Gravyboots, I hope so! If they are branches, then I am getting 3 of them! About the food, I'm not advanced in these matters. I live in a small apartment and am always moving so I like to keep things simple. Actually just before the new leaves emerged I started giving it a tiny bit of organic seaweed fertilizer regularly (once or twice a week or so). All my plants love it, also herbs, seedlings, cuttings, all of them. So that's the only thing I use. Joe. Thank you for the tips although they sound a bit outlandish to me as I live in a place where one can't find a variety of anything. I mean it. All the shops, whatever you are looking for have the same 1-3 brands of almost everything. I don't complain, I like it simple. Hihi. The plant is actually placed in a corner window facing south and west, but winter is VERY dark around here. However, the days are really getting longer and longer now and soon there will be light all night! I will have to see how my Schefflera feels about that! Maybe I will give it new soil, and I will definitely keep on fertilizing it regularly. This fertilizer is nice because you can give as much or as little as you want as often as you like and it won't harm the plant.

rubylox, if the color of the lesions were tan/brown, it would most likely conform to the symptoms of Alternaria leaf spot. (Diseases of Trees and Shrubs. Sinclair, Lyon and Johnson. Page 90.) The culprit is nicely narrowed down to A. panax. Much has been written about this fungus on the ginseng plant. Humidity, watering practices, sanitation and 'Mancozeb' were recommended control measures.

I purchased just yesterday. ==>>> ALWAYS RETURN INFECTED PLANTS ... and next time.. check first.. i hope you didnt infect anything else in the house... though.. scale usually doesnt move that fast ... look for the HTML code.. and paste your pix right here ... on preview.. if you see it.. we will .... and if they refuse to refund your money.. report them to the local Ag office. ... for a thorough and complete inspection .... ken

It's important to know when the plant needs water and when watering will harm the root system. The easy way to check is to push a sharpened dowel all the way through the soil to the bottom of the pot, and only water when it comes out dry. Of course, this only works if you water thoroughly until 10-15% of the pot's volume drains from the pot when you do water. Please know that I don't mean to be critical, but if that pot is as big as it looks, there's no way a cup and a half of water moistens more than a small portion of the soil, which would mean that part of the soil is likely too wet and roots are drowning or dead because of the highly water retentive MG soil, while other parts are bone dry, which also kills the fine roots that keep the plant alive. Here's how I water the plants that are still in MG soil. They still take a long time to dry, but the plants are doing much, much better since I started draining them properly. Watering: First, I begin watering by slowly moistening the entire surface of the soil, then I leave it for a few minutes. Second, I slowly water the entire surface until water begins to drain from the bottom of the pot, then leave it alone for about 20 minutes. Third, I repeat the second step. At this point it usually takes more water before I see any drainage. Draining: I use blocks of wood to prop the pot up to about 45 degrees from vertical for about 10 minutes, then set it upright. I mostly use plastic pots with holes around the edges of the bottom, so excess water starts to drain from them while their propped up. I've found that the large pot that has a hole in the middle drains it's excess water when it's set upright again. I hope that helps!