Inside Bonsai Development

Caring for a Dwarf in Chicago





Care instructions for this plant are very simple. Get good light, water regularly and fertilize very sparingly. That is really all there is to it!

There are basically two different seasons for plants in Chicago. Summer and the nine other months of the year which is overcast. The plants need very different care depending upon the season.

I find I need to water twice a week during the summer, once a week during the rest of the year. In my case some of my trees are rooted in pieces of volcanic rock. The rocks make watering a snap. Just submerge the rock in a container of water and let it sit for thirty minutes. When you pull out the rock you will notice it is substantially heavier. Judging the weight of the rock by touch is probably the best way to tell if it is time to water. For my trees not in lava, I water them liberally. It is almost impossible to overwater these trees. I have never killed a dwarf schefflera by overwatering it, so err on the side of too much water.

During the sunny months make sure your plant sees some light. Ideally the plant should sit outside. On extremely sunny days shade the plant, but otherwise let it get some direct light. You'll know your plant is getting too much sun when it develops a sunburn on the leaves. Generally speaking, this is a pretty rare occurance in this area. If the plant can not be outside, set it next to the window which gets the most light. A west facing window would be ideal.

To fertilize or not, tis the question. Do not fertilize the tree. Fertilizing is one of the easiest ways to kill these trees. Fertilizing an unhappy tree will kill it. Over fertilizing a tree will kill it. Your tree can only make use of fertilizer while it is actively growing, so do not apply any fertilizer October through May. During the summer you can try adding a single drop of liquid fertilizer to your biweekly watering. I use miracle gro house plant liquid fertilizer, it works pretty well. Fertilizing will definitely help the rate at which your trees grow. Just be careful, better to be safe than sorry.