What's the deal with my rubber tree?
May 8, 2019 2:38 PM Subscribe
I got a rubber tree secondhand a few months ago, and it's losing leaves and generally looking sad. Help me help it!
Here's the plant (sunbathing doggo for scale). I've watered it about once a month since I got it, and each time, a few leaves turned yellow and fell off. You can see in the picture that some of the leaves are turning yellow now. One of the times I watered, I added plant food with the water, which had no noticeable effect. The soil feels completely dry when I water it. The leaves look droopy and sad, and I haven't noticed any new growth. It's by a south-facing window and doesn't get moved around.
Here's the plant (sunbathing doggo for scale). I've watered it about once a month since I got it, and each time, a few leaves turned yellow and fell off. You can see in the picture that some of the leaves are turning yellow now. One of the times I watered, I added plant food with the water, which had no noticeable effect. The soil feels completely dry when I water it. The leaves look droopy and sad, and I haven't noticed any new growth. It's by a south-facing window and doesn't get moved around.
Not to be too harsh, but I think everything about your set up is just a bit off. The rubber tree comes from southeast asia, where it is hot, wet, and at the bottom of the jungle. It should be receiving bright, indirect light. It needs water in two ways - in the soil and on the leaves. The leaves could be falling because they're getting bleached from the sun or dried from humid air. I would suggest watering a bit more frequently, and also getting a plant spritzer.
lovableiago's suggestion to soak it is good advice, a plant that has been chronically underwatered will have a hard time "catching up" by solely switching to waterings at correct intervals.
posted by FirstMateKate at 2:49 PM on May 8, 2019 [1 favorite]
lovableiago's suggestion to soak it is good advice, a plant that has been chronically underwatered will have a hard time "catching up" by solely switching to waterings at correct intervals.
posted by FirstMateKate at 2:49 PM on May 8, 2019 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks for the tips so far. I should also add- the person I got it from said that it had root rot before and she replanted it but wasn't 100% sure she got all of it. So I'm not sure if another repotting is warranted.
posted by quiet coyote at 2:52 PM on May 8, 2019
posted by quiet coyote at 2:52 PM on May 8, 2019
Given your update, here's what I would do:
It looks like you have it potted directly in that ceramic pot, which I typically avoid with my plants for drainage and "breathability" reasons. If this is the case, I'd put it in a slightly smaller plastic pot (the kind the plants come in from the store), and put that in the larger pot. As you do this you can check out the roots for remaining rot. If the former owner had to prune a lot off, this might be why the plant is in sad shape (both general trauma, and having fewer roots means reduced means to take in water).
After you repot and give it a good soak, cover the top of the soil with some kind of bark (I use orchid potting mix) or even moss, keeping it away from the base of the plant (which is how you get crown rot). This is a good way to keep the soil from losing moisture without watering too much (which is how you get root rot). Move it a few feet back from that window (or better yet, move to a north-facing or even east-facing window) and try watering once a week (about 6-8 oz). Again, don't worry about fertilizing it for a while. Good luck!
posted by lovableiago at 3:02 PM on May 8, 2019
It looks like you have it potted directly in that ceramic pot, which I typically avoid with my plants for drainage and "breathability" reasons. If this is the case, I'd put it in a slightly smaller plastic pot (the kind the plants come in from the store), and put that in the larger pot. As you do this you can check out the roots for remaining rot. If the former owner had to prune a lot off, this might be why the plant is in sad shape (both general trauma, and having fewer roots means reduced means to take in water).
After you repot and give it a good soak, cover the top of the soil with some kind of bark (I use orchid potting mix) or even moss, keeping it away from the base of the plant (which is how you get crown rot). This is a good way to keep the soil from losing moisture without watering too much (which is how you get root rot). Move it a few feet back from that window (or better yet, move to a north-facing or even east-facing window) and try watering once a week (about 6-8 oz). Again, don't worry about fertilizing it for a while. Good luck!
posted by lovableiago at 3:02 PM on May 8, 2019
Too much sun! Move it further from that window. It wants to see the sky, but not have sun shining directly on its leaves frying it.
I would put it in a cool shower for a couple minutes- use the handheld hose on a gentle spray to wet the top and bottom of all the leaves. Water the pot til water drains out the bottom, and do that maybe 3 times to really get water into the soil-- but ONLY if your pot has drainage holes, or else you'll rot the roots.
Let it drain well in the tub, poke a few deep holes around the edges of the soil with a pencil to help aerate (try not to stab the roots- go gently and stop if you hit a root). Then put it back in gentler light and speak nicely to it.
Repeat the shower every 3 weeks or so, and make sure not to overwater in the week or so after each shower.
Damage is slow to show up on plants, and hard to reverse, so you might still lose some leaves that are already too far gone. But that will make it much happier.
Many plants like to be "rained on" periodically. A good thorough leaf bath and soil wetting, ensuring proper drainage, then a drier period, is more like nature and will make a lot of plants happier than a consistently measured trickle of water that only touches their soil every week. Pothos, philodendron, ficus benjamina, ficus lyrata, ZZ, and even jades will all enjoy a shower every few weeks.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 3:20 PM on May 8, 2019
I would put it in a cool shower for a couple minutes- use the handheld hose on a gentle spray to wet the top and bottom of all the leaves. Water the pot til water drains out the bottom, and do that maybe 3 times to really get water into the soil-- but ONLY if your pot has drainage holes, or else you'll rot the roots.
Let it drain well in the tub, poke a few deep holes around the edges of the soil with a pencil to help aerate (try not to stab the roots- go gently and stop if you hit a root). Then put it back in gentler light and speak nicely to it.
Repeat the shower every 3 weeks or so, and make sure not to overwater in the week or so after each shower.
Damage is slow to show up on plants, and hard to reverse, so you might still lose some leaves that are already too far gone. But that will make it much happier.
Many plants like to be "rained on" periodically. A good thorough leaf bath and soil wetting, ensuring proper drainage, then a drier period, is more like nature and will make a lot of plants happier than a consistently measured trickle of water that only touches their soil every week. Pothos, philodendron, ficus benjamina, ficus lyrata, ZZ, and even jades will all enjoy a shower every few weeks.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 3:20 PM on May 8, 2019
Also, I recommend following Houseplant Journal, a very enjoyable instagram for learning about plant care.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 3:28 PM on May 8, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by nouvelle-personne at 3:28 PM on May 8, 2019 [1 favorite]
I asked a very similar question two weeks ago.
After pruning, repotting, and moving into a better light environment, I can say that my rubber plant... is still alive. It's too early to say whether it is going to recover, but I did discover that its roots had lost a lot of mass to rot.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 3:43 PM on May 8, 2019 [1 favorite]
After pruning, repotting, and moving into a better light environment, I can say that my rubber plant... is still alive. It's too early to say whether it is going to recover, but I did discover that its roots had lost a lot of mass to rot.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 3:43 PM on May 8, 2019 [1 favorite]
I agree with everything FirstMateKate said. Also, one of the worst things to do with a plant not in good health is to give it plant food. Lay off of that until things improve, and then use Miracle Gro solution to water. (Use the blue powder stuff and mix as directed.)
posted by jgirl at 1:49 PM on May 13, 2019
posted by jgirl at 1:49 PM on May 13, 2019
« Older Why Black and White Pictures? | Shopping for feet with supination (under-pronation... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by lovableiago at 2:42 PM on May 8, 2019 [1 favorite]