Umbrella plant (Schefflera arboricola) care

Trees · easy to keep

Umbrella plant (Schefflera arboricola) wants bright indirect light to a little direct sun. Water it every 8 days. Water when the top third is dry. More scheffleras are lost to a permanently wet pot than to drought. Pot it in standard compost with perlite. Balanced feed at half strength monthly through spring and summer, and repot every 1.5 years. Humidity: room humidity is fine. Toxic to cats, dogs and people if chewed — the sap carries insoluble calcium oxalate crystals, which burn the mouth and throat.

The dwarf umbrella tree: leaflets arranged in a wheel around the end of each stalk, on a plant that branches freely and takes hard pruning without complaint. It is fast, cheap, forgiving and one of the best value large green plants there is.

Quick facts

Water: Water every 8 days. Water when the top third is dry. More scheffleras are lost to a permanently wet pot than to drought.
Light: Bright indirect light to a little direct sun.
Humidity: Room humidity is fine.
Soil: Standard compost with perlite.
Feeding: Balanced feed at half strength monthly through spring and summer.
Repotting: Repot every 1.5 years.
Toxic to pets: Toxic to cats, dogs and people if chewed — the sap carries insoluble calcium oxalate crystals, which burn the mouth and throat. Keep it off the floor if anything in the house tastes its way through life.
Difficulty: Easy.
Mature size: 1.5–2 m indoors.
Native to: Taiwan and Hainan.

Watering an Umbrella plant

Water every 8 days. Water when the top third is dry. More scheffleras are lost to a permanently wet pot than to drought.

That cadence is the one PlantParlour sets for this species when you name it, and it is deliberately on the cautious side — a plant that asks a day early is safer than one that asks a day late. Log each watering and the reminder moves with the plant rather than with the calendar.

Light

Bright indirect light with an hour or two of sun. In poor light the stems stretch and the plant leans; variegated forms lose their cream markings entirely.

Humidity and temperature

Room humidity is fine. Central heating in winter is what turns a comfortable room into a dry one, and it is the usual reason an established plant suddenly browns at the edges or picks up spider mites.

Soil and potting

Ordinary potting compost with a third perlite. They are not particular, as long as the pot drains.

Feeding

Balanced feed at half strength monthly through spring and summer. Stop feeding in autumn and start again when you see new growth in spring — feeding a plant that isn't growing just builds up salts in the pot.

Repotting

Repot every 1.5 years. Every second spring. Prune hard at the same time if it has gone lanky — scheffleras take it well and branch generously.

Common problems

Leaves dropping in quantity
Usually overwatering, sometimes a cold draught.

Fix: Check the pot is not sitting wet, and move it away from the door.
Long bare stems with a few leaves at the top
Too little light.

Fix: Move it brighter and cut it back by a third in spring.
Sticky residue on the leaves below
Scale or mealybugs above.

Fix: Check the leaf undersides and stem joints, wipe them off with alcohol on a cotton bud, and treat weekly for a month.

Propagation

Stem cuttings in spring, rooted in damp compost under a bag. Air layering works for a tall bare specimen.

A cutting taken in PlantParlour keeps its link to the plant it came from, so a propagation years later still traces back to the mother plant — which is the point if you ever sell or trade it.

Toxicity and safety

Toxic to cats, dogs and people if chewed — the sap carries insoluble calcium oxalate crystals, which burn the mouth and throat. Keep it off the floor if anything in the house tastes its way through life.

Named cultivars and variegations

Schefflera arboricola is sold under several cultivar names. Care is the same unless noted; variegated forms carry less chlorophyll, so they grow more slowly and want more light than the plain species.

Cultivar	Also sold as	Water
'Variegata'	Variegated umbrella plant	every 8 days

Questions people ask

How often should you water an Umbrella plant?

Water every 8 days as a starting point — that is the cadence PlantParlour sets for Schefflera arboricola. Water when the top third is dry. More scheffleras are lost to a permanently wet pot than to drought. Light, pot size and the time of year all move that number, so treat it as a reminder to go and check rather than a rule.

How much light does an Umbrella plant need?