Hello, I am from northwestern Indiana,Usa and I have a question about my umbrella plant. It was doing very well considering its got roots growing out of control. i need to transplant again into a bigger pot but anyways, i have recently bought a house and it was rather cold when i moved, i put the plant in the back of a moving truck, it was out of the wind and all but it got cold and almost killed it. the top half of the plant the leaves got really thin feeling and limp and fell off. so i cut the limbs off at an angle.it still has about 12 limbs with leaves doing well on it. Will it come completely out of it or is it doomed forever? the remaining leaves are healthy looking and thick and strong but some of the limbs toward the bottom of the plant are falling off and such..when the leaves fall off should i cut the limb off or not? how do i prune it and how often? i got the plant from my fathers funeral so it means alot to me..ive had it for about a year now and was doing awesome until it got cold for about 30 mins....any information would be wonderful and thank you all so much for taking the time and thanks for the site!!!!!!!! i have pictures but dont know how to post them.....?????
to post pics, all you need to do is upload them from your computer - it's SO easy here (on other forums you have to link from a hosting site)!! click on 'post reply' and then click on 'go advanced' and then scroll down to the bottom to the area that says 'additional options' and click on 'manage attachments'. browse your computer for the pics and upload. if you have more than one, they need to be done individually. i wouldn't do any repotting just yet. let it recuperate from the stress of the move (and the cold treatment) for a little bit - and it needs time to get acclimated to the conditions at the new house (congrats on the new house, btw! ) which will take a little longer than usual since it has that exposure to the cold on top of just having to deal with a new environment. i hope you've got it in a spot that has similar lighting and heat as where you had it at the old location - if not, try to duplicate the previous situation as closely as you can and it'll help the tree to get back on it's feet more quickly. pruning back damaged areas was a good move - less foliage for the tree to have to worry about nourishing will help it bounce back. i've heard from a few people that they regularly do some hard pruning and that their trees are doing very well. i've just got a wee one at the moment so i can't give first-hand experience about regular pruning and any benefits it provides. in the situation here, you did do the correct thing by pruning the damaged areas off. these things are pretty hardy and if it is a decent size and was healthy before the move, i'm sure it'll recuperate. the trip in the truck wasn't long enough to do permanant damage, i don't think. please post those pics and we'll go from there!
oh!! it looks likes it's doing pretty well - all things considered! too bad the closer-up pic isn't a bit more clear - i wanted to see what you were referring to about the branches falling off. although, now that i'm re-reading your post and thinking about it, that might stop now. i'll bet the planter tipped a bit during the ride and those lower branches were damaged. wait and see what happens. i wouldn't cut anything more off unless it's obvious that the branch is dead. it's normal for them to drop leaves when their situation changes (they're a bit finicky like jades in that respect). give it some more time to get situated in it's new home. i'm sure it'll be fine - especially with the warm weather just around the corner! that will really jumpstart it and then that would be the time to repot it. go up to thread tools and subscribe to the thread so it'll be easy to find later. post an update on condition in a month or so and then we'll see if it's ready to be repotted. remember to take care with watering until you and the plant are used to the conditions in the house - i'd go lighter on the water until the both of you are acclimated. overwatering is SO easy to do and it's the absolute worst thing to do - for any plant and especially this one. this tree can definitely handle a bit of a dry period.
Hmmmm... That plant over here has migrated down south to the QLD/NSW border. Its from the wet tropics and one of the problems we have here with it, is that it sends roots out to find water, like water pipes, busts into them and subsequently trails along inside of the pipe. My opinion is that it loves water!! Maybe it is a different species and what joclyn is saying is correct. The one we have sends out red berries in spring/summer. Maybe it is root bound???? Ed