Why Is My Schefflera Leggy – How To Fix Leggy Schefflera Plants

Is your schefflera too leggy? Maybe it was nice and bushy at one time, but now it has lost a lot of its foliage and needs some help. Let’s take a look what causes leggy schefflera plants and what you can do to improve their appearance. 

Why is My Schefflera Leggy?

There are numerous reasons why your umbrella plant is getting leggy. With older plants, it is natural for the older mature to drop off. Leaf drop is also caused by sudden extremes in temperatures, such as cold and hot drafts near doorways, from air conditioning, or heating vents. 

Keeping your plant too dry, or even too wet, can cause its foliage to drop off as well. Be careful of foliage that has dropped because schefflera contains calcium oxalate which is toxic to cats and dogs. 

Fixing Leggy Schefflera Plants

There are a few things that you can do to fix your leggy schefflera plants. If you want to fix your leggy plant and propagate at the same time, you can use air-layering to propagate. This is a slower method, but it will result in a rooted cutting that you can cut off the plant and pot up. Once you cut off the rooted section, the original plant will start to show new growth and branch off. 

If you don’t care to make more plants and just want to make your plant bushier, you can do some pruning immediately. Pruning leggy schefflera plants is an effective way to fix a leggy plant and these plants respond well to pruning.

Simply trim any areas that appear leggy and new branches will grow from these areas. If you want to speed up how quickly your plant will recover, place the plant outdoors during the summer months. 

The increased light and humidity outdoors will supercharge your schefflera’s growth. You can even give your schefflera another light trimming by late summer to encourage further bushiness if you desire.

Also, make note that if you have your schefflera in a dark location, it will not grow dense and will appear less full than you might like. If your plant appears not to have too many leaves and the leaves are spaced out pretty far on the stem, your plant may not be getting enough light. Be sure to grow your plant in bright, indirect light close to a window for best results. Some direct sun is fine but avoid full sun. 

To summarize, if your umbrella plant is getting leggy you can either air-layer to propagate, prune your plant, and increase the light it receives. You will have a bushy schefflera again in no time!