What's wrong with my umbrella tree?

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It was nice and green but now a few leaves are turning brown at the tips.

The soil is moist, I recently repotted it, the room is bright but the plant itself isn't in direct sunlight.

Am I overwatering it? How do I know when to water it? My guess it that when the soil feels dry to the touch. How much to water it? That's a question I've always had; how to you know when a plant has had too much to drink? When the water starts seeping out the bottom if the pot? Here's what I generally do: pour in some water, let it absorb into the soil and repeat twice or maybe three times and that's it. Most of the time it'll seep from the bottom. Maybe I should keep it to one or two drinks?

If Acacia doesn't see this, PM him. He's a gardening God. He has it down to a fine art.

Neat!

Hey, know what else I've been doing?

I've been taking little candle votive dishes and filling them with fresh soda and putting them in the plant pots being careful not to spill any so they can get an extra dose of carbon dioxide. Isn't that supposed to be healthy for plants?

I so wish I had some sort of success with nature. Give me wounded stray animals of any variety and I'm your girl. Expect me to nuture a plant so that it has a long life? Don't bet on it.

They say that anyone can successfully take care of an umbrella tree. HA! This is my...let's see fourth(?) this year!

^ Maybe the last three were missing the soda factor. You may be on to something

*wants to sing the theme song of "Under the Umbrella Tree"*

I'm only an amateur but I think umbrella trees have quite invasive root systems so they probably need largish pots, have you checked whether it's pot bound? I mean just tip or ease the plant out of the pot to see if it needs repotting.

Other than than yeah it's usually overwatering or underwatering. Outdoors they grow in full sunlight, so I would think they'd want a sunny spot indoors.

Watering is hard to advise because of heated rooms and seasonal differences, basically watering once a week is the usual thing with indoor plants, some will go longer, it depends how big the pot is too.

I just repotted it a couple weeks ago from the store's small plastic pot to a nice bigger clay pot.

I am not I'm just obsessed with plants.


First of all, I just want to make sure we are talking about the same plant.
Umbrella Tree, Schefflera actinophylla. Looks like this:

If so, there are a few things to consider. Location is one. This tree grows naturally in hot, humid climates, in full sun. So if you are growing it indoors, it will need at least a little bit of sun. If possible, try moving it to a spot where it does get at least a couple of hours of direct sunlight.
Soil may be another issue. What kind of soil do you have the tree in? It should be fairly rich, with a good balance of nutrients, and should also be freely draining. Some types of potting soil have a tendency to clump and get mucky, which can cause root-rot.


Probably. More houseplants die from overwatering than from anything else. Umbrella Tree does like moist soil, but when it is in a pot, and especially when it is not in full sun, watering can be reduced. Infrequent, deep watering is best. That is, water deeply (so that a little bit may seep out the bottom), but do it less often. Maybe once a week, if that. The soil should mostly dry out before watering again. Also, make sure that the pot has very good drainage. Potted plants should never be sitting in a puddle. One other thing is the quality of the water. I've found that using captured rainwater or distilled water is much better for plants than straight tapwater.


Interesting idea! I've never heard of doing that before, although yes, CO2 is healthy for plants.

I hope some of this helps
Good luck, and let us know what happens!

That looks like a mature version of what I have

Here's a few pics:

overall


disease


yet it has new growth


and why are my gifs doing that? all of a sudden it's 1995 again!

That plant is actually pretty healthy.
Your problem appears to be overwatering. Let it dry out, and perhaps give it a bit more sun.
How often are you watering it?

I dunno, once a week or so.

I suppose I should wait until the soil it dryish.

Yeah, give that a try, and see what happens. I think that should do it.
Regardless, umbrella trees are tough plants. You can isolate the problem by trial-and-error without fear of killing it. That is how I've learned much of what I know... coordinated mistakes

I'd remove those dying leaves. Dead plant material is an open invitation to pests.