The three species of Aralia listed above are similar in many ways, but each have a few distinct characteristics that warrant a separate discussion. However a few generalizations can be made. First and foremost is water requirements. If a plant is not water stressed in either direction your chances for success are immediately high. (See section on water requirements for plants). The root system on these plants branch from various points along the portion of the cane that is submerged in the soil. These roots are relatively stringy and fine and occupy the entire volume of soil including the portion of the soil directly under the surface. This is important because it means Aralias are prone to drying out the top layer of soil between waterings. This can be a problem because peat based soils, like those used in most nurseries, tend to repel water and resist hydration once they are dry. (See discussion of soil properties on nursery plants). This condition could result in channeling of applied water directly through the soil. Channeling then results in a loss of usable volume for the root system as dry spots within the soil spread. As the problem progresses the plant will lose roots, the ideal length of time between waterings will decrease and all sorts of other problems will result. This phenomenon is in contrast to what you would find with most Dracaenas. Because of the difference in root systems, the top layer of soil is less susceptible to drying except by evaporation.
Fortunately, this problem is easy to check for and correct. There are many soil re wetting agents available. Farm Life has used both a liquid concentrate version and a top dress granular version with success. When watering most plants a low concentration of a liquid re wetting agent in the water would not hurt. Most likely this treatment could be applied every two or three waterings. The decision on how often and what type of re wetting agent to use is now up to you since your environment is unique.
The next obvious question related to watering is how much, or how often. For a general discussion on this topic see the section Water Requirements for Plants. Our experience with Aralias is that they require very little water until they reach a certain overall volume of leaves (and roots), then they can be heavy water users. This later condition is what and end user of these plants would experience. The catch is that Aralias are also highly susceptible to root diseases associated with constantly saturated soils. Aralias however are also tolerant of drought conditions in that they resist wilting or leaf loss during short periods of drought as long as the soil is managed for hydrophobic conditions as discussed above. These characteristics imply a dryer rather than wetter watering strategy with re wetting agents playing a role in properly re wetting the soil.
A high success rate with Aralias and most other plants is achievable first by establishing the correct watering strategy and second by establishing the correct nutrient strategy. Aralias have no significant extra nutrient requirements. This means that any fertilizer suitable for interior foliage plants should work. Fertilizers with a 2-1-2 or 3-1-2 ratio are typically suited for tropical foliage plants. Read the page Water and Nutrient requirement for plants for a general discussion on this topic.
At Farm Life, aphids have been the most often observed insect across all of the species of Aralias. Mites are the second most common and have been observed on only the Fabian and Balfouriana Aralias and not the Ming. However the current body of knowledge agrees that mites can be significant pests on all of these species of Aralia. Mealybugs and scale insects are known as less common pests on Aralias but have not been observed at Farm Life. Since no insecticides or pesticides registered for use in the United States are known to cause toxicities in Aralias there are no special chemical instructions for treating Aralias. Systemic chemicals registered for use in interiorscapes and applied to the soil is a preferred preventative measure for mealybugs and aphids. Always keep hand cleaning as an option if the insects are easy to find and the number of plants is small. Hand cleaning and spraying with horticultural oil is also an effective treatment, if practical. For mites, prevention and treatment can be accomplished with beneficial mites. Our experience is with Phytoseiulus persimilis, but other species are available. This is our number one recommendation for interiorscape mite treatment.
These ranking will be from worst in the category to best in the category. These rankings are based on the observations of these species of Aralias at Farm Life Tropical Foliage nursery in south Florida.