Introduction: How to Plant Baby Rubber Plant Cuttings
Has your Ficus elastica gotten too tall or too leggy? Did you know that you can turn it into a tree form? Here's how to make a Rubber Tree (Rubber Plant) branch out.
Supplies
Step 1: Air Layer Your Houseplant
Some of the other houseplants which air layer beautifully are Weeping Fig, Fiddleleaf Fig, Dracaenas, Dumbcane, Umbrella Tree, Dwarf Umbrella Tree and the Split Leaf Philodendron. The 2 plants which I’ve successfully air layered in the past are the Dumb Cane (Dieffenbachia Tropic Snow) and Burgundy Rubber Plant (Ficus elastica Burgundy).
I air layered the mother plant & removed the baby once it was showing significant rooting.
I let the mother plant settle for a few weeks before starting to remove the leaves at the very bottom.
Every 3-6 weeks I took a couple more leaves off.
Step 2: Head’s Up! Watch Out for the Sap.
The Rubber Tree emits a milky white sap which is considered toxic to people & pets. The sap has never irritated me but it could be irritating to you. Be sure to keep it away from your face & wear gloves & long sleeves when pruning or handling a Rubber Plant if you think it’ll affect you. You’ll need to clean your pruners soon after.
Immediately after removing any of the leaves I wrap the trunk with a rag to cover the nodes where they’ve been taken off. I also wrap the leaf stem that’s been cut off. The sap drips like crazy for about a minute or 2 & this prevents it from running down the trunk of the plant, onto your skin or clothes, or onto your floor.
Step 3: Head’s Up: the Sap Can Stain Your Clothing or Rug If Not Contained or Cleaned Off Right Away.
A few of the leaves were stubborn to come off. I used a sharp floral knife to start the process & then pulled them off. Be sure not to dig too deep into the bark.
Step 4: Head’s Up: You Want to Remove the As Much As the Leaf Stem From the Trunk As You Can. It Just Looks Better That Way.
When the top 4 nodes were producing new growth, I then removed the 4 older leaves right below those new sprouts.
I don’t remember any new growth appearing on the trunk after I took the leaves off. I removed the leaves gradually because of the dripping sap factor – it was just easier for me to do it this way than all at once.
Step 5: Rubber Tree Plant Care Timeline
I thought you might be interested in how long this has taken. Here’s the timeline of how this all went down:
I did the air layering at the end of April 2018.
The air layered portion was cut off & planted at the very beginning of Sept. 2018.
I could have done this at the end of July but got involved in traveling & with other projects. You know how that goes! I started to remove the leaves in early October 2018.
It is now the end of May 2019.
Step 6: What's Next?
My living room has 20′ ceilings but the light in there isn’t quite bright enough for a Variegated Rubber Plant year round. Once this plant hits the ceiling in my dining room in a few years I’ll have to do this all over again. Another pruning adventure!
Happy gardening,
Nell Foster