schleffera

I have a very old (20 years) and tall (9 ft) umbrella plant/schleffera which has begun dropping some of its leaves while the leaves are still green. The plant seems healthy otherwise. I spray with insecticidal soap occasionally and repot it every few years. It spends the summer outside and I bring it in when it gets cooler. It seems to drop the leaves in clusters at the ends of the branches, leaving a denuded branch. New leaves continue to sprout. It's a large tree but I have to pick up a few leaves with the stems attached every morning. Any ideas about what may be happening to my beloved umbrella tree?

from manyseeds

Does it do more leaf dropping right when you change from inside to outside or back again? Some plants get a little stressed when conditions are changed suddenly like that and will drop some leaves as a response. Another thing that can cause leaf drop is overwatering--when you have it outside in the summer it probably needs to be watered quite a bit more often than it needs in the winter inside, so if you don't drop the watering frequency enough when you bring it in that could be it too. I think those are probably the two most likely things that could be going on, but there are other possibilities too--if you don't think either of these are the cause, can you give us a little more info about when the leaf drop started, what the conditions are like in the house where you're keeping it, etc? A picture of the plant would be helpful too if you have one.

manyseeds: WELCOME to The Garden! You will LOVE it here!

I have two HUGE Sheff's planted in the ground in my backyard. They used to be houseplants many years ago! I began a few years ago to pull all the bottom branches/leaves off to make a nice canopy and to be able to see the flowers/plants in the flower bed beneath the trees. Every fall they begin losing leaves! I think it's just the normal seasonal thing. Some leaves will turn yellow and fall off, but some just fall off still green, or as I said, I will pull them off as they begin sprouting. It could also be stress related as ecrane3 said from moving them from one location to another. Or, could be a watering factor .... too much, too little. What is the location you have it in the house? Is it near a heat vent? Sometimes that can cause leaf drop too. A lot of plants just hate being moved from one place to another. That happens big time with Ficus trees. I used to have huge Weeping Fig Trees that would lose EVERY leaf, go completely bare if I moved it from one side of the patio to another! Some plants just like to get set in one spot and don't like being moved.

Here's a photo of one of my Sheff's in my backyard! If we have a hard freeze or even if it gets cold enough that we have frost, these trees are mush .... brown soggy leaves down to the ground with nothing but dead looking sticks left. But, in Spring I pull off all the dead, brown leaves, trim it up and by summer it's huge again. It comes back from the roots!

Lin

Oh my gosh!!!!!!!!!!!! how beautiful..............I have never seen anything like it...........I may be in zone 9 but could never get through a winter like this with that...........love your greenhouse, too.

Lin your have the most spectacular beautiful plants :))

When I went with my mom to her doctors I saw a giant tree that dropped a load of these weird brown bean pods. I have a grocery bag full of the pods. Oh yeah and one of the beans had a bug that ate its way out of the shell. I put him near the shell and he went back in and all he does is sleep curled up. I always poke him to see if he's alive and he gets upset.

Manyseeds, welcome to DG. I hope you will enjoy, learn and join in.
I suspect it is the change in conditions that causes your shedding Schef. DDs tree did this every fall and would adjust to household temps and dry air just in time to move it back outdoors.
Have you tried misting it on a regular basis to increase the humidity? As it is so tall and old, I wonder if it is rootbound. I have two grapefruit trees in pots that I have to remove each spring and cut back the root ball or they will shed leaves in this manner. They also demand far too much water if I leave them root bound. After twenty years, you know your plant better than you realize. Let us know how it does... pod

Bettygail: You are in the same zone as me ... you should try planting a Sheff in the yard and see how it does. Mine have been in the ground for many years now .... we had a few mild winters right after they were planted so they got established well. Now, if we have a hard freeze they turn to mush and really look like dead sticks, but come spring they sprout right back again!

Here's another photo of a smaller one in my side yard by the screen room ... It gets taller than the roof too if I don't prune it back!

I am going to try...I had one 10 years ago (about 8 ft. tall) that I kept on a sheltered patio in Houston. When I moved I gave all my plants to my son in law who LOVES plants. He lives in zone 8b and though he protects it in the winter in a big covered patio area, the plant is now 2 feet taller. When it loses some leaves in the winter, he just cuts it back..........love the cut back look of yours............I just have to remember that I am now living in the country out in the middle of nowhere ....there are no wind breaks of any kind....when a big norther comes through that wind whips around at 40-50 mph............

Yeah, we cut this one way back a year or so ago ... it was way above roof level. I also, this past summer started pulling off the bottom branches & leaves to give more of a canopy effect and now I can see what I plant beneath. They have large tough root structures, but if they were out in the open, winds would definately break them off at the top or middle, I'm sure.

Sparisi- if you post a picture of your pods, somebody might be able to tell you what kind they are.