PRUNING A HAWAIIAN SCHEFFLERA Posted 5/27/03

Also see SCALE ON SCHEFFLERA

•  Justine Wells of Madison, WI (Zone 5a) writes:

I have recently acquired a Hawaiian Schefflera (Heptapleurum arboricolum) plant from a friend. Actually it's 5 plants all in the same pot.

Right now they are fairly short, about 2 ft tall. But my friend has one Hawaiian Schefflera that is about 5 ft tall. What worries me is that she has had to string her plant up in a number of places and it just looks rather pitiful. Do these plants normally grow this tall? Should I encourage it? And should I get my plants into a bigger pot so they will be able to stand up?
 

•  Robert F. Gabella replies:

Heptapleurum (aka Schefflera ) arboricola is normally a stiff, upright, and eventually bushy plant in its natural outdoor state, and is used as an evergreen specimen shrub or hedge where hardy (Southern Florida, Southern California, the tropics). I have had one (3 plants per pot) in my living room that has remained upright after at least 15 months since it was purchased, and have also serviced many such plants in a former career as an interior landscape manager - they can remain bushy and attractive for years with very little care.  The branching at purchase time is almost entirely dependent upon the production style of the producer/grower; additionally, some varieties such as Gold Capella, shown here, tend to branch less readily under indoor light conditions but are robust and  strongly branched outdoors.

They are fairly slow growing indoors unless placed in strong light, and if they do become unwieldy they can easily be kept short with occasional pruning.  One technique with the lank, unbranched multiple plant specimens sold at discount stores (such as the one in my photo) is to cut alternate stems, say 2 of your 5 (I only have three so I won't go there quite yet) back half way or more in Spring or Summer to promote branching from below the cut.  The following Spring, cut the remaining three stems below the level of the fresh new branches which have appeared.  Or, if you are more brave, you can shorten all five fairly low in the pot, root the cut stems in soil (using rooting hormone) or water, and replant them once rooted into the same pot for an immediately fuller look.  Feed lightly and continuously with any well balanced organic or conventional house plant food to further stimulate new growth.

Plants grown near a sunny window,  or summered outdoors, regenerate new stems quickly from the cut regions and are usually a mass of new branches and foliage by early Autumn, when they can be returned back to their winter positions indoors.  Though you have not enclosed a photo, my guess is that you have a healthy, vigorous, fairly unbranched group of plants pretty much in the same condition as they were during nursery production, which means you can breathe a sigh of relief - they are very easy to care for in medium to high light, and you will be rewarded with a very long lived plant with a very minimum of care - and it would not likely become too difficult to manage.  If staking is required, short stakes, concealed at the base of the pot, should be all that is needed to stabilize the plant as it continues to anchor itself with new roots over time.

Thank you for your question, and best of luck with your plant!
 

Copyright © 2002-2009 Robert F. Gabella

Last Updated 6/07/2009