As in the other post I would love anyone's personal opinions on the tree and also your ideas for its future.

The pictures were taken right when I got it home, and I have not done anything to it other than removing hitchhiker plants and leaf litter. I may try to save a few of the hackberry saplings that are still in the pot, but if I can't get enough of the roots out when it comes time to bare root the scheff then oh well. For reference the pot is 15" tall and about 17 1/2" inside diameter at the top.

It does have a few mealy bugs, so I will keep it away from my other plants until they are taken care of. As far as re-potting, what are opinions on that this late in the year? It is not the worst root bound I have seen, but their is definitely not much more room for new root growth. I could easily leave it in this pot until next year if necessary though. Defoliating and foliage pruning are taken quite well around now (maybe best a little earlier), but I'm not sure about root pruning.

I'm sorry the root ball pic is a little blurry, I had to have my daughter take it while I held the tree. I would take another, but my camera's battery is charging.

Any input would be appreciated, and again thank you for your time and knowledge.

Now, I'm off to remove yellowing leaves while I await responses. :)

Billy

I would also treat for insects with rasping/sucking mouth parts and give some serious consideration to getting the plant in a soil that will allow you to water properly (so at least 10-15% of the water you apply at each watering exits the pot, carrying accumulating soluble solids [salts from fertilizers and tap water] with it).

For photos of what sort of treatment scheffs will unbegrudgingly tolerate, review my posts at the thread I linked to below. Let me know if you have questions.

Al

So thanks for sorting that out. I had planned on defoliating anyway, as it is my favorite way of dealing with bugs. My first schefflera had scale a few years ago that I couldn't get rid of, and defoliation did the trick.

I did go ahead and root prune today as per your advice, and probably could have pruned a bit more. I re-potted in the same pot as I don't have one larger, although I do believe I could have went a couple of inches up. I did raise the trees in the pot though so that will help a bit.

Anyway here are new pics after defoliating and root pruning. I didn't remove the growing tips as I plan to let them grow and decide how I want to prune it after new growth fills it in.

Pics of the roots.

The removed root mass.

Hitchhikers:

One of about half a dozen hackberry.

A turnera or yellow buttercup plant. It was growing out of a drain hole so I had to cut it. Does anyone know if I can root the cutting this time of year?

A vine of some sort that I placed in water. Hopefully it will root and I will put it in a hanging basket.

If anyone can ID these I would appreciate it. I found them throughout the scheff root ball. Some were single with roots of their own, and others were connected in mass. One mass seems to be the cut off trunk of something woody.

I also found an old Sold tag with a name and number in the root mass below soil level. It had a root growing through it and had been there for a while. Maybe someone purchased this plant and never picked it up.

Hopefully not more information than anyone wants to read, but I rather enjoyed this experience with my largest plant to date. From talking to one of the nursery workers today when I purchased a crepe myrtle for a future bonsai, it seems that the scheff had been their for at least eight years, and maybe 12. I am going to ask the manager if she knows a more exact time when she is their next.

As always I appreciate any feedback, negative or positive, and thanks again Al.

I find that for houseplants, trimming the branch/stem framework into a rough tepee shape will yield an attractive plant.

Al

I have pruned a bit here and there though, removing some growing tips, and a few ends that appear to have broken at some point in the past and not grown back very well. I want to end up with a canopy in proportion to the trunks, and if I need to prune further back next year to get better branching then that's the way I'll go. However, for now I kind of want to see where this thing wants to go while getting better care than in the nursery.

Thanks again for your advice in this post as well as the many others your have added to or created.

Billy

I took this picture many years ago, thinking it was only for my library - so I could have a visual record of the tree's progress. Had I known I'd be sharing it at some point, I'd have tidied the plant up a little, but it's interesting nonetheless. I still have the tree, & the roots have now nearly covered the chunk of granite completely:

By the roots covering the granite, do you mean that the roots in the pic have thickened so much as to cover the rock or that new aerial roots formed and they now also cover the rock?

Billy

The vine plant is Syngonium, common name, Arrowhead Plant.
It can be grown in a basket or upright if staked. Sygoniums can be rooted any time of year..They root fast in water. Some people root directly in soil, but im my case, I have better luck rooting most plants 'tropicals/semi-tropicals,' in water.

Can't help with the Buttercup, but its flower is very pretty.
Instead of discarding, why not try rooting. If it works, so be it, if not.............

Also, can't help with the tubers/roots. They could be a lot of plants.

Did you find the bonus plants and tag among the soil/roots of your Scheff?
A 17.5" pot is large, can collect a number of goodies. All it takes is a tiny cutting, leaf or seed to fall in the soil, and voila, a new plant is discovered. Toni

Al

Al, I may not be the only one that would like to see a current pic of your root-over-rock Schefflera. Of course I know you may be too busy. I have another Scheff (my first attempt at bonsai) that is a work in progress root-over-rock. It doesn't have the taper or curves that yours has, but I am keeping a bit of the form it had when I received it. It was left to me by one of my former neighbors, and the trunk I plan to retain is quite straight. If I cut it back enough to gain any form it will no longer look like her tree.

Thanks again for all the help Al,

Billy

Al

The growth after defoliation started out slowly. It became obvious that the severe dryness and heat were to blame so I moved the scheff inside to a south facing window, and the trees have seemed happy since. I do not turn the plant, so the new growth is facing one direction. I am hoping to balance (over time) the previous old growth that all points to what I currently consider the back. Eventually I will prune all of the trunks down and start shaping a banyan or perhaps mangrove forest bonsai.

GB

Any fruit from those little flowers?

If they do fruit, you can bet I'll post pictures.

Billy