Plant care help

[ir0k]

ok guys, I've seen this problem on other threads but no one really talked about how to care for these.

I have 2 schefflera umbrella plants that I utilize a lot. One is in a cage for my female chameleon and its doing fine.

my other plant is In a pot in my room and I use it to place my male chameleon on it while I clean his cage. the thing is, its almost just a green stick in the potting soil as the leafs are falling off. If I just touch the leafs they fall right off. I water it about once a week. soil is always damp, not dry or not to wet. I do take it outside every now and again to give my male chameleon some natural sun rays, but I don't stay out there all day, maybe 20 mins at the most.

Anyone have trouble with these plants? Anyone with more experience have any input to help caring for these.

thanks

 

[SaintJimmy]

I hear they really like humidity. So they do well in humid, misted cages. It probably should be watered more than 1 time a week.

 

[CarlC]

They do not do well unless they have good to great lighting. Leaf drop with these is common under bad light. Don't toss it. Once it is warm enough put it outside and it will come back.

Carl

 

[Lathis]

They do not do well unless they have good to great lighting. Leaf drop with these is common under bad light. Don't toss it. Once it is warm enough put it outside and it will come back.

Carl

Ditto. It will pop back, even if it looks dead once it gets some good lighting. Mine really droop if I don't have a grow light on them.

 

[mabrams]

Schefflera like plenty of indirect light, warmth and humidity. Make sure it's kept moist but not wet, and repot it if it's rootbound. You can be prune it to encourage a more full plant. An underwatered, cold schefflera will begin to drop leaves quickly. If all or most of the leaves have dropped off, try moving it outside in the spring, give it lots of water, and it should leaf back out. Good luck!

 

[ir0k]

hey thanks everyone for the comments. i'll bring it back to life

 

[himynameiznick]

Since we live like 10 mins away, I know that the weather outside has been pretty cold so sticking it out there isn't that great of an option right now Hahah. What I do for my umbrella plants is add coffee grounds into the soil. This acts as a fertilizer and is a much safer alternative to regular plant fertilizer which is very dangerous to chams. My umbrellas are thriving under my strip uvb light ever since I added the grounds.