MY dwarf Schefflera Trinette!

Please help. I just got my plant from Home Depot about 2 weeks ago. She is shedding leaves everywhere! I can't figure out what the problem could be. I can't tell if the leaves are turning yellow bcz the plant is variagated; However, many of the leaves have turned brown and fallen off. I read on another site that this was an indication of not enough water but the ones near the top are crinkly instead of flat, the same site said this was a sign of underwatering. The crinkly leaves atop, is this normal? I have my plant about 2 feet or so from a Southern Window. But the light reaching the plant is filtered. I don't believe I'm watering too much...I haven't fertilized it yet. Maybe it could use new top soil, or a repotting?? I do see some roots up @ the top of the container it came in. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Help she doesn't deserve to die! :))

Some pictures would really help, but my first suspect is always a watering issue. I'd stick your finger down a couple inches into the soil and see how it feels--if it's super dry then you may need to water more often, but if it feels really wet then you need to cut back. These plants can get by on not much water at all (mine is lucky if I remember to water it once every 3-4 weeks) and if you water them too much they'll drop leaves. But if it's really rootbound, then it could be underwatering, when the pot is all full of roots and there's not much potting mix to hold the water it becomes next to impossible to get the plant the amount of water it needs. If you pop it out of the pot gently and look at the roots, if you see tons and tons of roots circling round and round then it's rootbound and needs to be repotted.

I had this problem with a Schef last year. It turned out to be too much water, rather than not enough (even though it looked like not enough).

I reduced watering to once every three weeks. A good soaking, then three weeks to dry out.

The plant recovered, but didn't flourish. By then, it was winter, so I just reduced watering even more, and waited it out. When it got consistently above 75 outside, I moved the pot onto a shaded patio, and increased watering. The plant started growing new leaves.

It's now in full sun for several hours a day, and partial shade the rest of the day. It wants water every day, and is bigger than when I first got it.

I plan to watch carefully, and back off on the water again when the growth spurt stops, or when the weather starts cooling.

Here's the link to Plant Files for the Scheff. 'Trinette': http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/153712/ They are grown as landscape plants down here in some parts of Florida.

More info: http://mgonline.com/arborcola.html
and here: http://www.garden.org/regional/report/arch/inmygarden/857

I think your plant may just be acclimating itself to it's new surroundings. Coming from a greenhouse situation with high humidity, to a garden center, then to it's new home. Give it some time to adjust, don't over water and it should settle down before long.

Thank you all so much. I'm convinced I'm over watering. But I am also going to repot. I sure hope this helps. My baby is beautiful!!! :))