A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2003 rubber tree catastrophe

My fiance moved in with me in late August and his beloved rubber tree has really suffered. It was huge and healthy at his old place, although right before the move he forgot to water it for a while and it did drop a few leaves. But now it's lost almost all its leaves--the big old ones go yellow and drop, and new clusters just wilt overnight. The bare branches--some of them 3-4 feet long--are shriveled. It's pathetic, and my fiance is heartbroken. The plant is in a big, well-drained pot and gets indirect southern exposure--not less than it had before, I don't think. We let the top inch or two of soil get pretty dry before watering. I was hoping it was just in shock from the move, but now I'm afraid it's a goner. Anything we can do? Should I trim off the withered branches? Try to move it to a sunnier spot? Fertilize it? It's near a light switch; could we be brushing against it too much (it got a lot of contact at the old place, so this seems unlikely)?
I'm an unexperienced gardener who typically practices benign neglect; any suggestions are much appreciated.

It appears from yur description that you are providing proper light (I assume that the window is close to the plant and that the window is uncovered throughout the day) and watering. A single lapse in watering is not enough to cause more than minor leaf drop. Physical, contact may cause the edges of leaves to shred, but not die.

You did mention that it is in a large pot. I know from experience that putting plants into too large a pot is the most common cause of root rot. The wilting symptoms you describes are also consistent with root rot.

Does the pot have drainage holes in the bottom? How wide and tall is the pot? How tall is the plant? Better yet, can you post or e-mail a photo to me at wcreed@HorticulturalHelp.com?

Hey Teamkaty,
Welcome aboard The Garden Helpers Forum!!!
Another N.Y.'er!!!! Yeah!!!
(Catlover and I have a race with who's
has more member's from their state???)
But welcome here.
There's alot of great gardeners, memebers, people here!!! All an eclectic group...
From very beginner gardeners, to Master Gardeners, House plant gardeners, to everything in between.
Glad to have you here, and we hope you add your voice to the growing number of gardening voices here.
Don't be afraid to ask any and all questions,
we LOVE IT!!!
Any don't forget to help any in need of an answer
if you know it!!!

Weezie

Will Creed comes through and helps alot with the House plant section, Bill may know, or Nikkal, or any of our house plant growers....
Give them a bit of time to come through........
In the mean time there's plenty to read and read!!
WE have many new sections we've added here, recipes, crafts and hobbies, and banter hall to chat in, so feel free to roam around and join right in!!!

We have alot of N.Y.'er's here.
Me and plants and Pot's, Will Creed, Luvgardening, TomR, and Lise.

Wow Will snuck in on me when
I was writing that post!!

Weezie

Weezie - Yup, I got you by 2 minutes! Tell me again where you are in NY. Upstate, I believe. How much snow did you get?

Will

I am in Western New York....
By Buffalo....
I am around 50 miles South of Buffalo,
and about a 90 minute drive North
from the Pa border.

A couple of days ago............. oh,
*heck it could be a couple of weeks ago,
my memory's bad*
a front came through
but missed me by about a 20 minute drive
south of here in a town called Ellicotville,
it made it on CNN weather report........
It was a good dumping, we just got about 2" or 3" a dusting as we would call that...
but the last one that hit, really never touched our area except for bitter cold...
The type that kills out door plants with out
the insulation of a good snow cover
But nothing to shovel really,
which is really disappointing the two boys,
who "have shovel will travel"
And are awaiting the hill their father makes for them with the tractor to slide down on...
But I keep telling them winter's not offically here yet!!!
Has your area gotten anything????
I heard on the weather this morning it was suppose to be that way, but wasn't sure of everyone's where abouts and the storm front.....

Weezie

Sorry; obviously I don't have the hang of this yet!

I wonder about the light...it's actually about 12 feet away from the window. Radiator sits next to the window, which makes it hard to sun my plants properly. It is STRONG southern exposure, and the light does reach the rubber tree, but not for long, obviously. I also have to keep the curtains mostly closed in the summer (no AC) and that may have hurt too.

OK, the pot: it has holes, drains well, and isn't sooo big--13" across and 12" deep. Root ball that shows above the soil stretches almost completely from side to side. The tree in it's current state is about 3 feet tall, with something llike a 5-6 foot spread.

More leaves on the floor this morning. Sigh.

My fiance is out of town with the digital camera, but I'll send you some pics when he gets back this week.

Thank you so much for your help!

Also, Weezie, thanks for the welcome! A tractor-made hill of snow--that sounds like heaven! Some how flopping down on a cardboard box in Prospect Park just doesn't have the same romance...or maybe just a different one.

Well Teamkaty,
The boys love it!!!
When we were kids growing up, we built 3 story
igloo's (my brothers' did) and we'd build tunnels
in the 50/60ft snow drifts up on our hill....
They were good memories as a kid, but I wouldn't let my little ones in them now (as you hear of collasping on them when unattended, we never were but still)
But I loved it as a kid and try to give the boys something for themselves to remember......
AND WE used to use CARDBOARD BOXES, we'd wax the bottoms and go down the road/hill on them,
There were no cars back then and it was a dirt road where I lived. (Only cars in the morning to go to work and 5;00pm to come home, like clock work, not now, it's a speed way)

Any ways, we hope you'll stick around,
and join our fun here..
We have several members from that "END" of N.Y
More the merrier!!

Weezie

TeamKaty,

Your rubber tree definitely should be closer to the window, especially now that the daylight hours are short. Don't worry too much about the radiator; as long as the leaves are a few inches away from direct contact, it will be fine.

The pot size might be a bit large, but is probably OK.

A photo will help me find any other clues that may shed light on the problem. If it is easier, you can e-mail the photo to me directly at wcreed@HorticulturalHelp.com

Do they mind getting bumped? If I move it next to the window and radiator it will be in a much higher-traffic area. When it started losing leaves here I was afraid that was part of the problem--currently it's in front of a light switch--although now I doubt that's enough to case such trauma.
Will definitely send pix!
Thanks,
Katy

Another clue:
When I moved the plant to the window, I trimmed off a couple of the long, withered, leafless branches. Completely dead and hollow inside, none of the "bleeding" other posts on cutting rubber trees have mentioned. A pruning question: should I cut back all the way to live growth, or stop just short of it?
Thanks,
Katy

p.s. Also, something is going to give way to make room at the window--it's between a fern, Jasmine, Aloe, and a weird begonia thing. Which will suffer least?

teamkaty, my guess would be the fern because they are shade plants anyway. not sure about the others.

People brushing by your plant will not harm it.

Dead stems and branches are devoid of the white sap, as you observed. Cut dead stems back to the point where they are alive or all the way back to the main trunk.

All of the plants you listed need some good window light to thrive. The fern can get by on the least, but should still be moderately close to the window.