Balfouriana Aralia (Polyscias Balfouriana) Profile: Plant Info & Care Guide

Balfouriana Aralia (Polyscias balfouriana, Aralia Balfour) is a very popular houseplant. For indoor maintenance, attention should be paid to places with scattered light, and some direct sunlight throughout the day is also acceptable. Balfouriana Aralia likes high temperature wet, drought and shade tolerance. Balfouriana Aralia has beautiful posture, antique, suitable for decoration in the living room, garden, flower garden, can also be appreciated as bonsai.   

Balfouriana Aralia Picture

Balfouriana Aralia Morphological Features

Balfouriana Aralia is an evergreen shrub or small tree, the plant is more branched, the stem is grayish brown, covered with lanceolata. Branches are soft, alternate leaves, 3-leaflet pinnately compound or simple, leaflets broadly ovate or subround, base cordate, margin serrate, green.1~2 pinnate compound leaves, alternate leaves, odd pinnate compound leaves, leaflets round, base heart-shaped, margin without silver white markings.  

Balfouriana Aralia plant height is 1- 3 meters, slender lateral branches, branching lenticels significant. Stems has straight growth, older plants often lower leaves fall off, stem exposed, forming a tall foot, leaf type and stem have characteristics, alternate leaves, odd pinnate compound leaves, leaflets 3--4 pairs, opposite, elliptic or long elliptic, serrate margin, green leaves often have white spots, scattered inflorescences, small flowers, pale white green.

Balfouriana Aralia's roots are quaint, with pockets of green leaves that resemble dark green.

Balfouriana Aralia Ecological Habits

Balfouriana Aralia is native to Pacific Islands. It likes warm, humid and sunny environments. It can withstand semi-shade, not cold, and is afraid of drought. balfouriana aralia (Polyscias balfouriana) loves light and has a strong negative tolerance, so it is necessary to create an environment with good sunlight but a degree of shade. It avoids direct light, especially should avoid the late spring and early summer long rain after the sun exposure and summer noon around 5~6 hours without blocking the strong light baking, otherwise it is easy to lead to new smoke young leaves were burned.

Polyscias balfouriana prefers bright light, warmth, resistance to cold, and humidity. The suitable temperature for growth is 22 ~ 28℃, spring and winter three seasons, pot soil surface dry and then watering, summer morning and evening watering. 

How to Grow and Care for Balfouriana Aralia

Balfouriana Aralia indoor care should be focused on areas with scattered light, or some direct sunlight throughout the day. Water can not be poured too much, generally keep the basin soil slightly wet. Pay attention to ventilation. Soil with loose, fertile, drainage good cultivation soil had better.  

Temperature Care for Balfouriana Aralia

Balfouriana Aralia growth temperature ranges from 15 ℃ to 30℃, which can be maintained at 20℃ to 30℃ from spring to autumn, and at 13 ℃ to 20℃ from autumn to spring of the following year. Beautiful plants are usually more delicate, and so are phlotrians. Its variegated varieties are less resistant to cold. In general, Balfouriana Aralia (Polyscias balfouriana) should be maintained at a room temperature of no less than 10℃ in winter. When the summer temperature of 32 degrees above, also can not be left to their own devices, mass production to build shade, family viewing to be put in the shade, and to the surrounding water cooling, to create a relatively close to the original conditions of the cool small environment. In late autumn and early winter, when the temperature drops to 15℃, it should be moved indoors in time to avoid cold damage to the plants. In winter, if the room temperature can be maintained above 20℃, the stems and leaves still continue to grow. If the temperature is not high, Balfouriana Aralia stops growing and enters a semi-dormant state.

Balfouriana Aralia Light Requirements

Balfouriana Aralia likes light and has strong negative tolerance, should create a better sunshine but a certain degree of shade environment.It avoid direct light, especially should avoid the late spring and early summer long rain after the sun exposure and summer noon around 5~6 hours without blocking the strong light baking, otherwise it is easy to lead to new smoke young leaves were burned. In productive cultivation, from late spring to Mid-Autumn, Balfouriana Aralia (Polyscias balfouriana) should be placed under shade shade with shading of 50 ~ 70%, but not too dark, otherwise, it will lead to elongated young leaves, yellowing and lapsing leaves, and sparse leaflet spacing, which will affect the compact and beautiful plants. Supplemental light should be given to potted plants that are moved to the shed during the winter. Basin soil moisture to keep dry, plants can keep disease-free all year long. The newly extracted pinnate compound leaves did not show obvious phototaxis and the plant type was good. 

Balfouriana Aralia needs bright light, lack of light easy to cause stems and leaves long, leaf package dim, faded stripes, but at the same time avoid strong light exposure, especially after the early summer long rain, to prevent the leaves from being burned. Domestic potted, can be put in ventilated good places at ordinary times, summer can be put in north or east to the window, winter should put at indoor light more advantage. For productive cultivation, from mid-spring to Mid-Autumn, shade should be placed under a canopy, shading 40 ~ 60% of the sunlight according to the intensity of the light and the duration of the light. In general, Balfouriana Aralia (Polyscias balfouriana) grows best in semi-light, brightly scattered light.

Balfouriana Aralia Watering

In order to maintain a good pot Balfouriana Aralia, efforts should be made to create a wet and dry environment for it. For productive cultivation, plants placed in a greenhouse should be sprayed with water once a day when the room temperature is above 33℃. Because Balfouriana Aralia (Polyscias balfouriana) has stronger drought tolerance, should be in order to maintain basin soil micro wet partial dry had better, but occasionally irrigate water fertilizer excessive, also do not cause root rot root. In winter, we should pay attention to spray water on the leaf surface and the surrounding environment, so that the relative air humidity can reach more than 50%. After the Mid-Autumn Festival to reduce watering, or watering, to yesterday in the new leaves of the peace winter. In addition, in winter, special attention should be paid to the soil in the basin should not be too wet, and it is better to be dry. Otherwise, under low temperature conditions, too wet soil in the basin is more likely to lead to root rot, or even the death of the whole plant.

Potted Balfouriana Aralia likes moist soil and air. The growing period should have sufficient moisture supply, water again after treating basin soil surface becomes dry, the soil is a bit dry also just as well, but cannot water too much, avoid to cause seeps to rot root. High summer temperature, in addition to adequate watering, but also need to spray once a day to the foliage, both can make the foliage clean and bright, but also improve the air humidity around the plant. In late autumn and early winter, when the temperature drops to below 15℃, watering should be controlled. Winter should reduce the amount of water burning, or to spray water instead of watering, basin soil to keep slightly moist and slightly dry, but when spraying foliage, pay attention to the water temperature and room temperature is basically the same.

Soil for Balfouriana Aralia

Because of the special climatic conditions in the place of origin of C. chinensis, Balfouriana Aralia has formed strong drought resistance, so the basic requirement for cultivation substrate is good permeability. 

The family can be placed in a bright room for a long time, if you can see a few hours of sunshine indoors every day, the growth is more vigorous. Avoid direct exposure to strong outdoor sunlight in summer. During the growing period, keep the basin soil moist but not stagnant water, and often spray the Balfouriana Aralia with water close to the room temperature to increase air humidity and make the leaves fresh. Every 2 weeks or so apply foliage plant special fertilizer or decompose thin liquid fertilizer, if the flower and leaf varieties, pay attention to the nitrogen content in the fertilizer liquid should not be too high, so as not to reduce the pattern on the leaf, or even disappear.

After September, stop fertilization, so that Balfouriana Aralia new wood mature, conducive to overwintering. Winter in the indoor sunny place, appropriate to reduce watering, the temperature should be maintained at more than 12 degrees Celsius, otherwise the temperature is too low and leads to a large number of leaves, or even plant death. Every 2 years to 3 years for a basin, basin soil requirements loose and fertile, rich in humus, and have good drainage permeability, available leaf rot soil or peat soil plus 1/3 of the river sand, and mixed with a small amount of rotten chicken, cow dung as a base fertilizer.

Balfouriana Aralia Humidity

Balfouriana Aralia (Polyscias balfouriana) can tolerate drought, so it's important to keep the soil slightly wet and dry. It's a leaf-viewer, and in the summer heat, it often splashes water on its leaves to make them bright dark green.

How to Propagate Balfouriana Aralia

The propagation of the Balfouriana Aralia can be cut 1 to 2 years old branches for cuttings, cuttings about 10 cm long, remove most of the leaves to reduce evaporation, under the condition of 20℃ to 25℃, maintain high air humidity, 4 weeks to 6 weeks can take root. You can also go to the flower market to buy specially for cuttings with lignified stem cuttings, also easy to survive.

Balfouriana Aralia Varieties

Polyscias J. R. & G. Forst., a genus of Panax japonicus, has been introduced and cultivated in the gardens of big cities in China. It differs from Paraumenopsis in that it has a 512-cell ovary and its fruit is not lateral flat.Polyscias filicifolia (Ridley) Bailey, polyscias balfouriana Bailey, polyscias fruticosa (Linn.) Harms and Polyscias guilfoylei (Cogn. & March.) Bailey var. lacin were introduced into China

Balfouriana Aralia Distribution

Balfouriana Aralia is native to New Caledonia and is now widely cultivated in the tropics.

Balfouriana Aralia Value

Balfouriana Aralia (Polyscias balfouriana) stem is tall and straight, leaf is bright and changeful. Balfouriana Aralia is the plant that watches leaves, the place such as the plant adornment of usable different specifications sitting room, bedroom, study, balcony, already fashionable elegance, natural and pure and fresh. 

Balfouriana Aralia fits well in the living room as well as the corner. It not only to soften the stiff sense of interior decoration, and can prosperous wealth, make business is thriving. The effect of Balfouriana Aralia is mainly reflected in the indoor purification function: it can absorb formaldehyde and other harmful gases, and purify the cloudy air. Balfouriana Aralia can also improve the humidity of the room, which is beneficial for skin absorption.