Dying schefflera

[TreeCat]

I don’t know where to go from here. My number one suspicion is overwatering. It had been doing great for the last year, and it has been dropping leaves but it seemed like its normal pace since it was budding new leaves like crazy. I increased watering my serissa that’s near it so maybe I was too much trying to keep its roots moist. BUT it’s well drained and it’s not like I was drowning it.
You think there is any saving it?

 

[LittleDingus]

I don’t know where to go from here. My number one suspicion is overwatering. It had been doing great for the last year, and it has been dropping leaves but it seemed like its normal pace since it was budding new leaves like crazy. I increased watering my serissa that’s near it so maybe I was too much trying to keep its roots moist. BUT it’s well drained and it’s not like I was drowning it.
You think there is any saving it?

From the pictures, it looks like the branches are wrinkled? If so, prognosis is worse

Gently pinch/squeeze the branches and trunk. At that size they should be plump and firm. If they are rock hard and brittle feeling, they are probably dead. If they are squishy feeling, they are likely rotten and dead.

Schefflera can get root rot. They aren't "woody" like a maple or oak...the rot can travel up the trunk/branches pretty fast. Sometimes the extremities will still be plump and healthy when the trunk is totally rotted from below. Those extremities can often be saved as cuttings.

The trunk/branches are hard to see clearly in your pictures. For comparison, this is an older but sparsely foliated picture of one of mine where you can see the trunk and branches pretty clearly. Notice the trunk is plump and new growth is green and nicely round. Yours looks too wrinkled from what I can see

 

[JackHammer]

Ignore it for a month with no water in a bright window. They need very little care.

 

[LittleDingus]

Ignore it for a month with no water in a bright window. They need very little care.

I belive the scientific term is that...like succulents and some orchids...they thrive on "controlled neglect"

 

[JackHammer]

I belive the scientific term is that...like succulents and some orchids...they thrive on "controlled neglect"

I need to take my own advice. Mine are in the greenhouse right now with 100° temps. They have lots of water but I am also hoping they don't rot...

 

[TreeCat]

From the pictures, it looks like the branches are wrinkled? If so, prognosis is worse

Gently pinch/squeeze the branches and trunk. At that size they should be plump and firm. If they are rock hard and brittle feeling, they are probably dead. If they are squishy feeling, they are likely rotten and dead.

Schefflera can get root rot. They aren't "woody" like a maple or oak...the rot can travel up the trunk/branches pretty fast. Sometimes the extremities will still be plump and healthy when the trunk is totally rotted from below. Those extremities can often be saved as cuttings.

The trunk/branches are hard to see clearly in your pictures. For comparison, this is an older but sparsely foliated picture of one of mine where you can see the trunk and branches pretty clearly. Notice the trunk is plump and new growth is green and nicely round. Yours looks too wrinkled from what I can see

It is indeed wrinkly and reminded me of root rot I had in a pachira a few years ago. Surprisingly, not squishy as I expected but the truck/branches are hard.

 

[Bonsai Turtle]

what kind of soil/substrate? How much light is the plant getting?

 

[TreeCat]

what kind of soil/substrate? How much light is the plant getting?

Bright indirect light from South facing windows. Supplemental broad spectrum grow lights.

The substrate is what it came in from my local bonsai store that’s been operating fifty years. It looks like compost amended with bark, perlite and akadama.

I intend to take a look at the roots when I get a chance. I must have drowned it.

 

[Bonsai Turtle]

Bright indirect light from South facing windows. Supplemental broad spectrum grow lights.

The substrate is what it came in from my local bonsai store that’s been operating fifty years. It looks like compost amended with bark, perlite and akadama.

I intend to take a look at the roots when I get a chance. I must have drowned it.

I would also be inclined to check the substrate and see how wet it’s staying.

Additionally, would consider moving it outside if possible. I have a house plant schefflera and several pre-bonsais. The house plant is in a “Florida room” type area inside and the pre-bonsais are outside.
The house plant grows markedly slower so when anything outside of the ideal affects it, it then recuperates slower than the ones outside.