Shefflera?

I think so, just haven't figured out species.

Thank you Al. Any suggestions? Knowing the name is a huge help.

Hmmm. I suspect some of the yellowing is overwatering. I will check for root rot. This is planted directly into the ground, not a pot. I do not know how deeply the soil layer goes. Doesn't explain the brown spots does it? I am thinking about pruning all the lower leaves, staking the plant if possible and pruning the top, the pictures I will be taking tomorrow should help that.

Hmmmm. The plant is suffering for a reason, so you need to fix the cause, or expect more of the same. It might be root bound, and that would be a major issue. The plant is in the process of shedding the yellow leaves. The brown spots are from over-watering, under-watering, or a high level of salts in the soil. You should probably try to figure out if the roots are contained within a given volume of soil, and if the plant is in a container, does it have a drain hole?

Al

It is not in a container. I suspect a mix, likely underwatered while on the market followed by overwatering since my friends took over. Give a kid a hose, and an indoor jungle.... ;) I will have to see how deep the dirt goes. I do not think potting it will be possible, its too big.

Read HERE as I believe you would be right to consider that it could be over-watered. They like it much drier than S. arboricola. Yes etiolated, and (hard to tell from these pics) too large for its space. Trunk chop at an appropriate height to encourage branching would be near the top of my list.

ez

Here is the full thing, the artificial lighting was off when I took this. We are trying to come up with a better lighting solution, I don't know how they will so without the lights. Assuming that gets resolved, if anyone can give me pruning tips? That link was extremely helpful EZ, thank you. I am glad to know I can be vicious with pruning if I need to.

It's not getting enough light, so there are lots of chops in the plant's future. I'd just chop it back to wherever you like & wait for it to back-bud, which it will. Figure out the soil/drain thing and whether the salts in the soil have somewhere to go (like into the ground). You'll need to fertilize with something other than kelp extract, too. I suggest Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 for many reasons, but importantly, it helps keep plants more compact (less rangy) due to the fact it doesn't get it's N from urea. That's a major consideration in poor light conditions.

Al

I might try to relocate it to right in front of the window after chopping. The lighting is permanent, and too far away to help this. Also, think I might try rooting the portions that get pruned, at least the greener bits of it. Thanks for the tip on the fertilizer, will get some of that too.