Brown spots on rubber tree

[Ddib]

Hi all!


I recently purchased a rubber tree (speciially a variegated fixus elastica).


A few weeks into moving her home, the plant got some brown spots on the edges of the bottom leaves. while it did not seem too bad, these leaves then fell off. the same is now happening to some of the upper leaves.


any clue what to do?


i water the plant about once a week. i read online that it might help to mist the leaves once a week, but that has not seemed to help either.


suggestions?

 

[Marck]

Greetings, welcome to the Forums.

Things like this often happens when a house plants moves into the house. After all its previous residence was a greenhouse (not including any time spent in its retail accommodation).

What a Rubber Plant (Ficus elastica) wants is regular water, good drainage, warm temperatures, and bright light. In the tropics they can grow quite nicely in full sun,However a variegated specimen such as yours might prefer light a tad less intense.

Put the plant in bright light, even a sunny window will be fine. However do remember, moving a plant from less light to more light can scald the leaves even if the plant is adapted to full sun. Winter is a good time to move it to more light as the light will not be so intense.
Rubber plants are trees. They will drop their lower leaves as they grow, especially if the leaves are no longer photosynthesizing enough light to earn their keep.

You say you water once a week depending on conditions that may too much or too little. Check the soil. it should be damp but not saturated. Letting the soil surface dry before watering again is a good policy. Also don't let the plant sit in a saucer of water. If the plant needs to be in a saucer to protect the floor or table, there are three options: 1) water the plant in the sink, 2) drain the saucer immediately after watering, or 3) elevate the pot within the saucer so that the bottom is not sitting in water.

Remember houseplants should have conditions good enough to grow, just like all plants. If your Rubber Plant never puts out new leaves to replace old leaves, it is actually slowly dying. Also, if it is growing you will want to occasionally fertilize it too.

 

[cpp gardener]

Variegated Rubber Trees are notorious for brown spots/patches on the leaves, especially Tineke. Due to the lack of chlorophyll in the white areas, they don't photosynthesize as well as green ones. It needs some direct sun for part of the day. Also let just the very surface of the soil dry to maybe half an inch deep. In very bright light plants require more water than in lower light conditions and can tolerate staying a little extra moist.