Hi! Would you be able to help me with mine? I have mine about a foot and a half from a large west-facing window, and it seems very happy. I water once a week and mist leaves every few days. However - my leaves in some spots are a deep red-brown. Is this normal? None of my leaves are falling off, and they all seem very strong.

Here's an image:



Does this indicate leaves burning and or (my worst case scenario) spider mites??

Thanks so much in advance. I've had this plant for about 6 months and it's my favorite.

@taylorelysea - PLease post a photo that shows the entire plant and its pot. Also, a photo that shows the undersides of the discolored leaves.

How much water do you give it when you water?

Hi @WillC,

Thank you so much for your response - it is much appreciated! I've attached 4 photos here. Since last posting, I thought part of the issue may have been that it was still within its plastic pot inside of the terracotta/ceramic pot. I carefully repotted and added about 1/4 of a universal indoor potting soil (I'm based in NYC, so all plant shops are currently closed). I mixed the new potting soil with existing (which was pretty sandy) and may have not been allowing the water to truly penetrate the soil.

I typically watered about once a week (sometimes 2), but my Fabian used to be east facing, and I've recently moved into a new place with the plant now West facing. Perhaps it needs more watering now that it's receiving stronger and longer sun?

Thanks again in advance for your help, and I hope you are staying safe!
Taylor

@taylorelysea - I suspect that most of the leaf discoloration is due to the direct sunlight it has received. Bright indirect sun is what your Aralia will tolerate.

Unfortunately, your impatience and hasty decision to diagnose and solve the problem by repotting it will likely cause a set of new problems. Polyscias do not like to have their roots disturbed - at all! Apparently you removed at least some of the original soil and in the process you have torn and damaged many of the tiny root hairs that do most of the work. Recovery from that root damage will be long and difficult.

Because the roots have been damaged and the potting soil changed, I cannot advise you on proper watering other than to suggest you try to keep the soil damp but not wet.

Hi @WillC,

Thanks for your response. I actually kept the root ball/system completely in tact, and carefully cut away the plastic pot as the roots were coming out of the bottom and growing from the holes in the plastic container. I added the 1/4 of soil to fill in the gap between the root ball and the terra-cotta pot.

It seems to allow water much better than previously, where it only sat on the surface and seemed to only saturate the top 1/2 inch.

I will move back from the window to avoid future sun damage.

Thanks.

normally dappled moving light in west window is ok: that's how I grow my Aralias (Ming, Fern-leaf and Parsley). provided it's not too close to glass where it gets very hot.
you can keep it 1 foot away in that case.
when you say the water was not penetrating below 1" ...it means that the soil was bone dry, so you were underwatering. It is in a small pot in somewhat hot area (west window), so I would water it more. Aralias in general do not like to dry up completely. slightly dry on the surface is ok, but not more, especially in small pots.

As long as most of the rootball was left intact, then it should recover. If you added any fresh soil to the top of the rootball remove it so you have a better read on how dry the soil is around the roots. Getting it out of the direct sun help significantly.

Hi @WillC,

I've stumbled upon this thread and see that you have a lot of knowledge about caring for the Polyscias. I could really use your help with mine!

I've had my "Fabian" for almost two years and it's been in the same spot in my house, about 3 meters from a north facing window (I live in northern-Europe). Unfortunately I only have north facing windows, and no space closer to the window to move it to. It's been pretty happy and had a big grow spurt last summer/autumn. Here's a picture from October 2019:



Since it's been getting warmer and lighter again this spring, the lower leaves have started to turn yellow and fall off. In this picture you can see what's left of the foliage right now:



Here's some close-ups from one of the leaves:




Could it be underwatered? Or worse: could it be sick? I haven't repotted it or and didn't give it any fertilizer. There's also light coming in from a roof window now that it's brighter outside (which is about 4 meters away from it, but it does give it some direct light at the end of the day). I usually water it thoroughly whenever I see the leaves start to droop a little.

I really hope you can help me figure out what's wrong and what I can do to save my Fabian!

@Richellevg - Light is the most critical factor in determining how many total leaves a plant can support. Your Balfour is getting less than ideal light so it is slowly reducing its leaf-load by sacrificing older, lower leaves so it can continue to add new growth on top.

Watering may be aggravating the leaf loss. Don't wait for the leaves to wilt before watering. Water it as soon as the top half to three-quarters inch of soil feels dry to the touch. Then, water it thoroughly enough that some water trickles through the drain holes, but don't let the pot sit in water.

Your plant is not sick, doesn't need to be repotted, and fertilizer won't help. It simply needs more light than you have available.

the pot looks quite small compared to leaf mass and it's been in the same pot for sev years (2 with you, but likely 1-2 or more at the nursery). the soil by now is very compacted and exhausted. It is most likely needs to be repotted and now is a good time to do it, before it goes into active growth. IF you decide to do it, take care not to damage the roots: aralias just hate it. Swishing the root ball in a bucket of water will help to loosen up and wash away a lot of old medium without damaging the roots. you'll need to give a larger pot if you can't fit the roots in. If you have few roots then you can use the same pot.
I would recommend adding at least 30% of perlite to standard soil mix for houseplants.
If you do not repot it, at least it's necessary to flush it with good amount of water or better yet submerge the pot in a bucket of warm water for 30min. It will flush and rehydrate in case you were underwatering(it looks like you were).
after that you need to feed it regularly with 1/4 strength fertilizer, as the soil is totally exhausted by now.

Leave the roots undisturbed. The way that plants are potted today, soil compaction is rarely a problem and the depletion of nutrients is best solved by using fertilizer, not replacing the soil, and risking root damage. Plants can and do go many years in the same pot. There is no need to flush the soil unless excess soil salts or some foreign substance has accumulated in the soil.

This plant simply needs better light and nothing else will make up for that.

Thank you both so much for your replies! I think I'll leave it in the pot as I am afraid I'll do it wrong and it will drop even more leaves. I'll try to water it more often and try to move it a bit closer to a window. Would you recommend fertilizing it right now so it can grow new leaves, or shall I wait until the plant has stopped dropping leaves? Also, should I take this opportunity to give it a good trim (I've never done that before) or will it only hurt the plant?

Improving the light is the most important thing. It can be pruned back to make it look nicer. Any healthy stems that are pruned will subsequently produce healthy new growth starting at the point where you make the printing cut.

Do not fertilize it as fertilizer is intended only for plants that are healthy and growing vigorously.

>>There is no need to flush the soil unless excess soil salts or some foreign substance has accumulated in the soil.
after 3-4 years in the same pot in most cases there will be considerable salt accumulation from hard tap water or from softened water. Very few people are blessed with water good enough for plants :).

>>The way that plants are potted today, soil compaction is rarely a problem .
really ? :).. houseplant soil mixes are mostly peat, even cactus mixes are 50% peat. It obviously decomposes and compresses after a few years and tends to become like a rock when dry. When you water such a plant, the water just runs off without penetrating the mix, so many people think they watered well, when in fact the root ball remains mostly dry.
I am not saying that is the case here, but it's prudent to check especially with older Aralias that have been in the small pot for many years.

Most nurseries now use peat-based mixes with perlite added to add porosity and limit compaction. Back in the day, vermiculite was often used and that did compact easily. Another factor is that as soil composition changes slowly over the course of years, the roots can adapt just as roots are able to adapt to different levels of moisture. The key, however, is that the change has to be gradual.

It is indeed true that when peat-based potting mixes get very dry and hard like a dry sponge, they do become water repellant and are hard to re-water. However, the soil should never be allowed to get that dry in the first place. That is a watering problem, not a soil problem.

>>the soil should never be allowed to get that dry in the first place. That is a watering problem, not a soil problem.
it's the chicken and the egg problem ;)..it depends on how you look at it :).
every mix determines the watering schedule (aside from plants needs): as it dries up faster or slower.
if the peat mix is porous enough to start with, it won't become as water-repellent. but it needs to be watered more often too, BUT it provides better aeration, so healthier roots.
AND it'll never become as soggy as most houseplant mixes are when wet. which is another end of the spectrum ;).
when plants drop leaves it can be either: too dry or too wet and many people err when watering.
some plants can withstand errors better then others, unfortunately Aralias are not that easy in household environments.
I surely buy houseplant mixes and they contain some perlite, but never enough. they stay stay way too wet , especially in larger then 6" pot.
SO most plants will benefit from 20-30% addition of perlite into the mix.

Especially for those inexperienced with indoor plants, it is best to leave plants in the soil they were grown in and adjusting the watering accordingly. Replacing soil and repotting when done inappropriately or incorrectly is the source of many plant problems. This site is fraught with examples of plant problems that started with repotting.

>>Especially for those inexperienced with indoor plants, it is best to leave plants in the soil they were grown in and adjusting the watering accordingly
when the pot is new and small , I would just uppot for certain fast growing plants. and still with addition of perlite :).
but when plant is obviously grown for a long time in a small pot and has stopped growing and is dropping leaves , I totally disagree with you: it needs to be repotted to grow well again.

Hi!

I have been reading with interest all of the postings about Aralias here, and would love to get some help with the one I now have.

I bought this plant online and received it a couple of days ago, much smaller and in much worse shape than I had expected. Since having it, I have placed it in quarantine, have not given it water (it was already damp) or changed its conditions in any way other than removing it from the box and paper, visually inspecting for bugs, and placing it in the quarantine area, where it is admittedly not going to get as much light as it would like, but that's temporary, assuming I can save it from a horrible death without risking the lives of my other plants.

And that brings us to why I came to you. I am not really an "Aralia person," having developed whatever plant skills I have on mainly aroids. But I love these 'fabians', and wanted one for a long time. So I tried to get one, and ended up with this little sad plant.

If its condition is something you think I can save, I am happy to try. I would only want to get rid of it if it has some incurable/contagious ailment, which I would need help in determining, because I cannot find any other that looks like this, as hard as I Google.

The plant is about 8-10" tall, and looks like it might have been repotted just prior to shipment. I say the latter because it seems to me that the pot is in awfully good shape for the plant looking this bad, and that's the only thing I'm basing it on, so who knows.

As you can hopefully see from photos, there are purplish bumps with purplish halos on the leaves, as well as purplish halos around the leaf veins and edges. There is some scorching on a couple of leaves, and a couple look like they were munched by something. The tip looks dead, but there's actually a lot of new growth coming off of the sides of the main trunk and branches. (And honestly, I think most of that newer growth has just popped out in the couple of days in which I've had the plant!) However, the new growth does look kind of purplish and translucent, And I feel like this plant lacks a lot of the deep green you typically see in these.

The full plant shot features a pair of scissors for size reference.

So, any help you can offer in figuring out what this plant needs would be SO welcome, and by the way, I do also appreciate all the time that you have taken to help so many people with ailing Aralias, here!

Thank you!
Leha

@leha - Purchasing plants online certainly is problematic and unfortunately this is a good example of that.

It is hard to know how healthy the roots are and also what possible damage was done during the course of the delivery. I do think your Fabian can probably be salvaged and I don't see any evidence of contagious or infectious diseases or pests. The strange leaf discoloration is simply what happens to leaves that are dying for reasons of undetermined stress. But it's not something that requires quarantine.

Leave the roots undisturbed in their pot and move the plant close to a North or East facing window where it gets lots of bright indirect light but no more than a few hours of direct sunlight. Tamp the soil down reasonably tight into the pot because it probably got loosened during transit. Then when the top half-inch of soil feels dry water it slowly and thoroughly until some water trickles out.

there's not much more than that that you can do except to be patient and to monitor the watering situation carefully. At best, it will take time for it to slowly recover. The leaves that are already discolored or damaged will not recover. Look for healthy new leaf growth as a sign that it is slowly recovering.