The best tips for caring for a chefler at home.

"Schefflera arboricola" is a miniature version of "Schefflera radiant". In nature this evergreen reaches 8–9 meters in height (Radiant grows up to 15 meters). Young shoots are green, as they become woody Brown color. Compound leaves consist of 7-9 parts, each of which can reach 20 cm in length and 4 cm in width.

In house plants grows up to 2 meters. Breeders have bred many varieties of this plant, differing in the shape and color of the leaves. Among the popular ones are Gold Chapel (with golden spots on the leaves), Hong Kong, Compacta and others.

A photo

The photo shows the plant with proper care at home:

Home care

Actions after purchase

Young Schefflers are usually sold seated in thin plastic containers with peat or other light substrate. You can give the plant a few days to get used to the new conditions, and then you need to transplant into a larger pot with a thick layer of drainage and suitable soil.

Temperature

Schefflera prefers coolness, the best temperature range for it is 16–22 ° C.

In the summer she feel good on outdoors, can be taken out to the balcony, covering from direct sunlight.

Too high a temperature harms the plant, causes the leaves to fall, so even in the cold season you should not put a pot with Schefflera near a radiator or heater.

For wintering, it is better to choose a cool room at 14–16 ° C, but not to allow the temperature to fall below 12 ° C.

Lighting

They grow best under diffused but bright light. Direct sun can cause burns on the leaves, so it is best to place the plant on the east or west side.

You can install adjustable shutters on the window to keep the leaves and soil from drying out. If wintering takes place in warm room, where the temperature is above 17-18C, additional lighting will be needed, it is preferable to install fluorescent lamps.

Watering

"Schaeffler" requires uniform watering to maintain soil moisture during the growing season. In winter, watering should be reduced. The soil between waterings may dry out, but the roots should not dry out or, conversely, moisture stagnation - this can lead to rotting of the roots or infection of the plant.

Blackening leaves are a sure sign over watering. A lack of moisture can be identified by wrinkled or curling leaves.

Fertilizer

During the period of active growth (from April to October), you can feed complex fertilizer for indoor plants once every 10-15 days. If desired, you can alternate mineral and organic fertilizers.

Transplant and soil

It is best to transplant Scheffler in the spring, young plants require a transplant every 2 years, and older ones every 4–5 years.

You will need light soil with a slightly acidic reaction.

Suitable ready ground for palm trees or a mixture of soddy and leafy soil, sand and humus (2: 1: 1: 1).

Particular attention should be paid to the drainage layer - it should occupy at least a quarter of the height of the pot. Expanded clay is suitable as drainage.

After transplanting, you need to give the plant time to get used to the new land. After about a month, you can resume top dressing.

pruning

Rapid growth can be inconvenient when kept in small spaces. If the plant has become too tall, you need to prune by removing upper part escape point with growth point.

This will give the Sheffler branching a boost and keep it from getting too big. The resulting cutting can be rooted. Optimal time for pruning - in early March.

Interesting! Regularly trimming the tops, you can get a round crown.

If you want to give the plant the shape of a tree, you need to remove the lower side leaves.

reproduction

"Schefflera", growing at home, usually does not bloom and does not produce seeds, therefore, it is propagated by semi-hardened cuttings or air outlets.

The cuttings cut with a sharp knife are placed in a soil substrate of equal parts of sand and peat. To ensure a suitable temperature (about 22 ° C), diffused light and humidity, you need to cover them with a film or place them in a greenhouse. After rooting, the temperature should be reduced to 18 ° C.

You can transplant young plants when their roots envelop the entire earthen ball. In this case, the diameter of the pot should be no more than 9 cm. Low, not higher than 16 ° C, the temperature contributes to better growth.

Air layers can be obtained from a large mature tree by making a cut in the trunk. Sphagnum soaked in a nutrient medium should be placed on the incision and wrapped with a film. Keeping the moss moist, after a few months, you can get roots on the tree trunk.

After that, you need to cut the trunk just below the incision. The remaining part is also likely to give new shoots if cut off at the root and watered regularly. In this way, you can get two plants from one.

Diseases and pests

"Schefflera Treelike" is less susceptible to pest attacks than other species of this plant.

Most often, "Scheffler" attacks spider mite.

This happens at low humidity, so for prevention, it is enough to spray the leaves of the plant with a mild soapy solution once a week.

Other insect pests that are not indifferent to the Schefflers are aphids, scale insects, thrips.

All of them are sensitive to modern insecticides.

Excessively wet soil can cause root rot.

To combat the disease, you need to reduce the intensity of irrigation and treat the land with a fungicide solution.

Important! The leaves of "Shefflera" are a kind of monitor of the state of the plant.

So, light spots on them indicate too bright lighting. If the leaves fall in winter, you need to raise the temperature in the room and reduce watering. When falling in the summer, on the contrary, move to a cooler place.

Benefit and harm

"Schefflera Treelike" refers to weakly poisonous plants. However, it is unlikely to harm an adult. As a safety measure, you can wash your hands after cutting the plant and avoid getting its sap in your eyes.

Attention! Owners of small animals and cats should be treated with caution to Scheffler.

At the first signs of poisoning (vomiting, diarrhea, anxiety), you must show your pet to the veterinarian.

In a well-lit, spacious room, Schefflera Arborescens quickly grows into a beautiful tall plant. It is worth giving it a little attention to protect it from drought and pests, and the open palms of the leaves will delight the eye with their bright glossy greens all year round.

Scheffler or Scheffler(Schefflera) from the Araliaceae family unites more than 150 species of evergreen trees, shrubs and lianas. Breeders have bred decorative deciduous miniature trees and lush shrubs adapted for growing at home, as well as in the greenhouse, in the winter garden and in open field for decorating gardens or home gardens. The decorative value of the plant lies in the special beauty of large leaves, the complex plates of which are dissected into lobes, diverging in different directions from one point on a long petiole. Such a palmately dissected form of the leaf blade is very reminiscent of an open palm, and in some countries the sheffler is still called the gnome umbrella, umbrella tree or umbrella tree. Caring for an unpretentious chefler at home is quite simple, subject to certain rules cultivation of indoor decorative and deciduous plants. Photos of popular indoor varieties of these miniature trees or shrubs you will find below in this material.

At home, sheffler blooms extremely rarely. But some decorative leafy varieties bloom quite regularly in greenhouses. small flowers white color collected in elongated racemose or paniculate inflorescences.

- photo: inflorescence with small flowers

Some indoor plant lovers grow shefflera as a lush bush or tree, similar to home topiary. With regular pruning, this solitary plant can be easily transformed, forming a trunk and crown just as easily as the popular benjamin ficus. For example, Schefflera tree (Schefflera arboricola, Heptapleurum arboricola) will fit perfectly into the interior modern office, as well as living quarters, as a floor (tub) or even a table plant. Bonsai is easily formed from tree shefflera. In addition, this miniature tree is not as whimsical as a bonsai from a home azalea or blooming fuchsia. Non-lignified shoots begin to form with a thin wire, then branching shoots are regularly cut so that a lush crown adorns the trunk of the tree. In order to make the bonsai trunk look thicker, it is formed from several intertwined stems. Phytodesigners often use sheffler to create home floral compositions along with such popular houseplants as Marginata dracaena, blooming Kalanchoe, Money tree (crassula), Dollar tree (zamiokulkas), tree-like yucca, hamedorea palm, monstera with pinnately dissected leaves.

- photo: shefflera bonsai

Another popular species for home cultivation is Schefflera octophylla (Schefflera octophylla) with luxurious palmately elliptical leaves on drooping petioles, which consist of 5-16 "finger" lobes. The color of the leaves can be either uniformly green or variegated - with yellowish or white streaks, streaks and spots. When forming a floristic composition against the background of these lush bushy plants, unpretentious flowering indoor plants will look interesting - phalaenopsis or dendrobium orchid, homemade Saintpaulia violets, geranium pelargonium, tuberous begonia, hibiscus Chinese rose, gerbera, hydrangea.

♦ WHAT IS IMPORTANT!

Location and lighting.

The best option is to place the plant pot on the window sill facing east or west side. If the sheffler is already high enough, then you can put the pot next to the window on a wooden stand. Variegated varieties can be placed on windows with south side so that the pattern on the leaves is more pronounced. But be sure to protect the plant from direct sunlight and shade window glass during the spring and summer period. In autumn and winter, it is advisable to place phyto-lamps for artificial lighting next to the room chefler in order to save decorative look leaves.

Temperature regime.

Autumn and winter comfortable temperature for shefflers - 16-19 ° C, but lowering the temperature to 12 ° C will not harm the plant. In spring and summer, the plant will feel comfortable at a temperature of 17-24 ° C. Small temperature drops during the day are quite acceptable and even have a beneficial effect on the development of a houseplant. But be sure to protect the chefler from drafts, and also keep away from heated heaters.

Air humidity.

Optimum air humidity is high (50-60%). But the chefler quickly adapts to a moderate level of humidity. Spray the plant with warm settled water once every 3-4 days, and in hot summer days- every day, additionally wiping the leaves with a damp soft sponge. In late spring and summer, you can put the shefflera pot on a pallet with wet expanded clay, and put a container filled with water next to it to maintain an optimal level of humidity.

Watering.

Water for irrigation is soft, well settled and warm. In autumn and winter, water the plant very moderately, avoiding overflow. Water regularly in spring and summer, preventing the earthen clod from drying out, but also without waterlogging the soil. Pour out all excess water flowing into the pan to prevent stagnation of moisture around the roots.

Earth mix and top dressing.

A slightly acidic earthen mixture can be made independently by mixing humus, soddy soil and clean sand in equal parts. For variegated varieties, you can make a mixture of humus, fibrous peat and river sand (3:1:1)

Top dressing should be applied once every two weeks in growing season. You can feed with a solution universal fertilizer for decorative indoor plants.

Transfer.

Choose a shefflera transplant pot that is spacious enough by adding a drainage layer to the bottom broken brick or expanded clay. Up to three years, transplant the chefler annually, and mature plant- once in 2-3 years. The best time to transplant is mid-spring.

Reproduction.

Indoor varieties of shefflers can be propagated by seeds, air layers and cuttings.

For sowing seeds, use a mixture of peat and sand in a wide container. Before the procedure, you can soak the seeds in water with the dissolved Epin preparation. The optimal time for sowing is the middle of winter. We moisten the substrate from the spray gun with warm settled water and cover with a glass container or cellophane. Spray and aerate the substrate with water once a day. Picking into separate pots only after a few leaves appear on the seedlings.

For propagation by cuttings, it is necessary to cut off a slightly stiffened cutting with a sharp knife and hold it in a solution with a root formation stimulator. Root in a mixture of peat and sand. The container must be covered with a translucent plastic bag.

- “a flower without flowers”: caring for it and the basics of growing it is the topic of our story today.

Conditions

Variegated - love a lot of light. Deprived of his drawing on the leaves turns pale and becomes not so beautiful. Therefore, this type of chefler can be placed on window sills, where there is a lot of sun.

But green-leaved cheflers feel good with little shading.

Important! Any type of chefler is contraindicated in direct sunlight for a long time.

The best location would be on the east and west sides of the buildings.

Care

Sheffler will not cause any particular difficulties in how to care for her. Proper Care consists of , periodic and .

Watering

Shefler needs to be watered often, but moderately. It does not tolerate either drought or overflow, for the earth can turn sour. Focus on the condition of the top layer - water if it is dry. In summer, watered once every 2 days, in winter - somewhat less often.

Water should be settled, soft and warm. The difference in temperature between the water and the ambient air should be kept to a minimum.

After fertilizing, it is advisable to sprinkle the ground in crushed soil.

Transfer

Over time, the container in which the flower grows becomes small, and you need to think about how to transplant the shefler. Every 2 years the plant should be transplanted into a larger pot.

The best time for this procedure - the end of the dormant period and before the start of the growing season, around April.
Pour the prepared one (crushed stone, stones) into the new pot, and the prepared earthen mixture onto it. This mixture should be light, loose, slightly acidic.

You can prepare the mixture yourself: you need 3 parts, 1 part, 2 parts of sand. And you can use ready-made for indoor plants.

A plant with a whole earthen clod is carefully placed in a new pot, filled with new earth to the required level and tamped a little. After that watered.

rest period

In late autumn and until spring, sheflers have a dormant period. At this time, she is placed in a cool room. It is desirable to maintain the temperature at the level of 16–18 ° С.

This period is not required frequent watering and feeds. Monitor the condition of the top soil word and water the plant when it dries out. It would be nice to provide a plant additional sources Sveta.

Disease and pest control

An unpleasant attack in the form of a disease or harmful parasites can happen to a chefler with improper care. In this case, the plant may be affected

Scheffler at home is one of the few plants that is bred both for window sills and as an outdoor flower.

Depending on the needs, the growth of shefflers can be slowed down without transplanting the plant into a larger pot. Well, if, when caring for sheffler's indoor flowers, you do not limit his freedom, it can turn into sufficient tall tree, sometimes reaching a height of more than two meters.

Family: Araliaceae, photophilous, moderate moisture.

A tree or shrub with outstretched branches and palmate-compound shiny light green leaves on long petioles.

At shefflers radiant(Schefflera actinophylla) leaves are divided into 15-16 oval, pointed at the ends of leaflets up to 15 cm long and 6-8 cm wide, on short petioles.

As you can see in the photo of sheffler flowers, small greenish-yellow flowers are collected in paniculate inflorescences.

Less tall look - shefflera digitata(Schefflera digitata) with spotted leaves of 7-10 leaflets.

Caring for indoor sheffler flowers at home

When caring for a sheffler at home, remember that all its parts contain substances that irritate the skin and mucous membranes! Wiping the leaves or transplanting this plant should only be done with gloves. However, fleeting touches to the plant cannot cause great harm, so you should not be afraid to start this plant. Of course, the sheffler is not recommended to be placed in children's rooms and rooms where there are animals.

Conditions for caring for a sheffler flower

The main conditions for caring for a sheffler flower are an abundance of light, heat and humidity. In summer, they are placed outdoors at a temperature of +15 ... +21 ° С in a shady place, in winter - in winter gardens, offices or spacious rooms with good lighting and temperature +12…+16 °С. Watering is moderate in summer, rare in winter. It is necessary to ensure that the soil is constantly only slightly moistened. Sheffler needs to be sprayed throughout the year. Top dressing is carried out from spring to autumn every two weeks. A heavily overgrown specimen should be cut in the spring to give growth to young shoots. Sheffler should be transplanted every two to three years in soil mixture from soddy and leafy soil, humus, peat and sand (2:1:1:1:1). The plant is propagated by apical cuttings in spring or summer.

Useful properties of the sheffler flower

Fast lush growth, bright elegant foliage have a positive effect on the psyche, improve mood. One more useful property shefflers - this flower calms, sets in a positive way. To draw attention to the sheffler, its leaves are often covered with a lustring (brilliant) solution. Young specimens can be grown in colored hydrogel, and adults in hydroponics.

There are a lot of indoor plants in the world that are unpretentious and undemanding in care. There are hundreds of them, maybe even thousands. Most people grow and graft wild plants at home for beauty and decorative design. Some do it "for the soul."

One of the most famous indoor plants is the Schefflera flower, which came to us from the tropical regions of the world. It has been cultivated as home plant relatively recently, but now the flower is very popular with gardeners. It grows widely in the wild in Australia, China and Japan. Sheffler was named after the famous German botanist Sheffler, who was a close friend and colleague of K. Linnaeus.

The Scheffler flower is poisonous plant, which must be handled as carefully as possible, otherwise you can get skin diseases from the smallest rashes to the most serious diseases of skin cells. Schefflera is a small tree or shrub that can reach a height of 2.5 meters. Sheffler blooms at home extremely rarely, because this action is useless to her, since the plant has bright juicy green leaves that grow like a person's fingers. In addition, on one "wrist" you can count from 4 to 12 leaves. Schefflera is an unpretentious and undemanding plant, which, despite its toxicity, is widely grown at home for decorative purposes.

The Scheffler flower is a numerous plant that has up to 200 subspecies, but not all of them are suitable for indoor cultivation. Many wild species given flower reaches in nature up to 40 meters in height, but their size is significantly reduced when home cultivation. Among the main indoor views plants are as follows:

• Schefflera tree - one of the brightest and most famous representatives of this flower, which is distinguished by an upright trunk, complex and large leaves (about 20 cm). This variety is unpretentious in care and is easy to trim and form the crown of the plant. In addition, the plant has main feature- spots of yellow, white or cream color that adorn the leaves and give them even more beauty and elegance.
• Schefflera palmate - a variety of shefflera, which is characterized by short stature, large juicy green leaves and large quantity"fingers", the number of which reaches ten. This variety is more widely used for growing at home, as it is more pleasing to the eye of a person.
• Schefflera eight-leafed - a variety of shefflera, which differs from other representatives in the shape and number of leaves on one "wrist". The shape of the leaves is longitudinal with a pointed end, and the number of leaves on one "wrist" is in the range from 8 to 12. Young leaves differ from mature ones in olive color, which eventually turns into juicy green.
• Schefflera starfolia - the most famous variety a flower that differs from others in a brown strong trunk, the shape of the leaves, which are different: longitudinal, oval round, and also the color of the leaves, which is olive, yellow, juicy green or spotted.

Features of proper flower transplantation, competent care and growing plants at home

Features of the correct flower transplant

A Schefflera transplant is necessary no more than once every two years. Only in this way will the plant grow and develop properly, while maintaining all the substances and components it needs. The plant loves slightly acidic soil, so it is necessary to make such a soil composition, which will consist of one drainage part and two parts of sand and clay. The plant does not require special requirements for transplantation, however, it must be remembered that the Scheffler flower reaches a fairly impressive size, so every two years it needs to choose a larger pot.

Competent care and growing plants at home

Proper care and cultivation of a plant at home must be carried out in accordance with all the basic rules, otherwise the plant may die or get sick. The Schefflera flower is an unpretentious and undemanding plant, so any, even inexperienced, flower grower can easily grow it at home. Among the basic rules for the care and cultivation of a plant, the following can be distinguished

• Lighting (The plant needs sunlight, but it is desirable that it avoid sunlight on its leaves, as burns may remain and the plant will have to be treated later. The best places according to the lighting factor in the house are the western and eastern windows, sometimes the northern ones. In winter, the plant requires special lighting, since everything depends on the temperature of the place where the flower grows. In summer, the plant can be taken outside so that it avoids direct sunlight on its leaves while on the window.)
• Air temperature (The plant is very demanding on this item. In summer, spring and autumn, it is necessary to constantly maintain the air temperature up to +20 degrees Celsius, and in winter it should be up to +17 degrees Celsius. If you do not maintain data temperature conditions, then the plant will get sick and shed its leaves. In addition, it is necessary to comply important condition: you can not put the plant near heaters and various heating systems, which overheat the body of the plant, thereby harming it.)
• Watering and top dressing (Schefflera really needs moisture, she does not like parched soils, so the plant must be watered once every two days. The plant also requires constant spraying to maintain moist air around the plant. However, watering and spraying should not be overdone, as they can greatly harm the plant and destroy it.Feeding must be done in autumn and spring once a week, and in winter - once a month.This is the only way to maintain the necessary composition for the development and growth of the plant.In addition, it is necessary to alternate organic and mineral supplements so that the plant fully receives all the necessary substances.)
• Soil requirements (The plant requires a light, slightly acidic nutrient, which you can make yourself from the necessary components or buy ready-made in flower shop.)
• Pruning a plant (Pruning shufflers must be done gradually so as not to harm the plant. The leaves of the flower must be cut very carefully, treating the cut with charcoal. Pruning is done in order to give the plant a certain shape, so when new branches grow in the plant, you can form it into a spherical or other shape crowns.)

Reproduction of shefflers and growing a flower from seeds

Schefflera can be propagated in three ways: propagation by cuttings, seeds and air layering. Each method has its own characteristics and differences that must be observed. We will deal with each method and highlight the main rules of reproduction.

• Propagation by cuttings occurs in several stages: preparation of cuttings, soil preparation, planting and caring for cuttings. The preparation of cuttings must be done carefully, choosing only the healthiest and strongest, otherwise the plant will not take root. The cuttings should be of medium size and 3 green young leaves should be left on them. Soil preparation is also carried out under careful control. It must be saturated with all the necessary mineral and organic substances, must be well moistened and dug up. Planting and caring for cuttings is carried out in accordance with other plants: in stages, gradually and according to all the basic rules.
• seeds this plant are sold in any flower shop, so growing this plant from seed is very affordable. Seeds after purchase must be soaked for some time in water with the necessary minerals dissolved in it. nutrients. After the seeds are saturated with all the necessary substances, they are planted in seedling cups, and after the first two green leaves appear on the seedlings, it can be concluded that the plant is ready for planting in the soil. And they are transplanted. There is nothing complicated in this technology, it only takes time and patience.
• Air layering is the most difficult breeding process for shefflers, so it is used by the most patient and experienced growers. Layers are obtained from the trunk of another plant using moss and plastic bags. Then these layers are removed and planted separately from mother plant. If you continue the procedure with moss and polyethylene, then the plant will begin to curl and give more air layering.

Necessary fertilizers, plant diseases and pests

1. Pests: spider mites, scale insects, mealybug, aphid;
2. Diseases: falling leaves, the appearance of unwanted spots, stretching of shoots and loss of the characteristic color of the leaves;
3. Fertilizers: nitrogen, potash, phosphorus, boric, organic, mineral.