militarymedic
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Can't find the name for this plant...

I have a few plants in a clay window tray which are doing OK, some more than others. I have enclosed pictures of one plant which seems to not be doing so good. If the picture doesn't hint this plant isn't more than a few inches tall. It's mother plant was a couple feet tall and I'm not quite sure what might be wrong with this one. I am very limited in space available to me, hence the other plants in the planter. If needed, I can transplant to a separate container.
The other plants in the tray are a ficus (unknown exact type) and a African Violet and a tad bit of Ivy. Interesting combo as it might be, when I moved I had to give away all my plants except for the few I managed to transplant beforehand.
I'm hoping somebody can identify this plant and possibly suggest the optimum conditions. I am living in San Antonio for the moment, will be moving to San Diego in Sept. SD is also temp as I do not know where my ultimate duty station will be, (Naval hospital)

Thank you so much!
I can't get this editor to post thumbnails :-(
https://picasaweb.google.com/theclarinetguy32/Plants/photo#5077616381871737170
https://picasaweb.google.com/theclarinetguy32/Plants/photo#5077616459181148514
https://picasaweb.google.com/theclarinetguy32/Plants/photo#5077616536490559858
https://picasaweb.google.com/theclarinetguy32/Plants/photo#5077616609505003906

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Jess
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Location: England

Hi :D

It is a Schefflera (Umbrella plant) It looks like it may be one or two things it is suffering from. Firstly the soil it is in looks very dry. It does prefer more moisture than the African violet. Secondly I am wondering just how much root you managed to to get when you transplanted it. If you had to tear it from its previous position and leave some of the root behind there may not be enough root to support the top growth. For now I would just give it more water and see if it picks up at all. I think if you tried to move it again it may give up completely as it really does not look good at all. If it does pick up enough then I would give it its own pot but I think it may be too far gone already....sorry. :(

militarymedic
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Thanks for the info.
If I can recall correctly I didn't have to tear any roots to transplant this one. But I forgot to mention that this little planter went with me on a 5500 mile road trip from Seattle through the midwest down to Atlanta and over to San Antonio. It was the only way to take the plants with me. Every chance I had I took them out of the car and tried to place them appropriately. About a week into my trip the Schefflera started to look a bit sick, and that is the way it has stayed since Late April.
As far as the soil goes I watered it that night. Although it's in a AC'd room, it's getting that wonderful 97 degree sun trying to shine through the windows. I'll keep it watered a bit more and see how that works.
From your experience, do you have a description for how this plant should look?
Thanks!
Jeremy

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Jess
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Location: England

Aaaah. The road trip that would account for the wilting. Try and put it somewhere as cool and airy as you can to see if it will pick up. Do not increase the watering too much as obviously lack of water is not the problem in your case but I do think if it has looked like this since April it may be too late to save it.
Here is a link that shows how it should look
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Schefflera_Actinaphylla.jpg
It may not be this particular variety but they all look very similiar.

militarymedic
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Ah, that picture looks about right! I'll try increasing the circulation in the room and see how it goes. Since it hasn't shed it's leaves or done very much of anything, I think it's trying to hang in there but I didn't know the best environment for it.
Thanks again!

dinajean
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Location: Pickens County, South Carolina

I took a cutting from a scheffelera in Arkansas, note "a cutting"...stuck it in potting soil in a pot and traveled to SC. That was in February. The plant looked about like yours for about 6 weeks, when finally it perked up and it is just fine today. I keep it in a window that gets mostly sun, and I water it about every 2-3 days, when the top of the soil starts to look dry.
So, if mine can survive the travel without roots, yours should be able to come around too. Good Luck....and keep in mind, it will eventually turn into a pretty big houseplant that you will need to keep repotting accordingly. I saw one today at the vet office that was about 3 feet tall and maybe 2 feet wide, beautious!!!

militarymedic
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I have a little better feeling about it if you have done the same kind of trip with the plant. When I searched I saw how big these can be, but they can be trimmed like a bonsai plant, probably won't do that though.
I think by the time it gets that big I will have a perm. residence to keep it at.
Thanks!



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