Grow a Rubber Tree
The rubber tree or plant (Ficus elastica decora) is a favorite houseplant. Rubber plants have large, thick, glossy green leaves. New leaves have a rosy colored sheath. Rubber trees will grow well in most homes with just a little care. In the right conditions the plant will become quite large so it is not a plant for homes with limited space. Here is how to grow a rubber tree.
Steps
- Plant the rubber plant in a good houseplant potting soil, not garden soil.
- Make sure that the pot the rubber plant is in has good drainage.
- Keep the rubber plant in temperatures above 55ºF (12.7ºC).
- Provide bright light for rubber plants.
- Place them in a south window from September to March.
- Move them from the south window to an east or west window in summer months.
- Place them in an east or west window all year if you don’t have the option of repositioning them throughout the year.
- Provide very bright artificial light.
- Water the rubber plant correctly.
- Let the soil dry slightly before watering. The top should feel dry to the touch.
- Add water to the pot until it drains from the bottom.
- Empty drained water from saucers or trays promptly.
- Use rainwater or distilled water if possible.
- Give the plant room temperature water.
- Fertilize the rubber plant with a houseplant fertilizer according to label directions once a year in late March or early April.
- Mist the rubber plant with warm water in the morning if conditions are hot and dry.
- Wipe rubber plant leaves with a damp cloth if they get dusty.
- Remove any yellow or dead leaves.
- If the plant starts to get top-heavy, repot the rubber plant in a pot just a few inches wider and deeper than it was in.
- Prune your rubber plant to keep it in bounds.
- Prune the plant for height or width by trimming stems off at the correct height or width with bypass pruning shears.
- Cut stems off just above a leaf node.
- Prune an overgrown rubber plant with bare bottom stems down to 2 leaf joints from the soil line. It should re-grow in a bushier form.
Tips
- As rubber trees age, it is natural for them to lose leaves on the bottom, even with proper light.
- There are now varieties of rubber trees with very dark, almost black leaves and leaves variegated with cream color. These are both a little harder to keep in the home.
- Rubber trees enjoy a summer outside in a shady location and can be grown outside in frost-free climates.
- Rubber trees are close relatives of Weeping Figs.
- A rubber plant that is older but healthy, with long bare bottom stems, can be air layered to start a new plant. Make a cut in the stem just below the healthy leafy portion--about halfway through the stem. Dip a wet toothpick in rooting hormone and insert it crosswise in the cut, to hold it open just a little. Wrap the cut area with sphagnum peat soaked in water, then wrap plastic wrap around the moss just tight enough to keep the moss on the plant. In a few weeks, you should see roots growing in the sphagnum moss. Cut the stem completely off below the new roots and plant your new plant in a pot.
Warnings
- If a rubber plant loses all of its leaves in a short time the problem is usually over-watering. Dump out any water from trays and don’t water until the pot is dry. If the roots aren’t too rotted the plant may put out new leaves.
- Do not prune a rubber plant below at least one set of healthy leaves or it cannot resume growth.
Things You’ll Need
- Good houseplant potting soil
- Houseplant fertilizer
- Bypass pruning shears
Related Articles
- Plant Fruit Trees
- Stake up a Bush or Tree
- Grow a Pencil Tree (Euphorbia Tirucalli)
- Plant a Bare Root Tree
- Care for Ficus
Sources and Citations
- Hessayon, Dr.D.G., The Houseplant Expert, London, England, Expert Books, 1994, pg.142-143
- Editors, Sunset Magazine, Sunset National Garden Book , Menlo Park, CA, Sunset Books, 1997 pg 305
