Beginner Gardening: How do you prune a schefflera (umbrella plant)?, 0 by tapla

tapla wrote:
Maybe I should have been more clear. Plants can lean toward a light source because a growth regulator that causes cellular elongation tends to concentrate on the side of the plant away from the light source, so in that respect a plant can lean toward the light. In plants that are normally upright growers but come to be unable to support their own weight, insufficient light is almost always causal. Blaming the weight of the foliage for a normally upright plant being unable to support itself is a little like blaming a tortoise's aerodynamics for its inability to overtake the hare. Low light causes long internodes due to what I just briefly described, but it also reduces the rate of cell division. This is important because reduced cell division means the plant cannot produce as many layers of cells in the cambium to thicken stems & branches. So basically, long & thin = a reduced ability for the plant to support its own weight = droopy stems & branches.

Schefflera will grow in full sun outdoors (I have all mine in full sun all summer long), so they will certainly tolerate full sun in front of a window ...... as long as you have air movement to disturb the boundary layer. This is the layer of air surrounding foliage. It's usually not the sun that damages plants in front of a window, it's the heat that arises from passive solar gain. Disrupting the boundary layer allows the heat to dissipate, but remember that air movement (a fan) is important if you put your plants in full sun indoors.

Schefflera is a very tolerant plant, genetically very vigorous, & will handle most of what you throw at it. It seems like heresy to tell you you can pretty much do what you want with this plant & worry about fixing it later, but it's pretty true. If you want to stake it or bind it up in a mesh for the sake of appearance, go ahead. What's going to be important is what you do in the summer months immediately prior to any serious work. Weak trees respond poorly to stress, while trees in good vitality pretty much take it in stride. The formula for success involves: A) Getting the tree outdoors and in full sun in early summer, as soon as night temps are reliably above 55*, or move the plant in and out as dictated by temps. B) Getting the tree repotted (a FULL repot, including bare rooting and root pruning) and into a free-draining soil. If you are serious about acquiring a skillset that allows you to grow almost any plant well, we need to talk about soil choice because it is a pivotal issue. C) learning how to water and again - adopting a soil that ALLOWS you to water correctly. In most cases, from-the-bag peat-based soils will NOT allow you to water properly without risking root rot. These soils are FAR more difficult to grow in and steal most of your margin for error in the areas of watering & fertilizing. D) Adopting a good, regular nutrient supplementation program. 3:1:2 ratio soluble fertilizers come closest (almost exactly) to supplying nutrients at the ratio in which plants use them. This is a very big plus not well understood by most hobby growers. It allows you to supply nutrients at the lowest concentration possible w/o nutrient deficiencies. This is key in helping the plant absorb water (and the nutrients dissolved in the water) and eliminates the primary cause of spoiled (ratty looking) foliage, which is a high level of solubles in the soil solution.

To review: a highly aerated soil that allows you to flush the soil of accumulating salts each time you water w/o risking root rot, coupled with a fertilizer that allows you to fertilize at low levels of fertility w/o inducing deficiencies is 90% of what it takes to easily maintain plants that remain in good health and look good.

I think you are putting the cart before the horse to some degree, and I don't want to confuse you with too much information, but about "cutting the mother branch": The growth hormone that stops the plant from getting bushy and prevents side branches from growing (auxin) is produced in the very tip of each branch (called the apical meristem). Removing that growing tip terminates extension of that branch permanently - it can never again grow longer. Additionally, if you remove that tip another growth hormone (cytokinin) 'takes over' and makes new branches grow in some of the crotches of the leaves still left on the branch, or from dormant buds above old leaf bundle scars (above attachment sites of old leaves). This simple balance between the two hormones/growth regulators is the basis for all pruning. If you understand the relationship you can reliably predict the plant's response and plan accordingly.

That's all for now. The Tigers are putting a hurting on the Rangers (so far) Go Tigers!

Al