I adopted this plant today and it is in need of help, or Im afraid it won't make it, I have no idea what it is or how to take care of it, though, so if someone could help me ID it, I could start there. Thanks
I can't tell for sure by the picture, but if that is a bowl that your plant is sitting in, I'd start there by removing it and making sure that you have a container with good drainage. Junglekeeper can correct me if I'm wrong, but your schefflera also looks pretty starved for light. I would move it into a better position.
The lack of variegation in the leaves could be a sign of insufficent light. I believe this plant prefers bright, indirect sunlight.
How do you give the plant indirect sunlight? I have moved the plant so that it is on a shelf under a south facing skylight?
I agree with the Schefflera I.D. Since you are in "rescue mode" with this plant, I would start with some Fish Emulsion plant food. It does have a strong odor, but will go away after watering it in. It is organic and will not burn the plant. You may want to do this outside. If you have other foliage plants most of them love fish emulsion also. (Only mix what you need, smells really bad if stored) Hopefully the feeding will encourage new buds to emerge. It seems strong despite its struggle. The skylight will probably work well. Are you feeding it anything now?
Not very good for fish, though. Better to use something that doesn't destroy endangered wildlife in its production.
I'm not feeding the plant anything, although the plant is in desperate need of a new pot, when i pulled it out of its decrative basket I found it in, I discovered its still in its original pot and the roots have grown out the bottom of the pot (the reason its in that silly looking bowl), so this weekend I will go and get it a nice big pot with fresh miracle-grow dirt. Also now that its had a couple of days of sun light 1/3 of the branches are perking up and responding to the sunshine, should I cut the others off, or should I wait until I get it in new dirt and see if the rest of the plant does better?
You can cut it back and expect to see new branching from the stubs. I would only cut one stem at a time, to allow the remaining leaves to provide sustenance. When the new growth is satisfying, cut another stem, and so on.
A plant put in Indirect sunlight is just that, "indirect" Not full on hot sun, but still getting bright light. Um, like placed off to the side of a sunny window.Although I have given mine a little bit of "direct sun" as well, just not getting it long enough to burn the leaves."Some" sun will also maintain the variegation by keeping the colors bright.
