Identification: Love my new plant, but what is it??

Hello, I am new here, and new to indoor plants as well!
I just picked up this new plant and need help identifying it please. It is currently in a medium sized plastic pot and seems to have outgrown it. I plan on repotting it to a larger one today but not sure of how to care for it.
Thanks!

 

Rubber tree, Ficus Elastica. They do well indoors, and tend to stay pretty manageable. If you lived anywhere a little ways South of me, they actually develop aerial roots and can do significant damage...

 

Thank you Thank you. I love this site, so helpful!

 

Hi Susan,
When you repot, it's better to go up just one pot size size larger then using a pot that's too large for the roots to handle.

 

Great plants! They are pretty easy to care for and grow quickly. look great when you wipe off the leaves once in a while to let them shine!

 

Thanks Jenny. When I brought it home from the store it was quite dusty and grimy, I wiped down the leaves and bought one of those shine sprays. It looks great. However, I did repot if before I read the previous post about not moving it to a pot too big. It seems OK so far, hope I didn't wreck it.
Oh and BTW I named him Robert (Robert Plant LOL)

 

I didnt know about the bigger pot either and I had one in a big pot for years that did well. My MIL has it in Ottawa (didnt want to kill it in the move to Vancouver) and it is Huge now. Probably about 6 feet. Not bad for a 98 cent Wal-mart special! Robert rocks!

 

It depends on how big is big.....

One to two inches larger around the root ball for plants should be ok.There really isn't any reason to use a huge pot for a plant that's gonna swim in it, but instead to just go up in size when the roots fill the pot. Since the number one killer of plants is over watering, (not everyone has, or uses the best draining soil) it makes sense to keep the pot in line with the plant's root size to cut down on rot and not have all that un-used wet soil that the plant's roots aren't even touching.

 

Robert is not doing so well. Several of the lower and inner leaves are turning an orange colour before they are wilting off and dropping. However, I still seem to be getting new growth from the top of the plant.

What am I doing wrong?

 

there's no need to use the 'shine' sprays. in fact, you'll actually clog up the pores on the leaves and cause damage to the plant.

if you've been using it, please wipe it off. i'd use a mild mix of soap/water and then rinse really well with plain water - you can take the plant outside and use the hose to rinse it off well.

tell me about the pot you put it into when you repotted it - type - plastic or ceramic (glazed/unglazed), drainage holes or not, how much larger, etc. also, what type of soil did you use?

how much and how often are you watering?

could you post a pic of the leaves that are turning?

 

Another Led Zeppilin fan I see : )

Ed

 

I am really not sure what the pot is made of. I think it is some type of really durable styrfoam (for lack of a better word) The tag on it said suitable for outdoor or indoor use. I drilled one hole in the bottom, approx the size of a golf ball, and put a thin layer of stones to help drainage. The pot I used to replant is actually the one in the original picture, I had just placed the pot it came in inside the new pot. My guess is about 3 inches wider at the top.

I water it about once a week when the soil feels dry. Its hard to tell though because the soil is very very rich and dark, even when dry. I dont think I have ever over soaked it as I have never seen any water come from the bottom.

Also, I do wipe off the leaves frequently, but I dont think the shine spray is the culprit here, as the leaves that are dying off are at the bottom, close to the stem, and they wouldnt have had the spray. But you guys know best. Could it still affect the lower leaves?

And as for the name Robert, yes I guess I am a fan. But really I just thought the name is funny!

 

Rubber trees do not like drafts. I had a beautiful plant for years. It was huge. I moved it and the breeze from the window caused all the leaves to fall off. Then it died. watering it too much will make the leaves turn brown.

 

Rubber tress can be sensitive to light changes and lose leaves like Scheffs and Ficus benjamina.

 

Here is a picture of what it looks like now. When I brought the plant home, there were leaves all the way down to the soil. Now several have died off.
Also, pictures of one of the leaf that had already dropped, and a couple of the inner, still attached leaves that seem to have been eaten (?) or possibly just drying up.
Any help and advise is much appreciated.
Thank you all so much

 

Help ???
This plant seems to be going down hill fast. I lost a few more leaves today.
Should I give it plant food?

 

Ok this will not likely really help but you should know.
This looks like a plant started from a tissue culture.
It was kept in a sterile flask and given precise amount of hormones
and elements until it was large enough to transfer into a pot
and into a greenhouse where light, water, fertilizer and temperatures
were ideal to allow it to harden off from it's earlier existence.
Then you brought it home into a low light, cool and dry environment
of your house. So it's more or less in shock as it attempts to produce
enough new leaves adapted to survive in your conditions.

Anything you can do to give it more light, heat and humidity like it
was getting will help smooth that transition.