Help! My Dwarf Hawaiian Umbrella is getting brown spots!

XCrunner41 · White Belt Joined: 19 Mar 2008 Posts: 4

I know i know! i have the easiest tree to have but still i messed up!

ok i bought a dwarf hawaiian umbrella bonsai from meijer haha (sketchy right?) and i have had it for about two months. I named it Liko! Gradually he has been getting these big brown spots on his leaves!!! well i have only been watering it once a week which i just found out is probably not enough. it sits in the windowsill so it get some sunlight but i dont know what is best to do!?

does my poor Liko have a disease or should i change something that i'm doing!?!?

Stymie

Hello Crunner and welcome.
Please tell us your whereabouts as asked above. Your watering may well be enough but does the water pass through the planting medium and out of the drain holes within twenty seconds as it should? The brown spots are difficult to diagnose. They may be caused by insect attack, fungus or mineral derficiency. It may be a good idea to spray against the first two. Come back and give us all the information asked for above including the direction of the window. We hardly ever sleep.

XCrunner41 · White Belt Joined: 19 Mar 2008 Posts: 4

well i'm in ohio and it's currently very cold! my window faces north

umm there is a plug in the bottom of my pot. should i unplug it?

emorrin

Yes, Definitely unplug it. Having the plug in does not let the water drain out and will eventually cause root rot. Since you only watered once a week, allot of the water probably evaporated so hopefully root rot hasn't set in yet.

That sounds like part of the problem. I wouldn't totally rule out some sort of fungus with the brown spots. Are the brown spots circular or irregular shaped? Brown spots can also be a nutrient deficiency. I wouldn't go fertilizing it yet though. If you can take a picture of the brown spots and post on a free web host site like photobucket, it may help other people on this forum help diagnose the problem.

One thing to note, the soil that your plant is potted in is not good soil. It is just plain potting soil. Also, do you still have the glued on rocks on it? If so then remove these gently with an ice pick or screw driver. The glued on rocks are to make sure that the soil doesn't dump out when shipping. Most of these plants come from china. The glued on rocks chokes out the plants intake of oxygen and doesn't let it get watered properly.

You probably should re pot the Hawaiian umbrella (Arboricola schefflera) in some fast draining soil. There are many articles on bonsai soil on the Internet.

Having the plant in a north facing window is OK but not too close to the window since it is still pretty cold outside. The cold draft by the window can also be a factor in the brown spots. This plant does not like the cold. They can survive in lower light conditions though. You should probably move it away from the window a bit so it still gets light but not a draft. You would be surprised how cold it can get near the window, especially at night. I have bought a few Hawaiian umbrellas from Meijer before without any issues. The first thing I do when I get home is take off the glued rocks and re pot in good bonsai soil. I have one in my office only under a fluorescent light and it does well.

Here are a couple of good site to get you started on proper care:

http://www.bonsaihunk.us/info/ScheffleraBonsai.html
http://www.fukubonsai.com/3a3b.html