A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2004 rubber tree dropping leaves

hi all.... I need your guidance. a year ago I inherited a beautiful rubber tree. it is about 8 feet tall - and has begun to drop its leaves! when I moved it home, there was no trauma dropping, thank goodness - however, when I moved into my current apartment ruby (I named her!) got a little angry and dropped a bunch of her leaves.

and now she has begun to drop a bunch more to the point where she is looking very leggy, and I'm worried that she has half the leaves she had when I inherited her. I'd be devestated if this tree were in peril.

the room I have her in should be perfect - she gets a lot of light all day long. the only thing I can think that she doesn't like is that it is a bit chilly in there, and we've had one of the coldest winters on record here in boston. could that be affecting ruby?

any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

thanks a million!

MG

Well, first of all....WELCOME!!!
Will Creed should be coming through shortly he is a master gardener that specializes in house plants.
Any kind of change will affect your plants, good and bad, sometimes they show it, ( in your case) and sometimes they don't. But I know there is a way to cut back your plant and root the branches you have left so they aren't soooo long and leggy. But I'm not going to tell you the steps, since I don't know myself! Unless , of course, you want it to be tall and just green on the ends, maybe you have it in a corner behind the couch.....or something. My rubber tree all but died on me 4 years ago after 3 apartments changes in 2 years. There was 1 branch out of 4 left so I pulled it out (because I didn't think it was going to live anyhow) put it in a small pot and set it on my back deck. I forgot about it for 2-3 months, it did get rain, so it didn't go dry, but low and behold.......it had new growth.
My husband was laughing and said..."see you can make any thing grow" He tries to understand & be involved with the plants, but he does lack a lil something when it comes to gardening. Anywhooo.... someone will be through shortly and BTW I like your name!

welcome mg to the garden helper i don't have a lot of experience with rubber trees, but i wanted to welcome you. as renee said, someone will be along who knows more and can help. in the meantime, enjoy your time here.

Hi Sassy Outdoor Gal,
I like your name too! Sorry to hear about Ruby. Here's a site about her.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/interiorscape/ficuselas.html

This site shows how to air layer if you choose to do so.

http://muextension.missouri.edu/xplor/agguides/hort/g06560.htm

Good luck with Ruby,
Newt

Hi MG,

Something has changed in your rubber plant's environment. If the temps are dropping below 50 degrees, that could be the cause of the leaf drop.

You mentioned "lots of light," but you didn't indicate how bright that light is. Ideally it should be right in front of a window that is unobstructed. Moving a plant even a few feet further away from a window can make a huge difference.

In cooler temps and/or in lower light, a plant will use less water. Thus, if you didn't alter your watering schedule accordingly, it is also possible that the soil is staying too wet.

I hope this helps you identify the problem.

you all are so wonderful, thanks!

Will - it is right in front of a sliding glass door and a window and the only obstruction is the shades which I keep only partially closed to ensure that ruby gets good light.

here is how I water: I let it get good and dry and then I soak. this may not be the best method, but it has been my pattern. should I sprinkle?

thanks for all of your words of welcome! I appreciate your help!!!!

megan

Hi Megan,

Unless the shade is covering only that portion of the window that is much higher than the top of the rubber tree, then I would raise the shade.

A thorough drenching is appropriate as long as the pot is not too big and as long as there are drainage holes in the bottom. The soil should dry out at least every 10-14 days after a soaking, otherwise the pot is too big. Allow the top quarter of the soil to dry before watering.

Thanks for the info! The blinds are vertical, so partially open allows light to enter the entire height of the room, which sounds like it's okay.

The watering also sounds fine, though i wonder if the pot is too big. The tree is 8 feet tall, with branch diameter around 6 feet or so, and the pot's about 1.5 feet diameter & 2 feet high. Do you think that's too big, or within parameters?

Also, is there any way to promote new leaf growth, on the existing branches?

thanks again for all your help! (ruby thanks you too)

If the top quarter of the soil dries out in less than two weeks following a thorough watering, then the pot is not too big. If it takes much longer than that to dry, then it is too big.

Sometimes pinching out new growth at the ends of branches will promote new growth further down the branch. However, most of the time, pinching just results in more new growth in the same place.

For leggy trees, it is best to prune selected branches back by about one-third. New growth will then come in just below where you made the cut. This will lead to a fuller, more compact tree.