Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Indoor plants

Follow this guide to make sure your rubber tree plant thrives

Stacey Nguyen
By

The rubber tree plant, or ficus elastica, is one of the sleekest varieties of common houseplants. An elegant addition to any collection, it features leathery lance-shaped leaves that come in either dark green or creamy (and often colorful) patterned leaves emerging from a central stem. Not only is the rubber tree plant stunning, but it’s also easy to maintain. If you’ve always wondered about how to care for one, we put together a comprehensive guide on everything that you need to know!

Rubber plant
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Where to keep your rubber tree plant

Native to Southeast Asia, ficus elastica is commonly an indoor houseplant, but you can keep it outside. It’s hardy to climate zones 10 and 11, so it’s best to bring it indoors during the winter if you live in colder regions. If you keep your plant outside, leave it in a shady spot or somewhere with dappled indirect bright light. The same goes for indoor plants—you’ll want to keep your plant where it receives bright indirect light.

Rubber tree
Lina Mo / Shutterstock

General rubber tree plant care

While the rubber tree plant is relatively easy to care for, there are a few tips and tricks that you can keep in mind to help your plant thrive.

  • Light: The rubber plant can survive low-light situations, although it will do best in bright indirect light. If you have a variegated plant, it appreciates having access to as much light as possible. Sun stressing colorful types, such as the ruby, will help deepen foliage color. That said, you may get burnt tips if you give your plant too much direct bright light.
  • Soil: As rubber tree plants do not like wet feet, a well-draining soil is ideal for them. An equal combination of indoor potting mix, cactus soil, and perlite can work well for the rubber plant. For extra drainage, throw in bark or coarse sand.
  • Water: The best time to water a rubber plant is when the top inch or two of the soil dries out. The rubber plant is drought tolerant, although you may experience wilting and dropping leaves if you leave it dry for too long. In the winter, water your plant about half as much as you normally would because this is when it goes dormant. A sign that you might be overwatering your ficus elastica is if its leaves start to yellow and drop—the rubber plant will especially be vulnerable to root rot in the winter.
  • Temperature:  Rubber plants appreciate warmth and do best at room temperature. They dislike drafts, so make sure to keep them away from AC units and heaters to keep their leaves from dropping.
  • Fertilizer: An all-purpose liquid fertilizer or any type of balanced fertilizer will suffice for rubber plants throughout the growing season.
  • Pests: Rubber tree plants aren’t prone to pests, but they may occasionally experience aphids or scale insects that feed on the plant’s sweet nectar. In this case, you can treat your foliage with neem oil or insecticidal soap.
  • Leaf maintenance: With rubber plants, you’ll occasionally want to wipe your leaves with a wet towel so that they retain their glossy shine and photosynthesize properly. Pruning the leaves is another way you can care for your plant—it’ll shoot out more growth for a bushier look.
Ficus elastica propagation
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Propagating rubber plants

Cuttings

Propagating a rubber plant is extremely easy, and it’s a great way to get your plant to grow out even fuller.  All you have to do is take a cutting with a clean knife or pair of scissors. Make sure that the part you take has at least three sets of leaves so that you can twist off the lower leaves to expose the nodes. When you cut the stem and expose the nodes, you may notice a white latex oozing out—this is completely normal, but do keep in mind that it’s toxic and can irritate the skin. Stop the sap from bleeding by pressing a tissue against the cut stem.

Recommended Videos

You can place your cutting inside either water or soil. Rubber plants can be slow to root, so don’t fret if you don’t see leaves right away. To expedite root growth, you can dip your nodes into a rooting powder.

Related

Air layering

Propagating by air layering is another way to multiply your plant. Start by twisting off a few leaves. Then, take a dull knife and carefully slice a branch in half for about four inches. Spread rooting hormone in the cut and wedge some moistened moss in between the sliced branch. You’ll then want to wrap more moss around the branch and exposed nodes, tying everything together with saran wrap.

So that’s the rubber tree plant, demystified. This plant is a gem when it comes to common houseplants—not only is it readily accessible, but it’s also sleek and easy to maintain. With warm temperatures and sparse watering sessions, you’ll have a healthy, beautiful rubber plant that you can easily propagate and share.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Stacey Nguyen
Stacey Nguyen
Contributor
Stacey's work has appeared on sites such as POPSUGAR, HelloGiggles, Buzzfeed, The Balance, TripSavvy, and more. When she's…
The dos and don’ts of caring for your bonsai tree
Basic bonsai tree care tips and tricks
Bonsai tree in purple rectangular pot blooming purple flowers

Bonsai trees are, by design, relaxing and beautiful to look at. Thanks to the internet and international shipping, bonsai trees are becoming more and more popular in America, and many gardeners are interested in bringing one of these stunning works of living art home. Bonsai trees need light, water, and fertilizer like any other plant, but their shape and size also need to be maintained. If you plan on growing your own bonsai tree, there are a few things you’ll need to know first. Here is your guide to the basics of bonsai.

What is bonsai?
Bonsai is the traditional Japanese art of growing miniature trees. A bonsai tree is any small tree grown in a shallow pot or dish that is trained to grow in a way that resembles a fully grown tree. You can think of bonsai almost like a living sculpture, and like any other art form, there are certain conventions and traditions that bonsai artists follow.

Read more
Here’s how to care for your aloe vera plant to reap its soothing benefits
Tips on watering, pruning, and propagating your aloe vera plant
Aloe vera pups

Of the hundreds of plants in the aloe genus, aloe vera probably has the most established reputation as a powerhouse personal care ingredient. The plant is best known for its versatile leaf gel, which you can use to soothe scrapes, burns, and other minor irritations. As a succulent, it’s relatively easy to grow and maintain, but there are things you should know about it to give it the best care possible. Ahead, we’ve gathered everything you need to know about this healing desert marvel — with these tips, you'll be ready to harvest it in no time.

What you need to know about the aloe vera plant
Aloe often grows in a rosette form — many varieties are spineless, but some have spines and teeth along their fleshy, upright leaves. They can push out tubular red, orange, or yellow flowers outside during the growing season. The most common variety is aloe barbadensis, or aloe vera. Aloe vera is often found in food, drinks, medicine, and personal care items — that's right, it's in beverages as well. It features dagger-like, fleshy green leaves with serrated edges, and you can grow aloe vera directly in the ground or containers. The leaves can grow up to two feet long and the plant, when grown outside, can sometimes push out a yellow flower stalk up to three feet tall.

Read more
The 5 best tall indoor plants you can get to create a lively space
Tall plants to fill your home with
A collection of various houseplants

Many gardeners look for small houseplants and flowers to conserve space, but what if you have the opposite problem? Many homeowners can relate to the feeling of looking at a room and thinking it’s missing something. Sometimes, what it's missing is a tall houseplant to fill space, to add visual interest, and even to add some relaxing vibes to the room.

If you need a tall houseplant to add a burst of greenery to your home, this guide is here to help. There are plenty of tall indoor plants to choose from, and here are our five favorites!

Read more