PLEASE!!! Tell me what I am doing wrong!
I purchased my umbrella tree 2 years ago at the Home Depot. When I brought it home I discovered my plant was plagued by a bug infestation. The bugs seemed to live in the soil, though they did not appear to harm the tree. However, I found them crawling all over my condo. As I do not drive, and it was an ordeal to get a 6 foot tree into my condo, I elected not to return the plant, and rather treat it. After bringing in specimens of the bug to my local plant store, I eradicated the bugs by a combination of pesticide spray (recommended to me by my local green house), and repotting.
While my tree has now been bug free for a year, no new branches have formed. Rather, branches and leaves have been slowly dying and falling off. I keep my tree in a plastic pot barely elevated (not covering the drainage holes) in a ceramic pot.
I understand that umbrella tree plants do not like over watering, or to sit in water. Therefore, I water my tree every 10 - 14 days. When watering, I use 7 drops of Schultz Liquid Plant Food (10-15-10) to every 1 liter of water (as per instructions).
While not sitting in direct sunlight, my tree is kept approximately 9 feet from 2 (unobstructed) south facing patio door windows.
I have not noticed a correlation between the leaves which fall off (usually individually in the group of 7 - though generally once 1 in the group falls, the rest follow) and light exposure (ie. the side of the tree directly exposed to the southern sun vs. my otherwise dark condo. Before falling off, the tip of the leaf turns dark brown and crispy dry. By the time the tip has become half brown, the leaf falls off, and the rest of the leaves on the branch (in the 7 group) are soon to follow.
I have pictures of the plant when I originally purchased it, the plant now, and the leaves as they turn brown. While I cannot figure out how to attach these photos, I can certainly email them.
Do you have any suggestions?
Thanks,
Tara[/img]
