Fertilizing

(December 2012)

I received a beautiful 3ft tall schefflera plant in Sept as a gift upon my mother's death. Since then it has lost over half of its leaves, some brown and dry others green and healthy looking, some with brown spots. It is in a bay window facing east but does get some direct morning sunlight from the southeast window. Some new growth has appeared, but even those leaves drop. I haven't over-watered and have fertilized once. Help - I really don't want to lose this plant.

Make sure that the pot has a drainage hole and that there is no standing water at the base. Overwatering is usually the cause of houseplant woes, but occasionally under watering also occurs. When you do water, let the water pour through the container, making sure that the entire root ball has moisture. Then throw away the excess water that has poured through. Typically in the winter, houseplants only need watering every two weeks or so. Morning sunlight is ideal, but make sure it is getting enough light, and turn the pot occasionally—you might find a brighter location for it now. Winter is often tough on indoor plants, since we have little humidity and even lower light. I would not fertilize during the winter, since there is little new growth. Once we start having longer days it should start to perk up. Once spring is here, repot it and move it outside and see if it doesn’t thrive.

(February 2010)

This past fall, I repotted my houseplants into clay pots before bringing them in for the winter. Recently, I’ve noticed that the pots have a white substance on the outside of them. What is it?

he white substance you see on the outside of clay pots is usually salt leaching out of the soil. Typically it is more prevalent in houseplants that are fertilized regularly, since fertilizer is salt. The clay is a porous substance and the salts leach out. With heavy buildups you can also get a white or yellow crusting on the top of the soil. Don’t over fertilize houseplants, in fact during the winter I recommend no fertilizer.

All links to external sites open in a new window. You may return to the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture web site by closing this window when you are finished. We do not guarantee the accuracy of the information, or the accessibility for people with disabilities listed at any external site.

Links to commercial sites are provided for information and convenience only. Inclusion of sites does not imply University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture's approval of their product or service to the exclusion of others that may be similar, nor does it guarantee or warrant the standard of the products or service offered.

The mention of any commercial product in this web site does not imply its endorsement by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture over other products not named, nor does the omission imply that they are not satisfactory.