Braided Umbrella Tree (Schefflera Arboricola)

This was one of my earliest experiments in botanical babes.  I received it March 2012 and it was stowed in a room that received a lot of hot evening western sun.  It originally had three separate trunks and was very full, as you can see in the first photo.

March 2012:

I'm not sure if it was the heat or if it was the gnat-like bugs that accumulated in this warm room, but there was significant leaf drop.  It would happen to one trunk at a time.  The first trunk started dropping leaves, probably one cluster per day.  When no leaves were left, the trunk would turn black and ultimately it pulled out with barely even a tug!  When this started to happen to the second trunk, I hung some bug traps and caught almost all of the gnats, and moved the plant to a more climate-controlled room with comparable light.  It was too late to save the second trunk, but this maneuver managed to spare the third trunk.

March 2013:

After about a year I realized that the density of the foliage could only improve with additional trunks, as was the intent of the original clustering.  So I tried to propagate.  I had read that you can snip off a short segment from the top, stick it in rooting hormones and water, and roots will emerge after a week or two.  I waited over a month and still no roots emerged.  I ended up tossing the top clipping because it started to stink.

I had held off trying this technique because I worried this would stunt the original main trunk.  However, as you can see in the images below, a new trunk shoot has sprouted out near to where the old top had been clipped.

November 2013, before clipping:

November 2013, after clipping:

May 2014, new sprout growth: