Ficus Elastica (Rubber Plant)

I am soooooooo ready to toss this sucker. He is my favorite one of the bunch and he is really annoying me at the moment. I actually think he has a plant disease or something. I have tried everything under the sun. He hasn't been moved in two months. He's losing a major amount of leaves, It has slowed down from the 7-8 leaves lost a day to about 1-3 a day. I gave him a major rub down with rubbing alcohol, In case there were any bugs or anything on the surface that needed to be removed. The leaves aren't healthy when they drop off they have these black patches and the leaves curl up on themselves and die off. SOme of the newer ones do not have the perkiness that they should. They are looking rather weak. I fear now, even if I do a chop chop (cut away all growth) that i will still lose him. Whatever it is I fear it is beyond my control, unless the sell medicine for diseased plants....lol
Welp thats my sad tale for the day....lol
Holly

Strange you should post this. I've had a rubber plant that I've never really liked - as a houseplant, we tend to just let them get one tall stick and they look pretty silly mixed in with othr plants. I did once nick off the top bud, and it grew four side branches, but the leaves fell off most of those (could be because I didn't much care about it and didn't much water it). Twice, I tried air-layering, and the cut edges just grew together again.

When I reorganised recently, I dug him out and left him in the pot untended for a couple of weeks. Then I felt guilty (he was 6' high), so I chopped off the three side shoots that still had some leaves on, cut off most of the leaves, shortened the sticks to 8", dunked the bottom end in hormone rooting powder and put them in a pot of compost. I also put in the top 8", with no leaves at all on. Put it in the shade, but still didn't bother to water for another week at least.

On Sunday, I went to move the pot, and probably throw the lot out. The pot was full of roots! If you've otherwise given up on yours, why not try a cutting or two?

Mary: your post came at just the right time. I recently hacked my leggy rubber plant to bits (cut off the main stem and the side shoots) and put them in a pot to root. I wasn't holding out much hope, but now I feel encouraged. Thanks.

I also left a six inch stick (with roots) in the original pot, on the possibility it might resprout.

Karen

KayElJay,

(Were you also known as Karen NY6?) Either way, here comes some more encouragement for you abt this.

I recently beheaded my F. Elastica Variegata (one of my very favorites, had to steel myself to do it). Over time it had lost most of its lower leaves. Well I chopped off the tops, & potted them up separately. Also repotted to 2 original stems (refreshed only 1/2 its mix, kept 1/2 the original mix). About a week ago, the original stems (which still had their original roots), sprouted new leaves from the bottom of the original stems. Very exciting to see, now each new shoot has about 3 or 4 leaves, all variegated & one even w/ a crimson hightlight (which its parent showed in peak summer w/ a lot of light).

Meanwhile the tops I had cut off aren't doing too well, so I got fed up (their leaves were all dry & brittle), pulled on the stems which came right out. Cut the top off one which, was crisp & I tossed, cut the other top off, to find green stem, so I put that in water to see if it too will root.

So do have hope, cause you never can tell & besides, these are pretty rugged, sturdy plants. Best of luck w/ yours.

Thanks, Pirate Girl

And yes, you are correct about my identity.

Karen

I am the worst with house plants... they get get overwatered so often and then they rot. The same happened with my rubber ficus tree...had black splotches on the leaves, too (fungal whatever), so I gave up and planted it outdoors. Fortunately they do great here in So Cal, and sure enough, it turned around. I never water it. It's now about 12' tall... not a good size for a house plant, but at least it's alive and healthy.

I notice that many people have trouble with Ficus. I am fortunate that mine have been growing well. However, I can't attribute it to giving them any special care.
I have a theory that it's best to buy Ficus species as SMALL plants. I suspect the smaller plants are more tolerant of change, and also probably less likely to have come in contact with the dreaded Scale or other nasties.

A couple of years ago, I bought a F. benjamina 'Silver Cloud' as a little plant in a four inch pot. It is in a very low light area, watered only when I think to do it, and yet it seems perfectly fine with this. I was quite surprised when I started to learn from the Net that many people consider these guys fussy!
Maybe the 'Silver Cloud' cultivar is just more resiliant, but I suspect if I had subjected a bigger tree to these sub-par conditions it would have pouted, as so many other people's plants do.

Likewise, I bought my burgundy rubber tree as a starter size plant, no more than six inches tall. It has lived with me for six months now and has yet to drop even one leaf.
Despite the advice to keep them away from direct sun, I keep my rubber tree in a Southern window that is only lightly shaded (perhaps the green variety might get burned by the high light, but my burgundy one seems to be fine with it).
It's in a part of the house that is not air conditioned, so it gets quite warm. I can't remember when I watered it last, but it's been a few weeks. These conditions seem to agree with the plant, as it's growing nicely.

I'm just going by my experiences and I can't say that this is the answer for everyone's Ficus woes, BUT I have a hunch that these guys are more forgiving when you acquire them young.