Scheffler

Araliaceae family. Homeland - East Asia, China, Japan, Vietnam. In the genus, according to various sources, from 500 to 900 species. Among them are trees, shrubs and even vines.

• Scheffler's ray-leaved or star-shaped Schefflera actinophylla - a tree-like plant, as a rule, has several trunks, branches well. The leaves are palmately complex, on long petioles, consist of 7-17 initially ovate, then oblong leaves, dulled at the end, reach 30 cm in length. The original species has olive-green leaves. The inflorescences of the brush, up to 40 cm long, carry many small bright red flowers. In indoor conditions it grows about 2 m in height. The original species itself is almost never found in room culture, apparently not so attractive, but the variety Schefflera actinophylla 'Nova' is very decorative.
• Schefflera arboricola is the most popular species in room culture, with graceful palm-complex leaves on long petioles consisting of several leaves - from 7 to 16. The leaves are dense, leathery, shiny, 9-15 cm long and 5-8 cm wide, usually pointed at the end. The trunk branches worse than that of the radiant scheffler. Variegated forms are also common: 'Geisha Girl' - the leaves are dark green, rounded at the end. 'Gold Capella '- on dark green leaves, spots of two colors - yellow and light green. 'Hayata '- leaves oval-elongated, narrowed at the end, light green.' Variegata '- with yellow spots on dark green leaves. 'Janine'is a compact variety of dark green leaves, bifurcated and rounded at the end, with wide cream stripes and spots. In indoor conditions, it grows on average 1-1.2 m tall
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• Scheffler palmate Schefflera digitata - here she usually has eight elliptical leaves, pointed at the end. Sometimes up to 10 leaves in old leaves. The bush is compact, quite convenient for growing as a houseplant.
• Scheffler is the most elegant Schefflera elegantissima - the leaves are green, palmate-complex, consist of 8-12 narrow lanceolate leaves, with a serrate edge, 15-17 cm long. A very decorative view, in the room grows up to 2 m in height. But it branches a little, while the leaves are large, on long petioles, but the shoots are little leafy. The trunk is thin, gray-brown. Previously, this type of Scheffler was called Dizigotek, read the details about varieties and care on Scheffler's page the most elegant

Scheffler tree responds well to pruning, and lends itself to the formation of a crown. Young, not yet lignified shoots are formed using wire. Other species of scheffler, by contrast, branch poorly and respond poorly to formation. There are masters of bonsai art who grow gorgeous trees in bowls from scheffler (all this is scheffler tree-like):

Sheffler care

Temperature: Scheffler prefers moderate temperatures, optimal for 18-20 ° C growth. At a higher temperature, the stems are very exposed in the lower part, i.e. it grows quickly, but just as quickly grows and loses decorativeness. In winter, it prefers cool rooms, where + 15-16 ° C, at least + 12 ° C. Scheffler gracefully prefers warm content at 22-24 ° C (minimum 16 ° C) all year. In reality, of course, scheffler grows at higher temperatures, in winter it will be satisfied with 22-24 ° C, this is if you provide it with a lot of light.

Lighting: Bright diffused light, mandatory protection from direct sunlight at noon. Scheffler with pure green leaves tolerates light partial shade. But motley varieties prefer some direct sun in the morning before 11 o'clock or in the evening after 16 o'clock. In winter, it requires good lighting, especially when wintering in a warm room. To do this, you can equip the lighting with fluorescent lamps.

Watering: Abundant in spring and summer, moderate and cautious in winter. The soil should not dry out completely, but not be too damp, because Scheffler is very sensitive to excessive watering. We can say that it will endure easier re-drying than overflow. In order not to make a mistake, water the scheffler only when the earth dries in the upper half of the pot.

Fertilizer: During the growth period from March to August, once every two weeks with fertilizer for deciduous indoor plants.

Humidity: Scheffler loves humid air, 50% optimal for her. It is enough to spray it twice a day, trying to prevent water from flowing into the soil in streams. Small plants in the heating season in winter can be placed on a wide pallet with wet pebbles or moss-sphagnum.

Flight connections

Every year young plants and every two years in the spring are old. The soil is the 2 part of light sod, the 1 part of leaf, the 1 part of humus and the 1 part of coarse sand. The root system of the scheffler is surprisingly weak, the roots are quite thin, so the pot should not be taken deep, but drainage should be poured onto the bottom. Several pieces of birch coals can be added to the substrate. For large plants, it is better to take a heavy clay pot (but again, not too spacious) so that the plant does not overturn it. You can also take a large plastic pot, but put a heavy stone at the bottom and pour high drainage to take up extra space. If there is too much free land (not occupied by roots), it will turn sour, and the roots will rot.

Another recipe for soil mixture: 2 part of the purchased soil (for palm trees), 2 part of the humus soil from the garden, 1 part of the sand and 1 part of the vermiculite.

Reproduction

Seeds, lignified cuttings and air extraction. I sow seeds in March, in a mixture of peat land and vermiculite, drop to a depth of about 0.5 cm. Germinate at a temperature of 22-24 ° C. Seedlings appear within a month. The first leaves are palmate, but consist of only 3-4 leaves, the next leaves are already from 6-8 leaves.

Cuttings are cut in spring and rooted in moist vermiculite or water. Sometimes cuttings rot at the cut point, in which case an activated carbon tablet can be added to the rooting water. Also rot cuttings when rooting in hot summer time. Scheffler cuttings are planted in the substrate when the roots grow to a length of about 5 cm. If you can't root the cuttings in any way, try to install an air tap. But for this, on the trunk, you need to remove a thin layer of bark - a strip 0.5 cm wide, wrap it with moss-sphagnum (fasten with a thread), and cover it with a bag from above. The moss should be constantly raw. Rooting usually occurs within a month, or even more.

Growing problems

Roughly speaking, Scheffler, most often, has two main problems - lack of light and overflow. For some reason, she is considered very shadow-tolerant, and many put her in the back of the room, although in fact, she has a place near the window itself, if it is south or west, right behind the tulle curtain. And if the window is east or north, then right on the windowsill. Sometimes, if the window is shaded from the street with trees or houses, then additional lighting is needed.

As for the overflow, this is a scheffler's scourge. Their root system is small, fibrous, thin roots easily rot if the earth dries for a long time. You can pour such a soil mixture, heavy dense, that the earth will dry out after watering for a week. And you can choose a loose substrate so that the earth dries in 2-3 days - and this will be the best option. Signs of overflow are: drooping leaves, brown spots at the edges of the leaves, leaves falling off from below, and, in the neglected case, decay and death of the growth point. By the way, in scheffler, as in peperomia, a sign of systematic waterlogging may be the appearance of testing - warty dry brown spots on leaves that look like cork, they are non-infectious, but remain forever; or dropsy - convex pimple growths on the back of the leaf.

Pruning: Scheffler's tree-like lends itself well to formation with pruning. If the top of the branch is cut off, it releases 2-3 new growth points at once. By the way, if the stems are too exposed, then it is easier not to trim the plant, but to re-root all the non-bare parts using the aforementioned air tap. But if the rooted part is very large (several large branches), then you need to cut off the branch only when the roots grow large enough (they will be clearly visible through the package). The cut off tap must be immediately planted in the ground, placed in a spacious transparent bag, and placed in a cool room - preferably at 18-20 ° C, not higher. This is necessary to create high humidity and reduce leaf transpiration. Thus, the plant will stand for a month and a half until it grows a sufficiently good root system capable of providing the leaf mass with water .