Why are my Schefflera leaves turning brown and drop?

Question

My Schefflera started to get a lot of brown leaves and after some time drop them.

I've already used the almighty google but didn't find pictures that match the symptomes closely, so here I am. I've attached pictrues showing the leaves, plant and the plant relative to the window. The leaves in question are most of the time on the "inside" of the plant, so maybe light is the problem.

Bought the plant two months ago, is still in original pot and gets watered roughly once a week with roughly 1/2 liter of water making sure there is no standing water. I've also fertilized the plant two times with liquid hydroponics fertilizer in the same concentration I use on my young (first adult leaves) hydro salad (which is doing great).

Not enough light? Mold? Not enough water? To much water? Shock from fertilizer? Not enough air circulation? To cold (15°-19°C)?

Answer 1

Lack of light is why the plant is dropping leaves. Growers try to acclimatize plants by putting them under shade cloth for a few months but your plant is quite far from any sunlight.

Move the plant next to a window facing south, east or west.

For most indoor plants the foliage is thin enough if you can see your hand when you put it behind the plant.

There is no need to fertilize now as the plant is not receiving enough light to use it. Try again next summer.

As the plant is new you should also watch for mealybug and scale which are common pests of this plant that might emerge in the next month or so.