Why My Schefflera Plant is Dropping Leaves? Reasons & Fix

Schefflera plant (Dwarf Umbrella Plant) is a beautiful flowering plant from the Araliaceae family. Plants grow in different criteria including trees, shrubs, and lianas. Being a medium to low-light plant, Schefflera does extremely well while growing indoors.

In Short – Reasons for Schefflera Dropping leaves and Drooping: Your plant may lose leaves mainly because of overwatering and additional things like low light, season changes, natural aging, overfertilization, root rot, cold draft, and hot air. Firstly stop watering and let the water evaporate. Scroll down for detailed reasons and step to fix

Its unique-looking foliage gives an eye-treat while placed in a room. The Schefflera plant is also known as an umbrella plant. Let’s learn a few growing hacks for this beautiful plant to get the best thriving form off an indoor Schefflera plant effortlessly-

Table of Contents

Why Is My Schefflera Losing/Dropping Leaves?

Schefflera plants come in varieties of forms like a tree, dwarf trees, vines, shrubs, etc. Whether you are growing which species or which form of Schefflera, each category faces some common problems. Losing or drooping leaves is one of them.
This umbrella tree is appreciated chiefly as an attractive houseplant due to its colorful variegated foliage. So, losing leaves would never be considered for any Schefflera plant holder.

You wouldn’t allow losing the beauty of this plant by dropping leaves, isn’t it? Hereafter, we came up with some possible causes of this issue along with their solution ideas in this regard-

Reasons for Dropping Leaves:

Unhealthy roots due to improper watering (Overwatering or underwatering)
Insufficient light or no light at all for long
Salt buildup in roots and stems due to excessive fertilization
Due to cold or frost damages
Transplant shocks for several repotting processes
Unsuitable climate like high humidity, heavy draft, etc.
Poor drainage system with clay-based soil
Untreated pests and bugs for long
The natural aging or seasonal changes

Related: Quick read on how to care for overwatered peace lily plants.

How to Fix Your Dying Umbrella Plant:

Umbrella tree always prefers a semi-dry growing medium to thrive. So, stop overwatering it, and water the plant only until the soil turns dry
A Schefflera plant needs the proper amount of light like a medium bright light through indirect sunlight. If you provide your plant with direct scorching light or no light at all, this will happen soon
Don’t feed your plant unnecessarily, try to fertilize only once a month with any liquid fertilizer
Stop placing your plant in any place where the temperature is lower than 50 degrees F
Do not replant your plant often, unless it seems necessary
Stop placing your Schefflera plants in a highly humid place or near the draft for long
Make sure you use loose, sand-based, and well-drained soil for the plantation for the better drainage system
Treat the troubleshooting issues like pests and bugs in time with natural remedies, before the turn fetal
And accept the phase of the loose-leaves problem when it occurs of season changes or the aging process of the plant. This will be gone after a certain period and initiate new foliage naturally.

Can Schefflera grow outside/plant Schefflera outside?

Yes, you can plant your umbrella outside if you are in the USDA zone of 10 -12.
For other zones, if your plant is in a planter bring it inside during low or dropping temperatures in winter.
Though your Schefflera plant likes sun and takes 4-6 hours of sunlight, it’s better recommended to provide shade to protect your plant from scorching afternoons

What Does Overwatered Schefflera Look Like?

Thinking of proper care people do overcare which results in overfertilization or overwatering and in the name of bright light placing in scorching sunlight that burns its leaves. Overwatering is one such problem for umbrella plants.

Signs of Overwatering

Overwatering affects your plant at the cell level
Swollen with absorbed water it starts to show in leaves
Leaves slowly turn yellow then brown and drop the leaves
Your umbrella plant will be drooping and you can also witness an offensive smell from the soil
Schefflera likes its soil to dry out between watering.
On average it needs to be watered once in 7-10 days, it also depends upon the season

How to Revive Overwatered

Firstly stop watering and let the soil dry out
Help your plant to get a little warm and evaporate the excess water
If it doesn’t help, the final resort is to repot your plant
Go for an earthen pot as it can lose the excess moisture on its own
Use a fresh potting mix that is rich and of well-draining quality to keep the soil soggy free
Schefflera and similar plants don’t like to be seated on wet feet
Water to make the soil moist and let the drooping leaves show recovery signs
Water only when it seems to be thirsty (at least the top few inches of your potting soil are dry)

How to Propagate Schefflera?

A Schefflera plant mostly grows from seeds, as it is not easy to propagate it through stem cutting. However, you can do the job smoothly by following these simple propagation methods-

Propagation in Soil:

Find a leaf nod from your parent Schefflera plant and cut out 4-6 inches apart from it
Cut the tip using a fully sterilized cutter or pruner
Pluck the bottom leaves and keep only 2-3 leaves on the top of the cutting
Cover the cutting in a paper towel and keep it in a cool place for some times
Then bring a planter prepared with houseplant potting soil and amend with vermiculite
Poke a small hole into the soil surface and place the cutting into that hole
Secure the base by patting the ground tightly and watering it with a sprayer
Place the planter in a spot in moderately warm condition with indirect light
You can cover the cutting with a plastic cover to provide the highly humid climate
The cutting will sprout within 4-5 weeks with fresh new shots

Learn about Begonia plant care watering and propagation.

How to Propagate Umbrella Plant In Water

After getting the stem cut, place it in a glass of distilled water
Make sure the end of that cutting is properly submerged in the water
Place the glass in a cool shady area of your house for a couple of days
Keep changing the water every 5-6 days and don’t provide bright light
You will find that new roots develop from the bottom within 7-10 days
Wait till the roots reach a bit longer form and then, plant them in a soil medium directly.

How to Care For Schefflera: Soil Mix and Quick Tips

The best potting mix is a sand-based and loamy type that is rich and slightly acidic in pH and drains well too
If you plant Schefflera outside look for a location that doesn’t get the soil waterlogged and turn wet often
Using cactus mix for your plant? take one part cactus soil mix, one part compost, and one part peat moss, and perlite or sand (helps to improve aeration and drainage that is apt for your umbrella plant)
You can also use a general potting mix instead of the cactus mix, its only when you have it in excess
A Schefflera is moderately thirsty, so, water your plant once a week and let the soil dry between watering
This wonderful houseplant thrives well when feed once a month with a balanced liquid fertilizer in a 20-20-20 NPK ratio
Try to keep your plant at a temperature between 65 to 90 degrees F with low-medium humidity to provide the best growing climate
Don’t let the temperature let drop below 35 degrees F or more than 115 degrees F to keep your plant safe from temperature damages
Maintain the soil moderately rich and moist to keep the roots vigorous
Safe the planter from drafts and place it in a hardiness zone between 10-11
Prune your plant rarely, only when any damaged part appears or the plant turns bushier
And try to repot your plant once every two years to keep it safe from unnecessary transplant shocks.

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Are Schefflera Plants Poisonous to Cats?

Schefflera plants are mildly toxic to mammals and house pets including cats. That’s why even though how exotic an umbrella tree or StarLeaf plant can resemble, many gardeners avoid this plant due to the safety of their loving pets.
Why is it Toxic?
This plant contains toxic elements from roots to leaves. Its idioblasts cells are the one that causes such poisonous reactions in an animal body. The non-living substance found in this cell mostly makes it venomous.

These cells are filled with bunches of needle-like crystal calcium oxalate properties. These properties are packed with gelatinous as well as oxalic acid. This acid can be fatal sometimes when consumed in a higher amount.

Learn about the list of pet-safe plants for your garden which not toxic for your cats.

Symptoms

Drooling
Dysphasia
Choking
Digestive issues
Convulsion
Renal failure
Intense burning
Mouth irritation
Vomiting
Coma
And even death

How to Deal with This:

Encourage your cat to vomit
Take your pet to the nearest veterinarian hospital right away
Provide your pet with veterinarian treatment immediately
And try to keep the plant as much away from the reach of your little cat as you can, to avoid such mishaps shortly.