Legacy shefflera

[aml1014]

Yesterday at my monthly club workshop I was given an old shefflera that a member could no longer care for. It's very badly pot bound with about 18 inches of roots coming out of the drainage holes but that's okay. I'm gonna wait till spring then I'm gonna re pot and cut back hard, but not to hard I kind of like the natural flow of the whole tree. It's about 3ft tall 2ft wide and 18 inches deep. Comments and critiques are always welcome.

 

[JoeR]

I was told not to cut back and repot at the same time. Do one thing first and then a few months later do the other deed.


I chopped mine to a stump and it came back so no worries about cutting it back too far. In a few months I am going to repot it too.


I would cut this branch off and pull down and compact the other branch to create a stellar literati! Real nice tree ya got.

 

[JoeR]

Oh and ps you should embed your photo too.

 

[aml1014]

Oh and ps you should embed your photo too.

Not sure how to from my phone, laptop is down for the time being

I was told not to cut back and repot at the same time. Do one thing first and then a few months later do the other deed.


I chopped mine to a stump and it came back so no worries about cutting it back too far. In a few months I am going to repot it too.


I would cut this branch off and pull down and compact the other branch to create a stellar literati! Real nice tree ya got.

I have cut back and repotted shefflera at the same time before but may be easier on this one since it's old. If you couldn't tell it's in my greenhouse which doesn't get cooler then 65, would you think it's okay to cut back hard now?

 

[Nwaite]

I have 3 of these I started working on this fall. They seem like fun trees to work on for the winter. Lot you can do to them.

 

[JoeR]

Not sure how to from my phone, laptop is down for the time being

I have cut back and repotted shefflera at the same time before but may be easier on this one since it's old. If you couldn't tell it's in my greenhouse which doesn't get cooler then 65, would you think it's okay to cut back hard now?

Personally I think you could but others will probably tell you otherwise. I cut mine back at a "bad" time and it came back fine even though it was unhealthy beforehand. In my opinion it doesn't matter what season it is to work on these as long as they are growing.


I would probably wait though until it's growing. Yours does not appear to have any new growth or growing tips. When I cut back mine, I waited until I saw tiny new shoots forming all over before I chopped it so I knew it would come back.


They can take a ton of abuse.


EDIT: I see you have only had it a day. I would acclimate it for maybe a month or so before doing anything. Or until you see good viorous growth.

 

[sorce]

I like Joe's Idea. That other trunk is dope!

Nice lil space there!

Sorce

 

[Nwaite]

Just a thought. ... go buy 2 more and then braid them OMG YES!

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Just a thought. ... go buy 2 more and then braid them OMG YES!

I wouldn't, that wouldn't look natural in the slightest. They sell those kind everywhere anyways.

 

[aml1014]

Just a thought. ... go buy 2 more and then braid them OMG YES!

HA, yeah right

 

[aml1014]

A little experiment to try and get some aerial roots from the trunk to possibly cover the lower wounds. I hope it works and it gives me someway to improve this thing while it gains some strength.

 

[Nwaite]

I like it! Hope it works. Please give us an update when you can.

 

[aml1014]

UPDATE on this one, I bailed on the whole pot around the base to try and get aerial roots it just made it too hard to water. I finally went ahead a chopped it back since it was finally healthy and growing quickly. The pic is the supposed front when i repot in summer.Let me know what you think.

Aaron

 

[sorce]

Do these float?
Lol.

I like your knife set.

Sorce

 

[Nwaite]

It's got flow.

Reminds me of a lady waving her arms in the air.... running away from me

 

[GrimLore]

The pic is the supposed front when i repot in summer.Let me know what you think.

What I think is you will change your plans a lot, sometimes a few times a season - You are going to really be surprised how much that will back bud and almost continuously. I was brought home one from the Wife's Office in horrible shape. I cut it back hard and it grew in so quickly I decided I will never have the time needed to work it properly. It is a nice looking plant though and always nice to have green indoor stuff during the Winter here.

Grimmy

 

[aml1014]

Do these float?
Lol.

I like your knife set.

Sorce

You should see the ones on the wall just to the right of the pic those are the REALLY sharp ones. Lol
Also I know I need to build a backdrop to take pics Im just somewhat limited on space.

Aaron

 

[aml1014]

What I think is you will change your plans a lot, sometimes a few times a season - You are going to really be surprised how much that will back bud and almost continuously. I was brought home one from the Wife's Office in horrible shape. I cut it back hard and it grew in so quickly I decided I will never have the time needed to work it properly. It is a nice looking plant though and always nice to have green indoor stuff during the Winter here.

Grimmy

I'm debating on losing the upper right branch and leaving just the single arching branch to have a nice literali but I would like th lower wounds to heal up a bit before I think of losing most of the crown.

Aaron

 

[GrimLore]

I would cut this branch off and pull down and compact the other branch to create a stellar literati!

Curious if you have ever seen a good example of that Honest from what I see having one only since Spring I think at best you might be able to get an interesting upright or slant out of it at best.

I'm debating on losing the upper right branch and leaving just the single arching branch to have a nice literali

Serious, I don't see that as an option - Grow it for a full year now and I am pretty certain you will agree

Grimmy

 

[aml1014]

Curious if you have ever seen a good example of that Honest from what I see having one only since Spring I think at best you might be able to get an interesting upright or slant out of it at best.



Serious, I don't see that as an option - Grow it for a full year now and I am pretty certain you will agree

Grimmy

I was planning on letting it grow for a while now since I'll be repotting in late spring and I'll want it to recover from that, also when I got it I removed probably 18 inches of roots from the drainage holes and pulled the tree out a little to take a peak and there's gonna probably be literally yards of roots to cut off.

Aaron