Help! I am having a Schefflera emergency. Please tell me that there is hope. Below are pictures of the plant I bought about 6-7 months ago. In the store it had two nice, green, leafy stems. Soon after, I learned a thing or two about overwatering thanks to the famous leaf-drop syndrome. These poor plants have really had an up-or-down time of it in their new home. First they got overwaterd, then then went through some unseasonably chilly nights, and all through they seemed to be having some adjustment issues -- but then they started doing okay, even sprouting new growth. Then suddenly, just recently, tragedy. I noticed one day that one of the stems was looking a little brown about the roots, but i didn't know enough to know if that was odd. Then, over the course of a few days, some of the leafy branches got all brown and weak, and flopped over. It just kept getting wors and worse, with the brown color spreading to large areas of the stem. Then, just today, I looked down and saw what I thought were pistachio shells on the soil next to the root (The neighbors' kids were in here the other day eating pistachios. ;) ) I took another look and it turns out to actually be something like a mushroom! I did some poking about on the web, and I suspect that this maybe some kind of canker-fungus-type-thing. And it's pretty clear to me that that stem, anyway, is history. Sadly, the sick stem is the one that this spring was growing like gangbusters. But my question, really, is about the other stem. So far it is still green, with no evident complaints in the stem or leaves. But is it just a matter of time before it goes the way of its buddy? Or is there some way I can still intervene and save it? Please help! I would be really sad to lose them both! Thanks! The pictures: #1 -- the view of the whole plant. #2 -- the two stems side by side - one bright green, the other a sickly dark green. #3 -- the sickly dark green color works its way up the plant in swaths. #4 --the sick and the healthy stems side by side, farther up the stem. After I have cut away the branches, most of which were completely flopped over and weak. A couple I thought i might be able to save and root in water. #5 -- What's left of the branches at the base of the sickly stem.
Well, I'm not the best with the different damping off fungus or primary causes so get a second opinion. IMO the affected one is doomed, but you may be able to save the other. To me it Looks like they are in peat like soil -- it needs a well drained soil, so IMO repoting the second plant with some Captan might save it. Again I'm not the best, so I can't say if it is Phytophthora, Rhizoctonia, Armillaria or even bacterial -- get another opinion to be safe.
hmmm . I would get rid of the mushy stalks (if they r) .. and repot it in diff dirt and hope for the best .. they are one of the pickeists plants ..(but some ppl say they dont have probs) ... if the top of the mushy part is still really green and hard try to root it .. i cant think of the method for rooting it ..but if u serch diff types of rooting methods in google ull find it .. unless the water is working for ya .. good luck Marn
Hi NY, It does appear as if you have some type of root rot. Your trees look terribly rootbound as well. I would suggest that you unpot them, remove all the soil and separate them, being very careful not to tear of damage the roots of the healthy looking one. Your new pot should be one third the height of the plant that you save. If you use the same pot, wash it in hot soapy water with one part bleach to nine parts water and rinse well. Newt
i dont think that is spider mites .. u can see them when u mist the plant and there is a webbing ...they are more on the leaves.. that looks more like hard water .. just need to run water thru the pot for a lil bit ... and let your water sit out for 24 hrs b4 watering your plants .. Marn
Hi my mistake I meant fungus gnats. I was looking at the white pin hole scars around the affected stock. Their lavae feed on the roots, leaves in contact with ground and the lower part of the stem, they are really good at carring other diseases with them that will kill the infected plant. Regards Doug
I'd say root rot, and the white stuff at the bottom looks like hard water stain, I get the same on my house plant because of the well water. Also newt has some good advise, I'd follow those directions. Carol Ja
Now for another opinion on the white stuff. I'm thinking that the plant looks like it was overwatered at some point. This could have happened before purchase. Plants can get neglected in shipping, dry out and the next person along the retail way overwaters to try and compensate or is just plain neglectful. It also appears extremely rootbound which would cause it to wilt from not being able to easily take up water. Since I see what looks like rot on the dead tree, I'm thinking that the white stuff on top of the soil could be mold. If you will be removing all the soil to untangle the plants it shouldn't be a problem. Carol Ja, thank you for the compliment!! Newt
Hi back to NY3BP Is the white "stuff" that is in the photo hard ( crysatized) or soft and fluffy? The top off the soil looked very dry// along with the saucer at the bottom of the plant.Does it free drain or not? (n PLastic pots not good ) RE Root rot/ to much water/ or bugs??? If the roots are eaten by the larvea of the fungus gnat / how do you tell the diff/since the above pic shows dry soil on top and a dry dish?? If the roots git/ eaten is it root rot or ????? Sheffs are one of the easiest mall/ conferance hall plants to grow At present I have 15 of them in the house and @ 150 in malls Ranging in size from 3 to 25 gal pots The ones in the house are a min of 15 years old The only ones that we have lost( less than 1% are due to the above mentioned probs) They love to be in a clay pot Maybe we are just lucky ?? Regards Doug
Wow! You guys are the best! Thank you so much for all your suggestions and help. I'm sorry it has taken me awhile to respond to all of you - i have been on holiday - but I thought I'd update you all and answer some questions you raised, as well as ask some more. After the first couple responses I got, I went right out and bought a new pot (didn't want to use the old one if it was contaminated) and some potting soil, separated the damaged stalk from the good one, and re-potted the good one. That would have been about two weeks ago. Pictures below so you can see how its doing - i took those about 2 days ago. Of course, wouldn't you know it, i did the repotting before reading Newt's suggestion regarding the size of the pot I should use. So now it's still probably in a too-small pot. I don't know if I should re-pot it again right away - I don't want to shock it again too soon. What do you all think? If i do repot - any other suggestions? (Like should I find a clay pot?) I wish now that I'd taken pictures of what the roots looked like when i took them out. The healthy one looked okay to me. The roots of the sick one were pretty black. Also, the outer surface of the bigger roots felt kind of papery, and easily peeled away from the root - kind of like bark from a tree. The good one didn't have that problem. As you can probably guess from how close the two stalks were together in the pot, the roots were pretty well intertwined. I did the best I could to separate them without damaging the roots too much. As for the "white stuff" on the soil in the first set of pictures, that is definitely hard water stain. One of the things that makes Hungary (that's where I'm living right now - and why being able to turn to this forum us so extremely helpful!!) special is the thermal baths - there are thermal waters everywhere. Which also means really mineral-y water everywhere, too. I have finally learned to leave water out overnight at least, but at first I was watering straight from the tap, hence the stains. Regarding overwatering - yes, this plant did get overwatered when we first bought them. It was probably not the best plant for me to learn this lesson on... but when the leaves started dropping all over the place, I did some research online and learned very quickly that i shouldn't be watering them so much. I could still use some advice on a watering schedule/method. I haven't watered it since I repotted, and i think it needs it. How much is enough? should I water it just a little? Or should I let the soil get thoroughly soaked? I'm nervous about overwatering it and causing root rot again. Thanks again to all of you for all your advice so far, and I would be so grateful if you could help me out with my newest questions about watering and whether to re-pot again.
NY, you did great! I would have gone with a larger pot, but your tree should be ok in there because you just untangled the roots. Did you have lots of extra room for the roots to grow, or did you have to stuff them in? If you have extra room, I wouldn't worry. You will have to be careful that it doesn't get too topheavy and fall over. I notice one bent limb that I would remove. It looks like your pot is plastic. Plastic pots don't breathe and it takes longer for the soil to dry out. Clay pots breathe and allows the soil to dry and the roots to breathe. Don't fret for now, you will just have to be more cautious in the way that you water. Watering deeply is best for plants, both indoors and outdoors. When the soil is mostly dry, you can stick your finger in up to the second knuckle, if it's dry - water. Pour enough water in so that some runs out the drainage holes into the saucer. Don't let the plant sit in water for more then an hour. It will take time for you to learn how often and how much you need to water. So many different aspects will influence that. The more rootbound the more often you will need to water, the more sun it gets the dryer the soil and the more often you will need to water, if the room is warmer in the winter and the air is dryer you will need to water more often, clay pots dry out faster and need to be watered more often as well. If you aren't sure, don't water. The worst that will happen is that your plant will droop a bit and you will notice. Most people kill their houseplants with too much attention and water too often. These trees don't mind it getting dry around their roots. I would expect that you would need to water every one to two weeks. Remember it will do better without water then with too much. Mine get almost totally dry before I water and do just fine. Oh, and water when you repot, but I'm guessing you did that. :) http://www.evergrowing.com/HousePlantTV/schefflera.htm http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/interiorscape/Brassaia_actinophylla.html From this site: http://mgonline.com/schefflera.html "Umbrella tree indoors as a houseplant is easy to grow if kept warm, in good light and the soil fairly dry. Just follow basic houseplant procedures to have a nice Schefflera indoors all year round." Hope your holiday was wonderful. Newt
