"1. the window in my room has a draft; is it ok to keep the plant in a corner under one of those new energy-saving white light bulbs, which is cold and pretty bright?" I don't know. As long as it's getting some amount of natural light it should be okay. Mine's not getting great light, and it's the only thing that grows consistently during the winter months. It seems like they can adjust to light differences fairly well but don't like having to re-adjust, so I wouldn't move it around much. How cold are you talking, by the way? "2. Watering advice is conflicting; some places say that soil has to dry between waterings, others advise to always keep it moist." Let it dry. These things rot out fast. "3. there are 4 thick trunks in a small pot. Is it ok to separate them? Any tricks to do it with minimal root damage?" Wouldn't know. Mine came with five stalks. I killed four by not letting the pot dry down between waterings. From what I've heard, though, they like being pot-bound and they don't like being messed with.

Both are Dizygotheca elegantissima. As for why the larger one is losing leaves, it could be either too much or two little water. If it helps, not only are 3/4 of mine at home dropping a lot of leaves now, but most of the ones we've got at work are as well. My suspicion is that it's probably too wet: that's definitely the problem with mine and the work ones. The plant might benefit from being moved slightly away from the corner: air movement is supposed to be important to them (this also fits with the problems I've been having with mine). They are also said to tolerate cold temperatures reasonably well, but not hot so much, so if it's in the path of a heat vent, that could be causing a little bit of the problem too. (I don't really have any personal experience one way or the other on that point.) My growers' guide also says that ethylene (sometimes an impurity in natural gas) can cause leaf drop, so if it's near a natural gas source, you might try to minimize exposure there. You should also check the plant carefully to rule out spider mites or mealybugs, both of which find Dizygotheca especially tasty, but you probably knew that. The growers' guide also suggests that leaf drop is a natural thing as plants mature, and not necessarily anything to be alarmed about: brighter light is said to reduce the problem there but won't eliminate it entirely. My overall guess is that it's probably just too wet, either because of an overly-helpful husband or because it's using less water as the days get shorter, and it will eventually level out again. I assure you that I do feel your pain (though your plants are both much larger than mine, so I probably don't feel it as much). You'll probably have to watch the moisture level a little more closely than you're used to for a few months, but I'd be surprised if the two (or three, I guess, if we include your husband) of you couldn't reach some kind of satisfactory agreement fairly soon.

Polyscias scutellaria maybe. Here is a link that might be useful: Polyscias scutellaria images

Last year in January I was working in a restaurant and they had these two huge Japanese Aralia's. I asked my boss if i could have one of it's off spring. He said yes, so I took it gently out with a good amount of root. Brought her home and planted her. She grew wonderfully for the first 5 months then she just stopped growing.I opened her up to see if maybe root rot or if she was to dry. Her root system looks great. Although, she has not grown yet.I'm wondering if maybe some one would know what could have happened. I've read all up on her but i don't see as though I'm doing anything wrong maybe someone would have some knowledge on my problem. Thank you omni