Meet my Schefflera. It’s huge and top heavy and I’ve been postponing repotting it for a while now because, well, look at it. The pot is super heavy, it has reached the ceiling and it’s crooked as hell. How would you handle this?
There is an inside pot that’s about the third of the height of the outside pot and it rests on an upside down pot. For me to be able to even lift it out of its pot, I’ll have to cut the longest stem. This stem is woody and thick and I’m worried it might not grow leaves again.
Also, I would like for it to be in a deeper pot with more soil but I’m unable to find one. So I guess I’m stuck with this.
If I cut the top off, would it be a good idea to propagate it and put it next to the other stems to make it fuller?
I’m going to try and tackle this today, wish me luck… Any tips are appreciated.
by rentatter
4 Comments
Definitely propagate that cutting! Stick it in water or soil. It’s a great way to get a fuller look, and Scheffleras are usually pretty forgiving with cuttings.
The tall stem can be pruned at any location, new shoots and leaves will develop, no concerns, you have a great shot for these plants.
How old is the plant?? And why not just remove the pot its sitting on inside the pot so it comes down from the ceiling some.
Remove all soil from roots. That soil is old and compacted and spent. It’s nasty, blast it with a hose. Assuming it’s root-bound, prune long circling roots and dead roots. You can be aggressive with schefflera roots. It’s also possible that there isn’t much root mass in there… Chop the long stem down as short as you want (personally, I would cut it short). Repot with chunky and well-draining soil… lots of perlite, lots of bark, etc.
It looks like a schefflera amate. See my replies with progress photos [in this thread.](https://www.reddit.com/r/plantclinic/comments/1pm4u23/schefflera_rescue/) I’m about to chop my 7-footer here in a few weeks when warm temps push it into full grow-mode.