Houseplant · Moraceae
Rubber Plant
Ficus elastica
Hand it bright indirect light and one steady spot, and the rubber plant settles in as a glossy, low-fuss indoor tree.
Bright indirect
60–80°F · 16–27°C
USDA 9–12
2–10 ft · 0.6–3 m
Overview
Few big houseplants are as laid back as the rubber plant. It's a member of the fig family, originally from the forests that run from Nepal across to southern China and over into western Malesia, where it shoots up into a huge tree. Kept inside, though, it stays a tidy 2 to 10 feet (60 cm to 3 m), and those thick, shiny leaves really anchor a room.
So what makes it so easy to live with? Mostly its patience. While bright indirect light keeps it happiest, it handles dimmer corners better than nearly any other large leafy plant, and a skipped watering here and there won't faze it. The thing it can't stand is being messed with, so a settled spot out of any draft is what keeps its leaves on.
Cut into any part of it and out comes a milky latex sap. That sap is exactly where the rubber plant gets its name, and it's also your cue to pull on gloves before pruning. It can sting your skin and it's mildly toxic to cats and dogs, so think about both your pets and your people when you pick its home.
Care
The short version: bright indirect light, a warm spot that doesn't shift around, and a deep drink only once the soil surface feels a touch dry. Feed it across spring and summer, and slip on gloves any time you make a cut.
Light
Set the rubber plant where it gets bright indirect light, near a window that dodges the harsh afternoon sun. It'll get by in partial shade or low light too, but growth slows down there and variegated types start to fade.
Water
Give it a thorough soak, then hold off until the soil surface has dried slightly before the next one. Check the pot drains and dump out whatever gathers in the saucer, because standing water is the quickest route to rotten roots. From fall through late winter, when growth pauses, ease right back on watering.
Soil
Pot it up in a well drained, soil-based potting mix. It really isn't picky about pH and copes fine anywhere from 6.0 to 8.0, so what counts is a mix that drains freely instead of one that stays soggy and heavy.
Temperature
Keep it in that comfy 60°F to 80°F (16°C to 27°C) band, warm by day and a little cooler at night. Stay above 55°F (13°C) and clear of cold drafts, since a sudden chill is one of the top reasons the leaves let go.
Humidity
Ordinary household humidity is plenty, and there's no figure you need to hit. It does lean toward humid air, but it gets along fine with the dry warmth of winter heating.
Feeding
Feed it every two weeks right through spring and summer with a water-soluble houseplant fertilizer while it's actively growing. Back off in low light and over the cooler months, when it asks for far less.
Pruning
Reach for the pruners in spring to keep the height down, tidy up tall leggy stems, or coax it toward a fuller shape. Leave it be and it climbs into a tall, tree-like plant, so trimming is up to you rather than a must. Always wear gloves, because the cuts seep irritating latex.
Repotting
Repot in late winter or early spring once it's outgrowing its container. Bump it up just a size or two each time into fresh, well drained mix, and you'll want those gloves on for this job too.
Size & spacing
Indoors the rubber plant climbs to 2 to 10 feet (60 cm to 3 m), and it gets there fast given good light. Leave it floor room and headroom to suit, because without pruning it just keeps heading upward into a tree-like shape.
Troubleshooting
Nearly every rubber plant hiccup comes back to how you water or some abrupt shift in its surroundings. Catch the clues in the leaves and roots early and the fixes stay easy. Find the symptom that matches below, then tweak things before a small issue grows.
Drooping while the soil is still wet
If it's sagging even though the mix is plenty damp, you're looking at root rot. The roots go soft and dark and just can't take up water anymore, which is why the plant flops despite the wet soil. Dial your watering way back, snip off the rotten roots, and move it into fresh, fast draining mix in a pot that genuinely drains.
Fix:
- Reduce watering
- Repot into a well-drained mix and a pot with drainage holes
- Remove affected roots
Lower leaves going yellow
When the leaves yellow, the usual culprit is soil that won't stop staying wet. The odd yellow leaf right down at the base is just the plant aging, nothing to worry about, but once that yellowing starts working its way upward, water less often, double check the pot can drain, and pour off anything pooling in the saucer.
Fix:
- Reduce watering frequency
- Ensure the pot has drainage holes and empty the saucer
- Use a well-drained, soil-based mix
Leaves falling after a move or a cold snap
Notice leaves coming off? A rubber plant reacts to almost any change around it. Not enough light, a cold draft, dry air, or waterlogged roots are the big triggers, and so is moving it around from place to place. Park it in one bright, settled spot well clear of drafts and heat vents, keep things above 55°F (13°C), and take another look at your watering.
Fix:
- Move to a brighter, stable location with bright indirect light
- Keep away from cold drafts and heat sources; keep above 55°F
- Avoid frequently relocating the plant
- Check and correct watering
Sticky foliage, fine webbing, or little bumps on stems
A handful of sap-sucking pests like to move in on rubber plants, and each one gives itself away differently. Look for the cottony white fluff of mealybugs, the firm little bumps of scale, the faint webbing and speckled leaves that point to spider mites, plus that telltale sticky coating. Give the leaves a good wipe down, hit them with insecticidal soap or horticultural oil, and keep this plant away from the others till it bounces back.
Fix:
- Wipe or wash insects off the foliage
- Treat with insecticidal soap or horticultural oil
- Isolate the plant until the infestation clears
Toxicity
This isn't a plant you can let anyone chew on. Its milky latex sap holds ficin and a psoralen, which can sting the mouth and stomach of cats and dogs and turn human skin red and sore on contact. None of it is safe to eat, so keep it where pets and little kids can't get at it and wear gloves whenever you handle it.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds · People
Cats Mild
Chew on a leaf and a cat will usually start drooling and pawing at its mouth, since the latex stings, and a queasy belly with a bit of vomiting can come next. Where that sap lands on skin, it tends to leave a red, sore patch too.
Dogs Mild
A dog that takes a bite often drools and acts like its mouth hurts, and vomiting or a churny stomach tends to show up shortly after. It stays on the mild side, though the sticky sap can still redden the skin where it touches.
Horses Caution
NC State puts horses on the toxic list here. That same latex would sting the mouth and gut, and even though a horse rarely runs into an indoor fig, it's smart to keep cuttings and dropped leaves where they can't reach.
Rabbits Caution
The milky sap carries the very same irritants that trouble cats and dogs, so a rabbit having a nibble is asking for a sore mouth and a rumbling stomach. Best not to let it graze the leaves at all.
Livestock Caution
If grazing animals get at the foliage, the latex can leave their mouth and digestion irritated. It's never a pasture plant, so what you really watch out for is tossed trimmings or a pot sitting somewhere they can reach.
Birds Caution
Pet birds can have a reaction to that stinging sap if they chew the leaves, so treat the whole plant as hands off and keep perches and cages well clear of the foliage.
People Caution
For people the milky latex irritates skin and eyes and can trigger contact dermatitis, and that goes double for anyone with a natural-rubber latex allergy. Nothing on the plant is meant to be eaten, so glove up before you prune or repot and keep the sap off bare skin.
The milky latex sap can irritate skin and eyes and cause contact dermatitis in sensitive people (Ficus latex also cross-reacts with natural-rubber latex allergy); wear gloves when pruning or repotting
Helpline numbers
United States
ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435 (fee applies)
Poison Control: (800) 222-1222
Canada
Poison Centres: 1-844-764-7669
Varieties
Most rubber plants you'll find for sale are one of a few named types, running from plain glossy green all the way to dark maroon and bold variegation. Here are the ones worth getting to know.
Robusta
This is the one you'll spot most often, loved for its big, thick, deep green leaves.
Decora
A wide-leaved type that's been a houseplant favorite for ages.
Rubra
Its leaves run reddish to a deep maroon, lending it a darker, moodier vibe.
Tricolor
A variegated pick streaked with green, cream, and a touch of pink.
Doescheri
Yet another variegated form that sits among the ornamental rubber plants.
How to propagate
Making more rubber plants takes a bit of waiting, but both of the usual methods work well once you plan around the slow roots and the messy sap.
Stem cuttingsModerate
Spring to summer during active growth · Several weeks to a couple of months to root
Snip stem or tip cuttings in spring or summer while the plant's putting on growth. Those cut ends weep milky latex, so give them a rinse or a blot before potting up. Just be patient, because roots are slow here, showing up anywhere from several weeks to a couple of months later.
Air layeringModerate
Spring to summer · Several weeks to root before separating from the parent
Got a tall, leggy plant? Air layering is the way to go. You coax a stem to root while it stays attached to the parent, which runs several weeks, and once those roots are there you cut the new plant loose.
Myths
The rubber plant is a safe, pet-friendly houseplant.
Not so, sadly: the ASPCA flags it as toxic to cats and dogs, and that milky latex can sting skin or upset the stomach. The trouble comes from ficin, a proteolytic enzyme, and a psoralen in the sap, which is why you'll want it well out of reach of pets and kids.
Like many irritating houseplants, the rubber plant's bite comes from calcium oxalate crystals.
Those crystals are the reason philodendron and dieffenbachia sap burns, but the rubber plant plays by different rules. Its irritation comes from the milky latex itself, the enzyme ficin and the psoralen ficusin, with no oxalate crystals in the picture.
Rubber plants need bright direct sunlight.
Direct sun, the hot afternoon kind especially, will scorch those leaves. They do best in bright indirect light or part shade, and they handle lower light better than most houseplants do.