I have a schefflera / umbrella tree that is in sad shape. I had been terribly busy and negliected my plants for about a month and a half earlier this year. For the most part, all the plants are fine, except my umbrella and a rubber plant (will be a separate post). I was guessing that the umbrella was a watering/light problem, it has been dropping leaves - even healthy ones. Last night, I was looking it over as a bunch more of its leaves were loose and dropping. I found scale insects! There are pictures below. This umbrella plant is easily 15 - 20+ years old (was my grandmothers). There is new growth at the base that I suppose I should have cut off a long time ago to prevent it from taking nutrients. Now I am not sure what to do. I have sprayed it with an insect killer and will continue to work with it (leaves and stem have a lot of scales on it). If it survives, will new leaf growth come from the trunk/stem, or only from the end of the branches? Would any pruning be in order? The new growth down at the base is really good looking, so I am afraid to cut it off now in case it is the only part that survives. Likewise, I don't want to hack the top parts off if they may recover. Any advice would be most appreciated. For now I plan on removing scale bugs, continue to spray, fertilize, and replace some of the soil. Thank you! Cindy
You'll probably have the most luck removing the scales by hand (gross as it might seem) and then treating it. I personally would cut back the longest piece to give the shorter one a fighting chance (and a more proportional look). You could have a nice plant there but the tall part is half gone anyhow and doesn't look great.
Thank you Rima. Do you know if it would be possible to cut off the dying branch and root it? I have removed some of the scales, and will continue to. Is it at all possible that bare sections of branch with sprout another branch, or is that only likely to appear on newer growth areas? Thank you, Cindy
It's more likely to happen after you cut it because that will stimulate new growth. I wonder if it's getting enough light, considering how tall it is - did it stretch to reach more?
It should have enough light. Sits right by a window with full light (sunlight in a.m.). It is long and bent over because it does not have its tall support stick in there. It is quite tall when standing upright. Thank you, Cynthia
I've read that treating scale with yellow mouthwash works really well. I am not sure why it has to be yellow but apparently it does.
My umbrella plant is also infested with scale - but isn't losing any leaves. It is however covered with sticky residue. I have sprayed with insect spray but it is a really bushy plant & would take forever to remove the individual scale. Any info. would be great!
I had a plant - it's in the draceana family - that had some sentimental value and I put it outside too early and it got destroyed by frost, and then to make matters worse, scalded by the sun. It was so depressing to look at that I just cut it down almost to the soil level, leaving one leaf. I put it in a shady spot where it still gets alot of light, let the rain do the watering for me and forgot about it for most of the summer. The other day I was doing some clean up and checked out the pot and lo and behold, right next to the cut down stem is a brand new baby draceana coming up! I am so happy to have not lost this plant! Your's looks very sad. I would cut it back severely, throw away the cuttings, they are probably weak and unhealthy and that does not make for a good new plant. Set the pot outside where it will get moisture and humidity and good light (no direct sun) water when dry in the case of no rain, and see what happens. Give the plant a chance to start over with strong fresh new growth, don't fuss over it, and it may just surprise you like mine did! Good Luck