A good friend of mine passed away and left me this plant. It is in dire need of prompt care, as you can see in the photos. I have no idea what it is, or how to care for it. I bought a giant bag of new soil and some plant food but have no idea what I should do with them. Plant is roughly 11-12 ft tall. I had been keeping it outside (it's 100 here in texas regularly) and watering it every third day or so. It slowly turned into what it looks like in the photo from being healthy. Thank you all!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schefflera_actinophylla Keeping plants outdoors during the warm months is generally a good idea, however, even full sun plants need some time to get used to the intense light. Your Schefflera appears to have to growth pattern of a plant that has spent most of it's life in a low-light, indoor location. In addition, it appears to be underpotted/rootbound. If the roots are too cramped in a small pot, they tend to thicken and loose their efficiency for obtaining water and nutrients from the soil. Small, fine roots are best. The plant is stressed right now, so I would give it a few weeks to recover before jumping into some type of well-meaning intervention that could kill it. Eventually, it should be repotted. You can prune it back significantly to shorten it and induce branching (it may be a few weeks to a few months before it branches). As long as the overnight temperatures are above 55*F, you can keep it outdoors in a shady location. Just watch the soil and water it when the soil is slightly moist/slightly dry. Mark
Thank you! I'm leery on waiting out on helping it, because it is dying. If I do what I've done normally, then it will seem to die. ???? Keep it inside or out? It was on his balcony, but it was not in direct sunlight.
Sorry to to hear about your friend. You might want to try and give your tree the same conditions it had with your friend, that is if you know. My sister has this exact one and keeps it off to the side of a west facing window, so it gets indirect light and only waters it when dry, once a week to ten days. I wouldn't recommend that it be feed and not repotted like Mark mentioned, it probably couldn't take it in the shape it's in. You can keep it indoors away from the intense heat and from indoor ac. If you want it smaller, you can later cut it back to just above a leaf stem, new growth will grow near where you made the cut (s) Give it some time to adjust to it's new surroundings and maybe think about new soil in the spring.
I would give it a really good watering with some soluable fertilizer and then in a couple of weeks repot it. It is a tropical plant and likes the warm well watered life. I have seen them as street trees in Queensland so they can take direct light but not when they are not used to it so same conditions as before (filtered light) if you are thinking of putting it out side make sure it's not in direct sunlight or it will cook. Liz Liz
