Hi i would like to know tha name of this plant so i could take care of it in the proper way,.... i got it for xmas from my young sister and she doesn't know the name ... also it seem that there is some small brown dots here and there but not a lot ... is this normal ? thank you very much for taking the time http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/pinzel51/album?.dir=/d0b8
Hello pinzel51, I agree with jimmyq on the id. When I enlarge the image, it looks like the plant may have (or have had) scale. This is a common pest for Schefflera. It is hard to tell from the photo though. Take a close look at the brown spots. Are they actually little hard scales? or just brown damaged spots on the stem? If it has scale you can try washing the plant and spraying it with a dilute solution of alcohol with a little dish detergent mixed in. (I found formulas on the net varying from 1:4 to 1:10 alcohol:water) Other possible remedies are neem oil, horticultural oil, or hot pepper wax.
thank for the quick response wow guys thanks for the quick response .... actually they are hard scale that i can take out easily with the tip of my pencil .... still i am posting new pics so you guys could confirm what i need to do .... so i guess i just mix some vodka or rhum with water and dish detergent and spray it on ? ho by the way do you know what is the best luminosity and the humidity ( if you guys knwo a website that explains all those please let me know ) thank you once again Ulric
Drink the vodka then use dilute rubbing alcohol on the plant (just a little soap). It looks like scale. If you can pick them off then it must be bugs. Clemson Home and Garden Infocentre - Schefflera
