One of our houseplants that's been with us for about 3 years has started to
look a bit sorry for itself. During the summer it was looking really good
with a good covering of foliage throughout it's length, but over the last
month or so it has started to shed leaves at an alrming rate. They seem to
disappear mainly from the bottom which now looks a bit straggly and the
leaves that come off are still green.

Unfortunately I don't know what the plant actually is but I've put a couple
of pictures here

http://www.jimm.dsl.pipex.com/

Any ideas what might have caused this, (possibly central heating ?) and how
I can get it to bush out again at the bottom. I thought either

1. Pinching off any new growth at the top
2. Cutting it back to about half it's height and pinching off new growth
3. Cutting off the smaller side shoots that have only sprouted this year
(2002)

Thanks

Jim


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"JimM" wrote in message
...
One of our houseplants that's been with us for about 3 years has started
to snip

It's an umbrella plant. Mine did the same, losing leaves from the bottom
until there was about 2 ft of bare stem. Pinching out the top rarely did any
good as it usually sprouted again from the topmost node. I eventually had
success with mine when I noticed it had small aerial roots about a third of
the way down. I cut it just below these and replanted the top in the soil.
The top part started growing again although I was lucky enough to get 3 of
the top nodes growing. The bottom part has rooted well and started growing
from the top and from two nodes just above the soil. So now the replanted
top section covers the bare section of the original plant.

You could try the same and maybe just keep the replanted section to give you
a new plant.

Not sure what causes the leaves to drop but I suspect it's when it gets too
tall so next time you might prevent this by pinching out the top earlier.

Finally, I haven't tried it yet but you should be able to influence where
the branches form by cutting part way through the stem just above the node
you want to branch. This stops the flow of sap and forces your chosen node
to start growing.

Martin.

Unfortunately I don't know what the plant actually is but I've put a
couple
of pictures here.

It is a schefflera.

Any ideas what might have caused this, (possibly central heating ?) and
how
I can get it to bush out again at the bottom. I thought either

Yes, undoubtably the heating perhaps you could of prevented it by supplying
a little more humidity.
Get a large pot saucer, bigger than the pot's top diameter. Fill it with
gravel then keep it topped up to HALF the depth of the saucer with water, so
the pot never actually stands in water. It will tend to sink into the gravel
a bit.

how I can get it to bush out again at the bottom. I thought either
1. Pinching off any new growth at the top
2. Cutting it back to about half it's height and pinching off new growth
3. Cutting off the smaller side shoots that have only sprouted this year
(2002)

You can propagate cuttings in the summer if you use a heated propagator
(i.e. with bottom heat.).
You could air layer any of the mainstems near the top of the bare bit. You
do this by getting a piece of plastic, wind it round the stem loosely then
tie at the bottom, pack into the plastic a handful or two of damp spagnum
moss around the stem and tie the top of the plastic around the stem.
Overtime you should see condensation inside the plastic, that's great that's
how you want it - damp and warm. Make sure the spagnum never dries out
completely. You should fairly soon see roots forming in the bag, it might be
wise to cover it with paper or several sheets of black dustbin liner to keep
the roots dark- it's important it never dries out completely !!! make sure
there are loads of roots in the bag, , then put your hand on your heart and
chop the main stem off below the bag. Pot it up and Roberts your Dad's
brother ! Don't be tempted to treat it special, keep it in exactly the same
conditions as when it was growing roots i.e. don't move it anywhere else -
you want to minimise environment change otherwise it will probably just
start shedding leaves again and you've wasted your time.

Simon

Incidently now would be a good time to start air-layering.

Simon

Thanks guys for the advice and detailled explanantion of how to air layer.
I'm going to give this a go.

Jim


"Simon" wrote in message
...
Incidently now would be a good time to start air-layering.

Simon

On Wed, 22 Jan 2003 20:02:25 -0000, "JimM"
wrote:

A bit late, perhaps .......

I have two of these, one very large and luxuriant, the other tall but
not so luxuriant (both live in the same room). Both have dropped leaves
this winter, but the one with the most dramatic leaf drop was the one I
had accidentally and significantly overwatered.

I had great success last year in promoting "lower stem growth" by
pricing out the growling tips, and having the plants one at a time in a
south facing porch (double glazed) throughout half the spring, summer
and autumn each. Well fertilised, I would say I ended up with 4 - 8 new
growing points on each main stem of each plant. Seems the heat and or
light did the trick!