Schefflera Chop?

[aframe]

Cuttings, buds, and leafless stumps. Google that, it'll probably look like that.

And your wiring is atrocious at the least.

You're taking a shot at her wiring?

This was very helpful, thanks so much.

So, to make sure I understood you correctly, I can chop it now and I should leave it outside afterwards under shade cloth? Can I scar the trunk at the same time to form roots or should I do that when I repot it in a few months (according to what I read you shouldnt chop and repot at the same time)?

You need to assess the remainder of your growing season in addition to the root system. If still in active growth with warm months and 8+ hours of daylight I'd chop. I usually grow trees for a year before they get worked on; then I have an idea how tolerant they'll be of a repot or both the following season. Unless you have a greenhouse or the like, I'd wait until the growth gets vigorous next spring to encourage rooting. With these trees, there's no harm trying it in a hidden area. Walter P. would say 'go for it' if he bothered with Schef.
Here's one I repotted today, and my garden in Lemoore (shade cloth)
You can see the roots on the left branch 1st photo: branch was wounded, no hormone used. You'd need to keep very humid or cover in moss or similar

 

[augustine]

I've been growin and chopping schefflera every year for about 4 years. If it were mine I would pump it up with sun and fert and chop it @ July 1. It should be vigorous. Most but not all will come back after a low chop and odds are increased if plants are vigorous.

 

[JoeR]

Like I have said repeatedly I must chop it before it gets too cold outside for it.

With that said Its been outside and I fertilized it yesterday to strengthen it. Its not weak by any means but I want to really get it going before I chop it.

 

[Gaitano]

I have chopped in January, on a small Home Depot scheff as an experiment. I kept the pot in a humidity bag in front of a bright window, and after a month is sprouted. It can be done. I prefer to do this any other tropical work in the summer when tropical are in full swing. I keep them in FULL sun and they love it. The cuttings are very easy to root. I generally cover the chop sight with a dab of Vaseline.

I have another variegated scheff that I got from David Fukumoto. I have chopped this in the spring, summer and once in the winter. This summer it shot out a ton of aerial roots after I repotted in June.

 

[JoeR]

I have chopped in January, on a small Home Depot scheff as an experiment. I kept the pot in a humidity bag in front of a bright window, and after a month is sprouted. It can be done. I prefer to do this any other tropical work in the summer when tropical are in full swing. I keep them in FULL sun and they love it. The cuttings are very easy to root. I generally cover the chop sight with a dab of Vaseline.

I have another variegated scheff that I got from David Fukumoto. I have chopped this in the spring, summer and once in the winter. This summer it shot out a ton of aerial roots after I repotted in June.

What did the first one look like before? Was it suoer vigorous or no?

 

[Gaitano]

No not particularly. It was a cheap one from home depot that I bought to experiment on.

this is what it looked like that fall, after the chop.

 

[JoeR]

Same thing with mine, just a cheap one from lowes. Only concern is it wasnt healthy enough from being at lowes to chop now.

 

[JoeR]

Same thing with mine, just a cheap one from lowes. Only concern is it wasnt healthy enough from being at lowes to chop now.

 

[carp]

OH! Oh! oh!
can I share my photos of the schefflara's i care for?
please please please.
mommy, i want to play.
please??????

seriously hate schefflara though lol.

 

[carp]

1] find out when your average night time temp is around 40°F.
2] plan (at the very latest) your chop to be made 6 weeks prior. 6 weeks should give you plenty of time to get some foliage back on your tree without running into problems with temps.

i've had Schefflara hedges get down to 28°F without any real damage.
this past winter, i only covered my trees once with thermal cloth which only gives a 10°F advantage and we got down to a low of 34°F that night. we did have a few more nights that got into mid/upper 30's and all i did was water the trees before the sun came up to wash away any frost to prevent burning. tropicals are a lot more cold hardy than most give them credit for...as mentioned in this post already.

 

[Geo]

seriously hate schefflara though lol. -carp

You may have a point there! Don't hate yours though. Very nice indeed.

 

[carp]

i only have that mame; and this one at home.
just took these two photos for this thread.

 

[carp]

Schefflara always just look like topiary. the growth is so course it's nearly impossible to make clearly defined foliage pads. i'm not into them.

 

[Geo]

I see that too. But the grove. or clump, i like very much as well. What are you trying to do? Make me change my mind? 2 Scheffs in a row that i really like! And,btw, is there much difference between the dwarf and the standard one? Are your two plants dwarfs?

 

[carp]

all Schefflera used in bonsai is a dwarf variety.
then there is are "PVN1" and "Luisianne" dwarves that may only be 25% smaller.
the standard Schefflera is like 5x larger than what we see in bonsai and most landscapes.

here have some more photos.
these are not from my personal collection; but at the collection I curate.
notice the flowers?
notice how far I cut them back when pruning?
cool dude.

seriously. schefflera are silly.
all they are good for is topiary "banyans".

 

[Geo]

Thanks. Good to see the photos, anyway.

 

[JoeR]

i only have that mame; and this one at home.
just took these two photos for this thread.

How could you hate these trees?! I would love to have quality trees like this in my collection.

 

[carp]

No, I don't hate the trees themselves; I hate to work with the species. When you work with a lot of different material, you'll find yourself liking and disliking certain things. Schefflera is just not good bonsai for me for a number of reasons: they only lend themselves to the banyan style, they don't produce good nebari, very coarse foliage growth, and you never get a suitable single trunk tree.

Your wife probably has 10 bras, just because she's not wearing the other 9 today doesn't mean she hates those bras, she just chose to wear that specific one.

 

[JoeR]

After being put in full sun, getting properly watered and fertilized it's pushing new growth all over.

Would it be better to chop during a growth period like this or after this growth has stopped and it has built up strength for a while? It has a month left outside max at this rate. Its never got this cold this early here before so there's no guarantees.

 

[Redwood Ryan]

After being put in full sun, getting properly watered and fertilized it's pushing new growth all over.

Would it be better to chop during a growth period like this or after this growth has stopped and it has built up strength for a while? It has a month left outside max at this rate. Its never got this cold this early here before so there's no guarantees.

I'd go ahead and wack it back.