Assistance with care for a Rubber Plant

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morrigan Craryville, NY Aug 10, 2008

I have had these before, and I have found thatonce you find the location it LOVEs, leave it there and never move it! I rescued one (after many years) and I think the soil is wrong. New growth is coming out very dwarfed - can anyone give me more detailed info on raising one> I recently discovered they are actually in the ficus family. I really want this one to thrive, the poor little ignored Walmart orphan....Thanks in advance for your help.

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plantladylin (Zone 1) Aug 10, 2008

Hi Morrigan:

I know a lot of people love growing the Rubber Tree as a house plant. They grow in the ground down here in Florida! Here is the link to this plant in the Plant Files data base: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/718/

How long has it been since you repotted your plant? You might want to remove it from it's current container and check the roots. It could possibly be root bound and need a larger pot. I don't know if that would cause dwarfed growth but these plants get really large, really fast sometimes and I think you might want to repot it with fresh potting mix.

Good luck with your Ficus plant, I hope it does well for you.

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WeeNel Ayrshire Scotland, United Kingdom Aug 17, 2008

Plantladylin is right about checking the roots and the soil condition, large plants like the Rubber plant need lots of feeding in the growing season as they are hungry plants, need the right amount of watering's and placed away from bright sunshine, especially if indoors, as sunshine through a window acts like a magnifying glass. remove the plant as mentioned, look at the root system, you may find there is more root than soil, this is a good indication the plant needs a larger pot, more soil and feeding as the roots have depleted any nutrients from the old soil, it is always a good idea to offer some liquid feed say once every 2 weeks at one of your watering's, only as directions on the feed bottle, never sit it in a pot that has no good drainage as they dont like to sit in very wet soil or in a saucer full of water for longer than about an hour, should the saucer fill with water when you do add water, always pour this away after an hour or the roots will just rot away, mist the plant a few times a week indoors as they like a humid atmosphere, especially in winter when we have any heating on, keep it away from gas appliances or radiators in winter months, depending on your summer temps, people often sit these plants outside for a few weeks in summer as this allows them to benefit from more natural light and temps. if you get too much house dust on the foliage, this can effect the size of the leaves as will being pot bound, always wipe the foliage with a soft damp cloth from time to time as this removed any dust and allows air to get to the pores on the leaves. hope this helps you out and you can enjoy your plant for many years to come. WeeNel.

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