pblack50
Newly Registered
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Nov 15, 2011 2:01 pm
Location: Concord, NC

schefflera umbrella tree

We live in a 1st floor apt. w/only 3 windows which get afternoon sun. We summer our 6ft. umbrella tree outdoors until early fall. It produces plenty of new growth while outside, but it drops leaves indoors all winter. It loses 1/2 it's foliage before spring. We have tried a different window each year, but the problem remains.
We brought it in early (Oct 1st) this year due to low nightime temps. This year's location is in front of the sliding glass door to our patio, which has less sunlight, but more space. We are providing artificial light to supplement the daylight at the door. Our heat vents are located in the ceiling over the windows, which we suspected was the culprit. By the slider, we were able to position the tree to the left of the vent. We had the heat on, briefly, only once so far. Sigh... the 1st 2 leaves fell today. I have not fertilized since late-summer; we noticed leaves turning yellow after fertilizing. If we need to fertilize, what is the correct fertilizer for this tree?
I have a purple Oxalis and an Amaryllis living in the pot w/the tree; they do wonderfully! I feed them Miracle Gro for blossoming plants -- their roots are in the top 6-8" of the pot.
Why does this tree drop so many leaves while indoors? Can we stop it?

Patricia in NC

bullthistle
Greener Thumb
Posts: 1152
Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2008 10:26 am
Location: North Carolina

Plants need hunidity which you house cannot provide. That is the difference. Heat is dry just like the sun. You might want to try a hunidifier and see if that helps. Or spray the leaves at least twice a day. Humidity, humidity, humidity.



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