Please help me save what I can of my umbrella tree! Hello fellow plant lovers. I'd like to begin thanking any and every one who takes the time to respond to my issue. Please know I do appreciate your time and help. So,this gorgeous (well,she was) a gorgeous indoor office plant I found "free to the first to arrive "on kijiji.ca! Of course I raced over in my SUV to this office with a few supplies in hand. Lucky me I was the first to arrive. After swooning over her,I named her and proceeded to prepare her for the ride. It was a hot summer day and I had to get creative in order to get her home. She(Raquel) was over 12' tall,green and glossy and FULL of leaves! I gently gathered her 8-10 12' stems (?) Lol, and tied them together as loosely as I could. Then I wrapped a huge sheet of plastic around her and taped that. She had to travel on an angle with the top of her hanging out my back window. I want worried abt leaves being damaged by wind as they were wrapped,I was worried about her suffocating so I drove as swiftly as I could and unwrapped her asap. I felt just awful to see how many leaves she lost. I did my best but it wasn't good enough. I sprayed her down well and moved her inside . I gently curved her extra long stems to fit my 10' living room as I refused to cut her and shock her any more. That was 2 years ago. Along the way she had good times and bad. Lost alot of leaves here and there. When I reearched for help it seemed to result in no action. I didn't want to clip her in the wrong places. Maybe she was doormat. She's way to heavy to just replant.in and on the excuses went. Now, she's really sad and I'm at a loss to how to help her. Her once beautiful stems are now almost all brown. She only grows leaves from a few green ones. The brown stems well,are not all brown. Some you can see green is there still when you do the scratch test. ( found a site that said to scratch the brown stem and see if.its green underneath or brown) some branches have to be done as they dont support any new growth. I did take clippers to the shots that protrude off some stems looking for wetness inside or dust. Sadly I found mainly dust. Some sites say to cut the green stems and replant in dirt. Some say water. Some say I NEED some solution I'd I'm to cut the stems. I'm at a loss. If I don't do the right thing and SOON, she's going to leave me. I'm ready to re-pot her if the time is right. Please have a look at the photos I've provided and help me revive her the best I can. I must forward you,any instructions you share will need to be specific. I am not a green thumb by any means. I have bought a meter to help me know if my specific plant is getting enough light and moisture. Again,thanks so much for your time and sharing youre knowledge! Sincerely, MzDevine
It looks to me like some tough love is needed to restore your plant to health and beauty. It may be tall but all out of proportion to be attractive. Difficult as it may be for you now, I don't think you'd be sorry to cut all stems back to 1 or 2 feet from the base. Cut the stem that angles across the others to below the crook where it veers off. Use sharp secateurs to make clean cuts. (You could even start new plants with some of the smaller cuttings.) Next, repot it into a larger pot and water well, making sure that no water is left standing for long in the tray below. It shouldn't take long before you are rewarded with new growth at which point you can decide which stems you allow to grow tall again and which to pinch back. Rotate the plant regularly if it seems to be reaching for the light as it obviously has in the past. This website provides a good overview of how to care for umbrella plants. Umbrella Plant Care: How to Grow Umbrella Plants
Hello Margo! How excited I was to see your reply! I do have a few questions though. " Cut the stem that angles across the others to below the crook where it veers off." I'm not sure what 'the crook' is. I agree shes definatly out of proportion. I did cut back some of the little stems grouting from the main ones. Some were pure dust. Dead I take it? Ok so after I cut the stems below the crook,replant the base into a larger pot 'water well' you mean a pot holes at the bottom ?where extra water drains to? What I cut off, fo I plant them in dirt?or in water to root? There's no dumb questions right? Lol Sorry, although I love them I'm not so educated. Thank you! Daphne
Hello Daphne - the particular stem I'm talking about that has a crook in it is the one in 20190511_002144.jpg. It is the stem on the far left that first angles up to the left and then takes an almost 90 degree turn to the right where it crosses all the other stems. I would cut that back to below the crook or elbow and let it regrow from there. You may find, after you cut back all the stems and repot the plant, that some of the stems are dead - ie. don't regrow leaves within a reasonable period of time or after other stems are showing new growth. Any dead ones could then be cut down almost to the base. As far as a pot is concerned, I would choose one several inches larger in diameter than what your plant is in now. As the plant grows, you may need to repot it again in a few years. The new pot should have drainage holes in the bottom and a tray to catch any excess water that flows out the drainage holes. Take the plant out of the old pot, put it in the new one and fill the space around the edges with a good potting soil. You may first need to add some new soil to the bottom of the new pot so the root ball isn't sitting too low. You want it to be almost level with the rim of the new pot but there needs to be an inch or so of space to pour water. Tamp the new soil down fairly firmly and water. If the soil level drops after watering, add more soil until it comes up to the same level as the root ball. At this point, I think you would be well advised to talk to a knowledgeable person in the houseplants section of a garden centre and explain to them what you are doing. They can give you additional information and recommend the best pot and soil to buy. Good luck. Before long, you should have a healthy, attractive plant.
Wow this is amazing help Margot, thank you so much! I understood everything that you wrote. I will cut that brown stem (the one you mentioned - at a 90 degree angle, right at the bottom, underneath the crook or the elbow) now I get it . However, at the other end of that stem there are some brand new mini stems growing out if it! (pic #1) Like its trying to grow new major stems at a few places near the tips of the dead, brown stems. These new stems are supporting individual stems (with the 5 leaves growing out it). Now I've read how I can cut a single 5 leaf stem off the plant, and put it in some nice moist soil & keep it as humid as possible. Its suppose to root in 6-8 weeks. But does it work the same way rooting these mini stems? ( more pic #2)I ask this because I just can't toss the healthy greenery left at the tip of that 90 degree major stem after its cut, or any of the other ones. There are many new mini stems growing out at the ends of most of these long brown stems that need to be cut back. There HAS to be a way if saving them. Sctually theres only 2 major stems that are green and sprouting leaves. One is right from the pot to tip green (pic 3) but the other is quite odd. Its brown and leaf & mini stem-less for about 3', then it curves(pic 4- I circled the curve ) then it turns green and is 'alive', sprouting leaves - abt 6' to the tip! (Follow the blue line after the circled crook/ elbow to understand where its alive). I'm going to end up with only these 2 major stems left once I cut back all the dead/brown steams. Odd no? And finally, I wonder if you have any idea why these mini stems are growing like this? (See pic 5)They're so droopy!t They look lazy no? The most of the mini stems are growing erect - only an odd few are growing 'lazy' . It seems so odd to me seeing how they're all coming from the same plant!
