Is this just a dying plant or is it diseased?

[thePopeJP]

It's a schefflera and it was growing well, ever since I repotted it in miracle grow organic choice potting soil, with sand below and above for drainage, and river rocks on top, it has been slowly dying...

So is it diseased? Just in shock from repot? Or dying?

 

[Carlton]

It's a schefflera and it was growing well, ever since I repotted it in miracle grow organic choice potting soil, with sand below and above for drainage, and river rocks on top, it has been slowly dying...

So is it diseased? Just in shock from repot? Or dying?

View attachment 48583
View attachment 48585

Sand, especially if it is fine sand, isn't all that great for pot drainage and also tends to suffocate the plant's roots because the spaces between the grains get saturated and don't permit air. Sand can compact into a really dense layer. So, a few things to check...

Is the soil down deep in the pot wet or bone dry? If wet, the roots could be rotting. Plants don't want to be constantly wet and the sand may make it harder for the roots to dry between watering. If the soil is bone dry, the roots are not getting enough water. The water may get trapped in the upper layers of soil.

Is the plant losing leaves from the bottom branches away from the lights? If a plant is starved for light it will tend to sacrifice leaves that aren't able to absorb light lower down, leaving only a few at the crown. This means your cage isn't providing enough general light to keep the plant going. You can fix this by adding an ordinary fluorescent tube vertically along one side or back of the cage. Could be a "spent" ReptiSun or a grow bulb.

 

[thePopeJP]

I've seen plant grow lights at Walmart that look good? Just wondered if they have any light frequencies that would be bad for the chameleon? They come with a fixture so I thought that would be a good solution.

I have clay pellets/balls from Zilla or another company, should I replace the sand drainage layer with these? I've seen people doing this... But do they expand a lot?

Also, the leaves at the top used to be growing like crazy towards the light, and now they're beginning to wither. So I'm guessing it's a combination of the two things you're suggesting?