How to Grow and Care for Rubber Plant Indoors

Ficus elastica, commonly known as the Rubber Plant. It is a popular houseplant admired for its striking, glossy leaves and easy-care nature. This tropical plant can grow up to 100 feet tall in its natural habitat or over six feet tall indoors in just a few years with proper care. The Mesoamerican people from way back in 1400BC used rubber plants as a key ingredient to make bouncy balls. Here’s everything you need to know to grow rubber tree indoors.

How to Grow Rubber Plant

It’s not quite as easy to grow this plant indoors in cooler climates as it is outdoors in tropical climates, since it needs lots of light. Grow this plant in bright but indirect light and water only when the top two inches of the compost have dried out. Be sure to place your Ficus in a brightly lit location, such as near an east- or west-facing window or several feet back from a south-facing window.

Take some rubber plant seeds. Use a well-draining potting mix with some perlite or orchid bark added to improve drainage and aeration. Plant in a pot about 1 to 2 inches wider with drainage holes to help prevent root rot. Keep the temperature ranging from 60° to 85° F and humidity levels of 40% or higher. Water the seed soil.

How to Care for Rubber Plant

Water only when the top two inches of compost have dried out and don’t let your rubber plant sit in water. Feed monthly with a liquid feed in spring and summer. Wipe or dust the leaves regularly to ensure they photosynthesis properly and mist or stand the pot on a tray of moist pebbles to keep humidity levels up. Rubber plant needs very little pruning. Remove dead and dying leaves as and when you need to.

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