Question
QUESTION: I have had my schefflera for a year and have never had a problem. It was a beautiful houseplant that I placed in a corner of the house where it receives a lot of indirect light and some direct light. About five days ago I noticed that many of the leaves had turned brownish green (some with whitish spots) and were on the verge of falling off. Since then, many more leaves have turned brownish green and are also going to drop. Most of the bad leaves are on the underside of the plant. We live in a relatively dry climate with extreme variations in temperature. In the winter, it drops to -30 degrees Celsius and in the summer it can rise to plus 30. The last couple of weeks have been unusually warm. For that reason I have been closing the blinds in order to keep the house cooler (but there is still some light coming in). Even then, the house can get as warm as 25 degrees during the afternoon. It has cooled off today and is supposed to be cooler for the rest of the week. I plan to let more light in this week and determine if that makes a difference. I have also bought a fan for more circulation. And I have now sprayed the plant with insecticide a couple of times since I noticed the leaves dropping. If I wait for a week and nothing makes a difference, do you have any further suggestions? Thanks!

ANSWER: Barbara,

If at all possible move this plant outside immediately into a full sun loocation. It loves the sun, it will not mind the heat at all and it will stop dropping leaves. You will need to water it daily while it is outdoors. It will be much easier to get rid of the insects while it is outside. Dropping leaves is definitely due to the loack of light. In the fall it needs to go indoors as soon as the temperatures at night drop below 10 degrees celsius.  

As long as it is indoors be very care ful not to overwater it. In the cool air conditioned house it does not need watered until it has totally dried out. If you have more questions feel free to write again. Good luck.

Darlene.

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QUESTION: Hi Darlene,

There is a lot of sun in my living room (I have three big picture windows with southern exposure and a side window) and I don't think I can move the plant outside right now. I have made sure that the blinds are wide open for the last five days and it does seem to have made a difference. One thing that I've noticed is that the branches are turning black and that even some of the green leaves appear to have become detached from the branches. It seems that the branches are dying. This plant is dying fast from some kind of disease or insect or something!

Answer
Barbara,

You did mention leaves (some with whitish spots). If these whitish spots look like little bits of Q-tips or cotton balls you have mealy bugs which you need to spray with rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle. Spray the entire plant getting the fronts and backs of all the leaves. You will need to respray it once a week 4 times to kill any eggs that hatch even if you do not see insects so they are not allowed to mature. Immature mealy bugs are not visible without a magnifying lens.

As for the black leaves and stems, I have had the same problem with a schefflera and the problem was definitely not enough light. At least move it out of the corner and put it next to the windows where it will get as much sun as possible and be very careful not to overwater it. Do not water it unless it is DRY and feels Light Weight. If it is wet and heavy it is too wet and the roots are rotting which may also be another part of your problem. Rotting roots can cause the branch dying that you describe. Light is the first problem but too much water and mealy bugs may be the 2nd and 3rd problems. Good luck.

Darlene