Scheffler or shefler - a tree from the Araliev family, a distant relative of ivy and ginseng. In its natural environment is considered a weed that inhibits other plants. But with proper care at home, it turns into an unusually beautiful indoor flower.
Shefflers description
Florists appreciate the sheffler for the splendor of the crown and complex palmate leaves. They can be of different shapes and colors depending on the type and form a beautiful spreading crown. This plant blooms with small, unpalatable white or yellowish inflorescences.
The trunk of the tree is thin, tree-like. At home, a sheffler can grow up to 40 m. When grown indoors, up to 1.5-2 m.
Types and varieties of shefflers
In total, there are more than two hundred species of shefflers in the world, but not all of them are grown as houseplants. The most common are undersized varieties with bright spreading foliage.
| View | Features |
| Amate | Very large dark green leaves without spots, with a waxy sheen. Shade-loving. Up to 2.5 m high. |
| Bianca | Leaves are short, dark green, with yellow serrated edges. |
| Eight leaf | The leaves are green with yellow spots, each consisting of eight oval plates and dotted with small bright needles. Reaches 2 m. |
| Gerda | Variegated leaves are dark and light green in color. Height 0.5-2.5 m. |
| Gold Capella | The trunk is straight and long. The leaves are large, bright green with golden spots. In height reaches 120 cm. |
| Treelike (Arboricola) | Complex light green leaves with round tips are densely located on a straight trunk and are decorated with rare yellow stains. |
| Caster | Dark green smooth foliage without spots. Reaches 120 cm. |
| Louisiana | Beautiful glossy leaves with variegated green shades. |
| Radiant (Stars) | It is found most often in indoor conditions. Large leaves of different shades of green, at the ends - cloves. Red flowers. Up to 2.5 m. |
| Melanie | The leaves are large, of an unusual greenish-yellow color, often with dark green edges or spots. Unpretentious. Height is up to 1,5 m. |
| Mundrop (Moondrop) | Multi-barreled. The leaves are small, green with yellow spots. Up to 40 cm. |
| Nora | The leaves are thick, narrow, with yellow dots. |
| Palmate | Dark green leaves with pronounced veins and sharp ends. Large inflorescences. |
| Variegated | The leaves are partly dark green, partly yellow. Unpretentious. D 1.5 m. |
| Spotted | Large leaves with yellow stains and serrated edges. Unpretentious. |
| Charlotte | The leaves are light yellow on top and dark green below, resembling hearts in shape. Unpretentious. Undersized. |
Home Sheffle Care
Scheffler prefers conditions, as in his homeland, in the tropical and subtropical forests of China, Taiwan and New Zealand. At home, providing them is not at all difficult.
Lighting
This plant is photophilous, but reacts to direct sun rays with burns. Therefore, it is not recommended to put it on the windowsills of the southern windows in summer, only in winter. It will be too dark on the north side (if you do not take into account shade-loving varieties - for example, Amate, Bianca, Arboricola and Custer).
The eastern and western windows are ideal, provided that on hot sunny days the plant is removed from the windowsill or shaded until the sun goes away.
Temperature
Optimum temperature: + 15 ... +22 ° C. Subcooling should not be allowed: if it drops below +10 ° C, root decay begins. A room with variegated varieties should not be cooler than +18 ° C - they like warmth more than green ones.
Watering and humidity
Watering is required moderate - the sheffler does not like excess moisture. Water should only be used at room temperature. Cold water, like air, provokes decay.
In addition, the plant prefers rooms with moist air, so it needs regular spraying with warm water. Adult leaves can be gently wiped with a damp cloth.
Soil requirements
Scheffler needs a nutritious, slightly acidic soil.
A ready-made mixture for palm trees from a store or prepared independently from turf and leafy soil, humus and sand in a ratio of 4: 3: 2: 1, respectively.
So that the water does not stagnate in the pot, causing rotting of the roots, care should be taken about the drainage layer under the ground. Suitable, for example, expanded clay or gravel.
Capacity for landing
It is best to prepare a pot that expands upward. It is desirable that its height and diameter be approximately equal. The presence of drainage holes is a prerequisite, even for ceramic containers.
Fertilizer
In winter, the plant has a rest period, so top dressing is performed from March to September, when it is actively growing. Mineral fertilizers are used with a frequency of 2-3 times a month. Between top dressings, add crushed egg shells to the pot.
Cropping Features
To sheffler acquired a magnificent rounded shape, from time to time it is trimmed. You will need a sharp secateurs and crushed activated carbon to disinfect the sections.
In a young plant, four internodes are cut off on the top branches - this will not allow it to stretch too far up. When the side branches grow to the desired length, the tops are also trimmed on them so that they begin to branch.
Most often, flower growers tend to grow a sheffler as a shtamb (a straight bare trunk) with a crown in the shape of an elegant ball. Sometimes bonsai are formed.
It is not recommended to prune too often or to cut many processes at once - the plant painfully tolerates this procedure.
Transplant Rules
When the roots fill the entire space of the pot, it's time to do a transplant. In young plants, this happens every year, in older ones, every three to four years.
The best time is spring, when the plant leaves the rest mode.
No need to take the pot much larger than the previous one, a difference of 5 cm is enough - otherwise the plant will spend energy not on the growth of leaves, but on the growth of roots.
Transfer the roots of the plant to a new place should be the method of transshipment, together with an earthen lump. The remaining empty space in the pot is filled with fresh soil, slightly compacted and watered. Do not bury the trunk - the ground level should remain the same.
Propagation Features
It is best to propagate a sheffler in the spring. In summer it is too hot for this, and in winter there is not enough daylight. Florists practice three ways:
- seed cultivation;
- cuttings;
- air layering.
Seeds
Seeds must be purchased at the store, because at home it is difficult to obtain them - the plant rarely blooms. You will need a container for planting - of sufficient size so that later it is easy to transplant young plants.
Landing is carried out in the following order:
- Seeds are soaked for a day in a solution of epin or zircon (one or two drops per 100 ml of water).
- The bottom of the container is covered with a layer of drainage, and then at least 20 cm of soil, consisting of earth and sand in a ratio of 1: 1, is filled up.
- Each seed is lowered into a separate hole 15 cm in size and sprinkled with earth.
- The container with seedlings is covered with a film and placed in a warm place (optimal temperature +25 ° C).
- Seedlings are regularly ventilated, watered, and emerged seedlings are sprayed.
- Transplanting into separate pots is required when the sprouts acquire two fully formed leaves.
Cuttings
This is the easiest and most common way. Cuttings can be obtained with the planned pruning of the plant. You should choose the tops of the branches with a lignified stem and a few leaves.
When grafting variegated varieties, shefflers must be remembered that they take root worse than green leaves.
Algorithm:
- The cuttings are cleaned of the lower leaves before planting, and the cut is treated with a root growth stimulator.
- In a large plastic glass, drainage holes are cut, a bit of expanded clay or perlite is poured onto the bottom, then it is filled with soil. A mixture of peat and sand in a ratio of 1: 1 is suitable.
- A few centimeters of cuttings are lowered into the ground, watered and covered with a transparent bag or half a plastic bottle.
- The seedling is kept at a temperature of +23 ° C in the light, but not in direct sunlight, it is watered, sprayed and aired twice a day until it is completely rooted.
Air layering
To achieve the appearance of aerial roots, one of the lateral stems of an adult plant is incised and a wound is wrapped in a layer of moss or cotton wool and wrapped with a film on top. It is periodically removed and moistened with a compress. After the appearance of the roots, the stem is separated and planted in a separate pot.
Pests and diseases
Scheffler is susceptible to the same diseases as other indoor plants. Its juice is poisonous, but some parasites are still dangerous - for example, thrips, scale insects, spider mites and mealybugs. The following table will help you understand how to help a diseased flower.
| Symptoms | Cause | Treatment |
| Withered and falling leaves. |
| Adjust the conditions of care and maintenance. |
| Drying and curling leaf ends. | Lack of moisture. | Provide sufficient (but not excessive) soil moisture, more often spray and wipe the foliage. |
| Blackened leaves, the smell of rot. | Rotting of the roots. | Remove the flower from the pot, cut off the damaged roots and dry. Make sure that the pot has openings for water to exit. Change the soil, be sure to lay the drainage layer on the bottom. Do not overfill. |
| Yellowed and falling leaves, on their reverse side are small brownish growths. | Shield. | Isolate the plant. To process the foliage with a soapy solution, after covering the earth in a pot with a film. If there is no effect, use insecticidal drugs (for example, thiamethoxam) in accordance with the instructions. |
| Brownish spots on the leaves. | Thrips. | |
| Yellowed, wilted, falling leaves, a thin cobweb appears on them. | Spider mite. | Use insecticidal drugs. Maintain humidity. |
| On the leaves and stems are small white insects, leaving behind a whitish coating. | Powdery Worm. | Collect pests by hand, wash off the plaque, spray the plant more often. |
Mr. Summer resident recommends: Scheffler - a flower for harmony
In esoterics, sheffler is credited with the ability to absorb negative energy. It is believed that her presence in the house brings harmony to the family and prevents disagreements, as well as improves memory and has a beneficial effect on learning and work.
There are even several folk signs related to the condition of the plant:
- darkened leaves mean an excess of negativity in the house;
- falling off - a harbinger of illness or a financial crisis;
- twisted - to a quarrel;
- unexplained stunting - to failures;
- sudden rapid growth - to replenish in the family.
