers

Chopped one of the tops again two weeks ago. Some back budding happening way down low and what seems to be a good about of aerial roots too.

Good amount of back budding going on here.

Do you have any idea how high the humidity is?

Well, we got 7 inches more rain than we normally should in June, so it's been higher than average.

probably explains all of the aerial roots.

You're lucky...so far this summer we've had barely any rain at all. :(

My plants might like it, but June was terrible. All of the rain ruined any outdoor type things we like to do.

It's seems to be getting better though.

My Sheff's are still going wild , over 5 + inches of rain at my house since July 1.

When I can get pictures of my plants , do you mind if I post them here or should I start my own thread?

I don't want to take away from all your hard / nice work.

I just want you to see them.

GD

Davers71

Please feel free to post them here! I'd love to see.

Thanks ill try to ASAP. Goodnight.

Just a little bit of back budding happening here. Had to chop it back to a point where I knew I wouldnt look good for a little bit, but will be better off for the long run.

That's impressive, Dave! And here I was all excited that my small scheff pushed out a handful of new baby branches down toward the bottom of the mostly bare main stem sometime in the last several days. All I did was cut off some sunburned old leaves last week....I was reluctant to behead the plant, but your picture is positively inspirational.

Just goes to show just how much stored energy plants have during the longest days out of the year.

I chopped a part back over the winter and nothing happened. This chop was in June and the plant went crazy.

Really amazing.

All of my plant care has been severely delayed for health reasons, and I'm still short on bark, so my repotting and subsequent pruning schedule has already been pushed forward a month. I'm just crossing my fingers that high-elevation sunlight (less filtered by the atmosphere) will provide enough energy through early fall to avoid making my plants tap much of their energy reserves in recovering from repotting so they can at least start to respond to pruning before the growing season is completely over.

Going to "try" to post some 'Shef' Pictures.

Thanks , ill now look back a few months to see what I missed.

Davers71

They all look great! That reminds me I need to take new pics.

what part of the world are you in again? Do they get to grow outside year round?

Dave, the variegation on your plants is fantastic!

Thanks Andrea ..We live in a dead end 'Circle' so they do not get seen that often.

Thank you , did not get a picture of the 'Mama' Plant, out back, Still growing well while root/bound & only gets Filtered Sun light.

Dave I live 15-20 miles N of Atlanta GA, I have to bring then in around late October , some inside but most in the Garage.

2 winters ago , the door got left open all night & it got down to 24 o, ALL of them ended up Defoliating , the Dracaena's as well. They Sprang back Quick 'Surprisingly Well' .....It kinda helped on the Sheff's cause it made me do some pruning & shaping , It kills me to cut 1 + foot shoots off the plants & not root them ; But I have Sooo many 3-4 have grown roots as I type.

Gl with your plants as well.

Davers71

Actually all the plants get 90% filtered light except the ones by our mail box (Not pictured). They Love humidity.

Most growth from this past winter has been removed. Everything you see here has grown this summer.

Itll be a much nicer, fuller plant once it fills out. Many more branches than it originally had.

Thank you Dave. My scheff was chopped to improve appearance a year ago, but back budding was minimal. I will be chopping again, thanks to your pics giving me the wisdom to do so. Not sure I should not wait till next spring, as our summer will be over within a month. Either way, I learned so much from what you have shared. Thank you so much.

Laurie,

I would absolutely wait until next June to do a hard chop.

If you do it this time of year you may get a couple back buds, but if you do it in June, you'd probably get 10-15.

I think it would be definitely worth the wait.

my plant originally had three branches, now it has over 20!

Will do. I am sure I will be asking for direction. Ty.

Good info , ill keep that in mind also.

November 28, 2016:

November 5, 2017: (I cut it back very hard this summer too.)

The little Norfolk Island Pine has grown a good amount too.

December 31, 2017

Update. Been a while.

Beautiful variegation Dave, lots of color. Do you know which variety it is?

Russ

Russ,

I don’t know exactly since they are cuttings from plants that we’re growing outdoors in Florida. They seem to have a lot more ivory/white than a lot of the verities I see for sale lately.

Thanks!

It’s been a humid summer. Aerial roots are shooting down from above.

The thicker roots above the soil line started as aerial roots lasts summer.

circled are all of the tips of aerial roots I’ve spotting. The longest has just reached the soil line. This will have an intersting look if they all make it. Eventually, I’d probably trim off lower growth to accentuate the roots if they end up looking cool.

A quick 'Sheff' update.

My plants are pretty much the same , Tho I did trim the thick roots coming out of the bottom of the Mama Plant in the largest pot , It's grown well in the 2 + months since I did that.

I'm still overwhelmed with Sheff's . They are hardy plants , mine are all clones of the Same plant I received in 2001 when my Sweet Mother passed.

They are parts of the family & many have spread out over the Counties North of Atlanta.

Good Growing everyone

Davers71

It’s been exactly two years.

August 7, 2016:

August 7, 2018:

A couple pics of Scheff aerial roots, from today.

Has anyone used or trained aerials to create an artustic effect with a single stemmed scheff? They could probably be wired to add some movement like a bonsai. As long as you keep the humidity up with a straw or rubber tubing, they will keep reaching. Imagine some buttressing or Mickey Mouse ears or something...

Curiously I've never had aerial roots appear on my Scheffleras. I wonder if it has something to do with needing a combination of high air temperature and high humidity? I've rooted many cuttings by just putting the pieces in a pot of mix in the glazed porch or, in summer, by simply placing the pot out in the garden. They root very easily. I don't own any grow lights. My original one started as a cutting 'liberated' from a moribund specimen at my workplace.

It’s definitely a high humidity thing. I only get aerial roots in the summer when the plant is outside.

It’s been more humid here than normal, and all of my Ficus and this scheff are growing more aerial roots than normal.

Matt, scheffs with aerial roots is very desirable bonsai subject. Like many ficus that demonstrate epiphytic behavior scheffs also do that. Increasing humidity around branches and trunks using sphagnum moss is a good way to induce aerial roots. Combine that with dry soil and root bound conditions and you will have aerial roots. In India, April-May is very hot and dry and the plants go semi dormant. Then the monsoons hit in mid June or so. Ficus coming out of the stress burst into growing aerial roots rapidly during the monsoons.

Scheff just doesn't do it for me in bonsai. The leaves dont seem to reduce enough to make a convincing subject. My scheff is the large leaf variety that is currently sending off several aerials, one of which i covered with a straw. That root is about 6 inches long while the oters are about half that. All of them seem to be growing from a point about 10 inches up the stalk of a plant that is approaching 6 feet. I was toying the idea of creating something intentional with the aerial roots before they hit the soil. Any ideas?

My Scheff's are still going wild with many root bound cuttings , Ariel roots are in style , I let Mama plant grow 2 main branches these are at 6 feet almost, I did trim the roots on the Mama plant they were a few feet long & some a half inch (or more) thick ; it recovered well & it's starting to look like a Cyprus Tree , lol

All 15 or so plants look good , I need to try harder to give them away as I still have 2-3 cuttings in water

All can be 'Dream' plants I just don't have the Space esp, since my Sago Palm put forth fronds this year after last years transplanting .

I love them and they mean A-lot to me , sorry y'all just wanted to update & Rant & I thank Dave & all contributors to this thread.

Davey

Update. In the sink for a watering. Needs a trim.

Got some cool aerial roots going.

Still looking good.

Very good color in the variegation Dave. What's the plan for spring? Cut it back, repot?

Repot and stick it outside for the summer. I may or may not trim it.

Ive noticed the outdoor grown vegetation has much better coloring than what’s grown indoors.

I've seen lots of scheffs in landscapes here in Fla that don't look as good as yours.

Do you have any of the smaller varieties? I have a cool one with whitish variegation only on one side of the leaf whorl. Can't recall the name but I like these small varieties.

Also have a scheff that I only know as sp. Nova, with odd shaped leaves. If interested I can send cuttings of either.

Thank you Russ! I have no other Scheffs currently. I had one of the large lead versions but sold it a couple years back because it got too big.

I appreciate you offering cuttings and I’d love to take them, but unfortunately we have no space for extra plants. I stopped using any grow lights and only now use a couple windows. I’m even going to sell my 8’ F. Benjamina this summer.

Heres a cool pic I found of this sheff and the same Norfolk Island pine side by side. Then vs now.

Still looking good , I'm still buried with Non -Venerated types , all clones from a 20 y/o Mother plant . I would give more away but I figure if I put them in nice pots Ill sell them for just a little over the price of the pot , Not trying to sell here but want to sell in my neighborhood , these things are like people to me . BTW your plants look great.