Black Deformed New Growth on Schefflera: Possible Causes

Dark, distorted new leaves on a rapidly growing Schefflera in a conservatory suggest:

Root rot from water accumulation at pot bottom—check drainage, let top several inches dry.
Excess heat at ceiling level (25 ft high) damaging tender new growth.
Hard water mineral buildup reaching toxic levels.
Intense light above 10 ft burning new leaves.

Investigate each; email photos to wcreed@HorticulturalHelp.com for precise diagnosis.

House Plants: Tree Black Growth and Sap: Gummosis from Borers or Black Knot Disease; Removing Rootstock Suckers from Grafted Bartlett Pear; Cattleya New Growth Blackening: Fungal Prevention Strategy; Rescued Phalaenopsis: Which Roots to Cut, Which to Keep; Dendrobium Yellow Leaves and Brown Stem: Evergreen Type Care; Drosera filiformis × intermedia Hybrid Slow Spring Emergence: Normal Extended Dormancy; Fall Browning on Venus Flytraps and Sarracenia: Normal Dormancy; Reviving a Droopy Schefflera with Black New Growth; Ivy with Black Spots and Yellow Leaves: Likely Scale Insects; Arborvitae Black Flagging: Abiotic Stress, Not Disease

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