The Schefflera, or umbrella plant, is a luscious indoor plant found in tropical areas. It gained the name umbrella plant because its leaves spread out like an umbrella.
The most common species are
- Schefflera actinophylla (umbrella tree)
- Schefflera arboricola (dwarf umbrella tree)
The Schefflera heptaphylla species is famous for its medicinal properties. Its barks, roots, stem, and leaves can treat malaria, infections, and inflammatory ailments.
Schefflera is a low-maintenance plant that does not need a lot to be happy. In the right conditions, it can grow up to 10 feet or higher with wide-spread green leaflets.
However, if neglected or not provided healthy conditions, you may notice that your umbrella plant’s leaves will begin to wither and drop off.
So why does an umbrella plant drop leaves?
Common reasons for an umbrella plant’s leaves to drop are low light, too much direct sunlight, not enough pruning, extreme temperature, water stress, pests, and nutrient deficiency.
Healthy indoor plants may drop a few leaves as they grow. But, excessive leaf dropping is a sign of a bigger problem.
Why Schefflera Leaves Drop
Let’s cover the common reasons why an umbrella plant is dropping its leaves.
1. Schefflera Leaves Drop Due To Incorrect Lighting
Umbrella plants thrive in medium-light or bright, indirect sunlight.
When umbrella plants are only given low light then the leaves will begin to droop and the plant will become leggy.
Direct sunlight is also a problem for the Schefflera. Exposure to bright direct sunlight will burn the leaves and cause them to drop.
3. Schefflera Leaves Drop Due To Poor Pruning
Pruning helps your Schefflera thrive by removing excess growth that can block sunlight to older branches.
When overgrown, the umbrella plant will have many stalks from a single trunk. These extra stalks will create a cluttered plant that has branches all competing for the same light and nutrients.
Not pruning an umbrella plant will eventually lead some of the stalks to become leggy as it reaches for more light. This can cause the leggy branch to droop because of the weight which can lead to leaves falling off.
So pruning an umbrella plant can help prevent leaves from dropping off.
3. Schefflera Leaves Drop Due To Extreme Temperature
Excessive hot or cold temperatures will cause the leaves of an umbrella plant to turn brown and drop.
Common areas that have extreme temperatures are areas near air conditioners, fireplaces, or heating vents. These areas will cause the umbrella plant to become too cold or too dehydrated, which will cause the leaves to turn brown and fall off.
4. Schefflera Leaves Drop Due To Water Stress
Overwatering can cause the Schefflera to lose its leaves.
Too much water in poor-draining soil can eventually lead to root rot. The rotting rots inhibits water and nutrient uptake which will cause the leaves to turn yellow and fall off.
Underwatering can also cause the leaves to drop. If you expose the Schefflera to prolonged drought then the leaves will curl, dry up, and fall off.
The growth hormone (abscisic acid) signals dormancy by closing the stomata (leaf openings) to prevent further water loss. If an umbrella plant is underwatered and conditions do not improve then the plant will lose all its dry and discolored leaves.
5. Schefflera Leaves Drop Due To Pests
Although a hardy plant, the Schefflera can become susceptible to pests when stressed.
Common pests include mealybugs and spider mites. Tell-tale signs of spider mites are brown spots and white webbing on leaves and stems. If not treated with pesticide or natural insecticide, the leaves turn yellow and fall.
6. Schefflera Leaves Drop Due To Poor Nutrition
An umbrella plant needs nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorous, magnesium, calcium, and potassium to grow. When it lacks these nutrients, the leaves will begin to discolor and die prematurely.
Conditions That Prevent Schefflera Leaves From Dropping
1. Correct lighting
Outdoor Schefflera plants can grow up to 40 feet tall because of their exposure to natural light and room for their roots to grow.
Although not a fan of direct light, this plant can survive much better outdoors than indoors. When grown indoors, an umbrella plant can grow one–fifth of its outdoor height.
The best indoor areas for an umbrella plant are any rooms or windows that provide bright indirect sunlight. Typically a south facing window provides the most sunlight and sheers or transparent curtains can turn direct sunlight into ideal indirect sunlight.
Make sure to place the umbrella plant further away from windows that are frequently opened when the air temperature outside is much hotter or colder than the inside temperature.
2. Proper Pruning
Pruning reduces the competition among roots, leaves, and stalks for nutrients and sunlight.
Before you prune, make sure that the pot is not too small. You may need to repot to a bigger umbrella plant so that the leaves, roots, and stalks have enough room to grow and absorb nutrients.
Proper practices for pruning umbrella plants:
- Use pruning shears or very sharp scissors to cut drooping or brown leaves.
- Use phased trims so that you trim only 20% of the leaves and affected stalks.
- Apply rubbing alcohol to disinfect and wipe the blade between snips.
3. Proper Temperature
Place your Schefflera in a warm areas since they prefer 65°F to 90°F.
Avoid entrances, passageways, or windows that are prone to draft or excessive temperatures.
Do not place your umbrella plant close to heat vents or fireplaces. The heat will dehydrate the plant and cause the leaves to fall off.
4. Reduce Water Stress
Continuously wet soil can damage your umbrella plant. However, the plant also does not like to grow or sit in completely dry soil either.
Ideally, the soil moisture level should not oscillate between very wet and very dry. It should remain damp to the touch.
Consider misting your Schefflera leaves to increase humidity and avoid drying the leaves. You can use a humidifier to increase the humidity levels around the plant.
Some gardeners swear by soaking their dehydrated Schefflera in water. To do this, soak your potted plant (without the saucer) in a tub filled with 3″ of water for 45 minutes.
- Test the topsoil to feel if it has soaked water.
- Add more water to saturate the topsoil.
- Drain the tub once the soil feels evenly damp.
- Place the plant in the saucer and return to its location
5. Eradicate Pests
All the above conditions prevent your Schefflera from becoming stressed. Avoiding stress means that your plant is less susceptible to pests like spider mites.
If your umbrella plant does get afflicted with pests then create a homemade insecticidal soapy spray to get rid of all the pests.
Just make sure to use castile soap and not a scented dish soap as these dish soaps are actually detergents which can harm your plant.
Use the soapy spray every day and spray directly onto the pests to remove them. Reapply everyday as needed until the pest infestation is removed which can take anywhere from 1 to 2 weeks.
6. Increase Nutrient Uptake
Test the nutrient availability and pH of the soil. The type of soil may also cause nutritional deficiency if it is a sandy soil or just a neutral growing medium such as coco coir.
If you are unable to test the nutrient availability or pH of the soil then repotting your plant every year will help ensure that the soil has enough nutrients and is of good consistency for the plant.
If you can test your soil, infertile or very acidic soil means that the Schefflera cannot absorb essential nutrients. Tips to address this problem are:
- Buy houseplant fertilizer with the correct supplementary nutrients.
- Follow the label instructions to avoid overfertilizing. Prevent overfertilizing by watering the plant before and after applying fertilizer.
- You can also use liquid fertilizers because they are easy to apply to the foliage.
- In case the problem is leaching, repot the plant from sandy soil to loam soil.
- Watch out for related conditions that may affect nutrient uptake. These are overwatering, underwatering, root rot, and extreme temperatures.
Final Thoughts On Why Schefflera Leaves Are Dropping
It is common for a plant to lose some of its leaves over time. However, a plant losing all its leaves points to a bigger problem.
If all the leaves on your plant fall off then your plant photosynthesize or produce food which will lead to the plant’s death. The exception to this rule is when trees drop all of their leaves in the fall in preparation for winter. However, this only applies to outdoor trees.
The Schefflera will start dropping leaves when the umbrella plant is weak from dehydration, excessive temperatures, incorrect lighting, poor pruning, pest infestation, or nutrient deficiency.
Your Schefflera does not need much to thrive.
It only needs bright indirect light, regular watering, temperatures between 65°F to 90°F, pruning, nutrients, and pest control. Do this, and your Schefflera will make all your other plants glow green with envy!
