Reptile & Amphibian Forums

When I was picking out plants for my cage I heard a lot of bad stuff about ficus. How their sap gets into chams eyes and how all their leaves fall off. I haven't had any problem with my ficus dropping leaves (good thing considering I spend two hours washing scale off of EVERY SINGLE leaf and branch), but my umbrella has been dropping leaves like the trees outside.

It's only a little taller than about halfway up the cage. Do you think maybe it's not getting enough light? Do any of you have umbrellas? How do you care for them?
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~Melissa
1.0 Ambanja Panther (Diesel)
0.1 African Hegdehog (Kaimah)

I have only ever had one, and I had the same problem. Are the leaves burning? When was the last time you fed it or replaced the soil?

Try giving it some plant food, natural if possible (if the cham is eating the leavfes you dont want chemicals in the leaves) or better yet, put it in some compost. You can even dig out a binch of the dirt and replace it with compost, thus leaving the plant there and not having to stress it out with a transplant.

As long as the plant is within several feet of the UV light I woudlnt worry about it. I have seen pothos leaves turn towards the UV light at 3' away from the thing.

Don't water them too much! They like it dry! With all the dripping water from mistings etc, you shouldn't need to water it at all. If it doesnt get any, then once or twice a week at most.

Good luck with the Umbrella.

I heard that umbrellas need light Under there leaves or else they can die. I would suggest getting on of those compact fluerescents (The ones hat can screw into a socket like lightbulbs) and put it in the lower part of the cage, TRhey are used for growing plants and they might work.
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0.2 Cats (Moora and Twitch)
0.1 Dogs (Maria)
soon to be 1.0 Panther Chameleon (Yoda)

Melissa,
What type of lights do you have in your enclosure? While your cham benefits from the UV, it does little or nothing for your plants. The spectrum of light, not the presence of UV is what is important (this is why pants can grow in greenhouses or behind windows). I would recommend getting a full spectrum bulb, either fluorescent or incandescent. They also give off a very nice "white " color that makes the enclosure look great. -Oz

For watering I got one of those meters... my larger trees are planted deep enough that i can't see/feel how far down the water goes. I know hybiscus also like to dry right out between watering and it gives me an idea of how dry it is in there... Also if there is a lot of water collected in the bottom of the pot it could be root rot. I don't know much about umbrella plants though...
Try the things mentioned and you can also do a google.com search and find some plant forums. That's what i did when i got my sick hybiscus from my gramma. It seems to be doing really well now...
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~Lindsay
0.1 panther chameleon (Orion)
1.2 r. brevicaudatus chams (unnamed)
0.1 leopard gecko (Acadia)
1.0 pictus gecko (Raine)
1.1 parakeets (Bongo/Citron)
1.1 cats (Tigger/Bonzai)
1.0 dwarf hampster (Chico the monster)
someday will have 1.1 great danes (will be Osiris and Solaris)

Do normal household bulbs give off the full spectrum of light?

I've been taking it out of the cage on occasion so it can "bask" in front of the window. We'll see if it helps.
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~Melissa
1.0 Ambanja Panther (Diesel)
0.1 African Hegdehog (Kaimah)

Melissa,
Normal incandescents don't give off a full "spectrum". The spectrum of light is the different wavelengths, or colors, produced and is measured in Kelvins (K). Sunlight can range from 5500 - 6500K, normal fluorescents 4400K and incandescents are usually quite below that. Just check the bulb labels and see - I am not sure if it is GE or Philips - but someone makes a Reveal brand bulb that provides a decent spectrum of light. Hope this helps.

Schefflera's are great plants if you don't over water. Once they are they are not forgiving at all. With high humidity and the possibity of a dripper dripping right into the pot or heavy misting it can be tough. Make sure your dripper isn't right above or that all the excess is flowing down stem to soil.

As for ficus dropping leaves...they are very sensitive to change: repotting, move to another corner of your room, drafts, light changes. However, if otherwise healthy they will spring back with new leaves. Hope this helps

lele
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.5 Mad. Hissers (for summer - all girls, no little ones, whew!)

Wow, thanks for all the replies. The dripper goes into my ficus, I know that the umbrella is definately not getting overwatered. It may actually be too dry.

I have an incadescent bulb over the cage (in addition to UV) but it is angled off so that it doesn't hit the umbrella directly. Maybe I will try repositioning it. A friend was telling me about those compact fluorescents, so maybe I will try that to.
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~Melissa
1.0 Ambanja Panther (Diesel)
0.1 African Hegdehog (Kaimah)

Hi melissa,

here is a pic of my setup (not great but it will do). My scheff is the main plant in the back. it has both the basking and MVB about 8-10" above it. I have no problems other then it can get a bit leggy but she doesn't care. She usually has a big croton where that hibiscus is but the hibiscus it about to burst with a couple flowers (which she likes)

If the moisture and light seems OK you may have some insect damage going on and it may need close inspection for you to find. Spider mites are hard to see but they genrally prefer a dry environment. There are alwasy aphids, whiteflies or scale...

lele

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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.5 Mad. Hissers (for summer - all girls, no little ones, whew!)