PlantFiles Pictures: Ming Aralia (Polyscias fruticosa), 1 by Starshinetx

Starshinetx wrote:
joyzeegoil,
I received a small plant at my father's funeral. I'd heard they were finicky and just took it because no one else wanted it. Upon examination, I discovered it was extremely root bound. I transplanted it to a larger pot and sat it in my dinging room. It nearly died. I thought there was no way to save it so I sat it on my shaded porch.
I forgot all about it.
The next spring, I found it was not small anymore. It was now 9 feet tall and grew that size in only 3 months. It had also send it's roots through the bottom of the pot and was firmly planted in the pot and the ground. It was too large to move so I left it and it continued to grow and late that summer surprised me by blooming! It was not able to withstand Hurricane Ike so I lost that tree but I recently purchased another and will plant it in a similar area and hope it will grow as well and as beautiful as it's predecessor.
I guess what I'm saying is try putting it outside in a protected area and see what it does. If it's almost dead, what have you got to lose? Now, if you live up north, it would probably be better to plant it in a very large pot but if you live in zone 9, you might want to try planting it.

Also, for those looking for one, I found mine this weekend at Lowes hardware. It's about 3 feet tall and I only paid $9 for it.