Mom gave me this plant awhile ago. It's huge, easy to care for, and thats all I know about it. I have never had plants, this is my first... but I have 2 kitties... anyone recognize it? Any observations, advice? Thanks
What you have there, and it is a nice specimen, is a DWARF SCHEFFLERA, or, Schefflera arboricola. Where both grow equally well, the regular Schefflera actinophylla, or, QUEENSLAND UMBRELLA TREE is normally called a 'schefflera' and the dwarf called an 'arboricola'. Average height and width are 6-8 feet by 6 feet. Yours is a tropical, and getting below 32 degrees F. will probably damage it, if not kill it. (It might survive at 25-26 degrees for a short while). The arboricola grows very well as an indoor plant because it does well in deep shade. Unusual, but it will also grow in bright sunshine, and has no known pests. About the kitties, I'm presuming that the taste would be such that the cats would do no more than sample briefly. It might be that Google would/could enable you to find good/bad kittie chews where plants/leaves are concerned.
Schefflera does appear on lists of plants toxic to cats. Here is one. The question of cats and plants comes up from time to time here. The list of plants toxic to cats seems long, perhaps being carnivores they did not develop tolerance for a lot of phytochemicals. Many cats show little interest in plants. If a little grass or catnip is provided they leave all the house plants alone. Others, especially kittens, have to chew on every plant they find. If your pets show any interest in plants, it's probably a good idea to remove all toxic plants from the cats' space.
Thank you for your prompt responses. A couple weeks ago my kitten was ill and the vet suggested the plant as a possible culprit. Guess it may have been guilty. However, the cat doesnt seem all that interested anymore. (FUnny how that works) Someone mentioned grass... I have indoor kitties... how might one provide grass?
Very often, the pet department of the large chains (Walmart, etc.) will have 'a' or even several kinds of kitty grass. They usually have it growing or in prepared pots that are seeded and just need water. They will also have seeds to plant in pots which enable on-going grass production. Check it out. Certainly, your plain old pet store will have something similar. A couple of phone calls to headings under "Pets" in the yellow pages will locate just what you want.
Chuck: What do the red leaves mean? It sits in a big pot with a water spout at the bottom - but one of the articles said not to leave it sitting in water... okay to water from the bottom or not?
WOW has this plant changed While trying to find the website where I got advice last winter for my umbrella tree...found the pictures and didnt realize how very much it has changed. I moved it outdoors this summer (I live in Maine) where it did well and required very little care... I discovered it left a large ring of sticky stuff on the rug surrounding the plant where it had been indoors. Now its gotten cold and its back inside; and not looking so great...and I can feel the stickiness again on the carpet... the glossiness is gone, the leaves are all a light green or yellow color. Some even have patches on them that look sort of burned. There is a sticky dark substance on some of the leaves... Bad me. I didnt realize... so now what? I have ZERO experience with plants, this one is obvioulsy hard to kill because they dont usually last very long with me... ;( but I would like to bring it back to its previous beauty... it currently sits in front of a south facing picture window... thanks in advance for your help.
First of all, you need to figure out if it's Aphids, Spidermites, or Scale. Aphids and Spidermites are visible as tiny bugs, and Spidermites in particular make little webs between the stems. Scale, on the other hand, looks like little raised bumps or white flecks on the leaves and stems of the plant. It's important to figure out what you have, because the treatment for the two pests is different. If it's Aphids or Spidermites, what you need to do is to take the plant outside and give it a thorough spraying with Insecticidal Soap. I like Safer's brand, which you can get at WalMart or Lowes, but you can also make your own with neutral dish soap, water, and a dash of mineral oil (baby oil works fairly well) or you can go fancy and buy Neem oil which will also kill the bugs dead. Make sure you get every surface of the plant wet with this stuff, even the undersides of all the leaves. You'll have to treat it a couple of times a week for about a month to be sure you've got all of the bugs, because they will have laid eggs, and you'll have to kill the new hatchlings as well as the adults. If it's Scale, start by dipping a Q-tip in rubbing alcohol (Isopropyl) and hitting each of the bumps with this; they should drop off. If it's a really bad scale infection, put the alcohol in a spray bottle and douse the whole plant thoroughly, just like you would with the insecticidal soap if it were Aphids. The other thing you can do if you have enough scale that you're worried about burning through a box of Q-tips is to dip a soft cloth (cotton works best) in the alcohol and rub the bumps with that. Mealybugs are another thing that could be affecting your Schefflera; they look like fluffy bits, and you treat them exactly the same way as scale. And in answer to your question about the red growth, that's perfectly normal for new growth on Scheffleras and many other tropical plants. Don't be concerned about it unless the leaves don't eventually green up.
No bugs. No webs. Some leaves actually have black on them, almost like a mold, I would think, and the sticky looks like thin honey deposited on some of them, just in spots here and there. Many of the leaves are light colored now, actually yellow; the dark on them looks almost just "dirty". sigh. has it maybe outgrown its pot? It has a huge pot but Ive never cut it back...
