Hi Erin, can you post a photo of the entire plant as well as a close up photo of the underside of a leaf in the picture you posted? I'm wondering if it might have pests.

Deanna

@gardenfanatic2003 - thanks for your response! Please see attached photos. Note that it’s normally not outside.

Hi Erin, I suspect your plant might have two issues going on. The one that's causing the black spots is most likely over-watering. I also noticed that some of the leaves look speckled so I'm wondering if it also has bugs. In order to help you effectively I need to ask you some questions.

Are there drainage holes in the bottom of the pot?

When you repotted the plant a few months ago did you put it in a larger pot or did you just switch out the potting soil?

Before you repotted the plant did the roots fill up the entire pot?

When you repotted the plant what did the roots look like? Were they white and healthy or were they brown?

When you repotted the plant was the soil in the bottom of the pot pretty wet?

Sorry, I've got another question. I noticed it looks like there are two plants in one pot, which is commonly done with schefflera is so it's nothing to be concerned about. However, it looks like in the photo of the entire plant that the plant on the left doesn't have droopy leaves but the plant on the right does have drooping leaves. Are the big brown spots forming on both of those plants leaves or just one of them? If just one of them, is it the one on the right or the left?

Deanna

It does sound like the plant is reacting to too much moisture in the soil. It also sounds like some of the roots have rotted, which makes me wonder if the roots would fit into a smaller pot because the plant might be overpotted at this point. If it was my plant this is what I would do:

1. Take both plants out of the pot and shake the potting soil off the roots so you can determine the actual size of the live root systems of each plant.

2. Rinse the roots and remove all the rotted root material.

3. Since the plant on the right seems to be struggling more than the plant on the left I would pot them up separately into the smallest pots that will fit the root ball of each plant. I don't know what potting medium you use, but to increase the drainage you need to add a generous amount of extra perlite to the potting soil before you pot them up. If you don't have any perlite on hand, Lowe's and Home Depot both carry small bags of perlite. I think Walmart does too but I can't remember for sure.

4. Don't fertilize either plant because they're stressed right now. If there's a little bit of fertilizer in the potting soil don't worry about it because fertilizers in potting soil are very low dosage.

5. To determine when the plants need water, instead of sticking your finger in the soil, lift the plant to see how heavy it is. When the plant feels pretty lightweight you know the soil is dry, so water until liquid comes out of the bottom of the pot. Don't automatically water both of them at the same time unless they both feel lightweight.

6. Don't be surprised if you lose a few more leaves after you do this. A plant will only keep as much foliage as its root system can support and if there is more foliage than the roots can support then it will shed the foliage. That doesn't mean that the plant isn't getting better. It just means it needs to grow more roots before it can grow more foliage. Right now you need to focus on getting the root systems strong and healthy.

7. Place both plants in an area where they'll receive plenty of light. Scheffleras like lots of light.

Deanna

@gardenfanatic2003 thank you so much for your guidance! I’ll give it a shot!

@Erin Ahlers if you wouldn't mind me sending you a PM can you enable that on your profile?

Deanna