Hey guys. In the wild, these guys can grow up to 80 to 200 feet tall. Their SAP is actually used to make industrial rubber. So that's where they get their nickname rubber tree or rubber plant from.
They're known for having beautiful foliage which finds so strikingly gorgeous and honestly, they are one of the easiest to care for. So these plants can really become one of your favorites.
Rubber trees can be enjoyed as either medium-sized house plants or grown into beautiful indoor trees. They can grow to impressive heights within a few years, especially if you put the plants outside during the summer.
Light requirements
You can tell if your rubber plant needs more light if it becomes leggy, its leaves lose their luster, and lower leaves fall off. Because the Rubber plants like bright light and a lot of it. But that doesn't mean it can withstand direct sunlight.
Watering Your Ficus
This tree likes when given more moisture. Also, this includes wiping the leaves with a damp cloth or even misting them. And during the dormant season, your plant may only need water once or twice a month.
If you saw droopy leaves, which indicates a need to plant more water. Leaves that turn yellow and brown and drop signal over-watering. Nothing seems complicated.
Water need with lukewarm water. Flower Shop Network explains, “Let cold tap water stand until room temperature as this allows chlorine to evaporate and reduces the shock that cold water can cause to plant roots.”
Fertilize your rubber plant better of all during the growing season only, as is typical with most indoor plants.
Pruning and repotting. Is it really need?
The rubber plants don’t require much pruning. However, for shaping, need the following in mind - don’t cut off the top until your plant reaches the desired height. When you do cut off the top, your plant will branch out. You can always prune and pruning in spring or summer is best but not absolutely necessary.
So that your tree will good to growing need do transplanting to the pot that is about an inch bigger in diameter than the previous pot is a really good rule of thumb.
Propagating Rubber plants
Once your friends and family see how gorgeous your rubber tree is, they’ll probably want one of their own.
Rubber plants are one of those plants that you can just hack a piece from and stick in soil and they can grow. Just need the sap to dry, and then dipping the cutting in rooting medium, it can increase your chances of success.
Also be another method, called air layering, is where you make a cut in a houseplant, put a toothpick in the hole, then pack damp moss around the cut. After that, you wrap it with plastic wrap to keep the moisture level higher. After that roots begin to appear and then need to cut the branch off and plant.
After the performs manipulations, you will have young Ficus Elastica and you can please your friends and loved ones with them.
It is also important to inform that Rubber tree leaves are mildly toxic to humans and pets. And typically, getting inside will cause mouth and stomach irritation and possible vomiting.