My poor Rubber Tree. What should I do for her? She is 45 years old and always summers outside. I brought her in 2 weeks ago, before any major frost, and after about 5 days her top leaves started looking rather sickly, with white blotches, and later tiny black spots. Things progressed over the next couple of weeks and now seem to have stabilized. Last night I got fresh tropical potting soil and completely transplanted her. Any suggestions? comments?
What a great transformation! The plants looks good! Was the leaves in first picture burnt? Pest infested? I just wonder if potting up the new growth by itself in another pot and getting rid of the old pot and thick wood could be an option?
Thanks Bluewing, I have no idea what happened to her, but it would seem that repotting with fresh earth cured her. Yes, I am wondering what to do now abut the huge pot. She now has 10 new growth branches, with no new ones appearing since 3 weeks. If I repot, will there be lots of excess dead roots to trim?
Suze, You have to be commnended for having this plant for so long! Maybe the leaves before were cold damaged perhaps, even though it was brought back before a frosy. If it's growing now after adding the fresh soil, I'd probably just cut some of the dead wood back about an inch above the most growth, it will look a lot neater and send out even more growth. I would probably check the roots first and see if anything is dead onder there and clip anything that's not alive off. Maybe later as it gets going, if you want, take a stem cutting and start a whole new plant.
It looks like that plant's doing well. Don't go crazy trying to suddenly do everything good for it all of a sudden because it's putting out a few green leaves. Ficus are like that in that they are extremely sensitive to different environments, difference in light, heat or humidity. They don't like being shifted around the place and will very often wilt, go brown, or most commonly, drop all their leaves. In winter, if you allow your house to drop in temp a little, it's normal for it to drop its leaves which will come back again when it warms up in the spring and summer. Do all pruning and cutting in the spring time. You may also take cuttings when it's growing vigorously in the summer to keep it in control. In addition to Bluewing's suggestion about the frost damage, I would also add that I would let it be for the season, and paste a reminder this time this year to be more careful about bringing it in earlier to avoid the damage from Nov 2007. Cuttings are a good idea also for anyone if they're not sure their mother plant is going to die inevitably, provided the cuttings taken are free from disease and damage. If you do decide to repot (which I wouldn't do...unless you absolutely hate the pot) don't mess up the rootball. Just take a good look and if you see healthy growth, it's fine. You mentioned already repotting it less than 6 months ago? If it's soggy, a mess, black and rotted, which I don't think will be the case, then remove all dead roots. I would always encourage good inspection of roots and getting hands dirty. It's the only way to learn so by all means. Just don't over do it. The tree has enough wisdom to know how to take care of itself. Just be patient and give it time to grow. If concerned with fresh soil and nutrients for the plant, some tips on Fertilizing indoor, potted, contained plants: When it stabilizes in a month or so and puts out more foliage, try using an organic liquid fertilizer. Dilute it with water and follow the directions. If you think you over did the fertilizer, quickly water the plant with plain water and let it all drain out. I personally think of it the same way as myself eating too much chocolate in one sitting and then afraid of the sugar high. I just drink a lot of water, dilute and pee it out. Don't use fertilizer when a tree is sick. Don't use fertilizer religiously. Pay attention to all the tree's signs. Fertilizer must only be used on healthy trees. Only only only. Do not fertilize fresh soil (freshly potted plants). That soil already has more than enough nutrients. Organic fertilizer is more gentle than synthetic and I would recommend these over anything else. Be kind with the fertilizer.. very dilute mixture to slightly more concentrated until you have the measurements indicated in the bottle, work it up gradually so as not to shock the tree with a massive amount of growth hormones. Already with the warming up of the weather, the tree knows it's time to grow a bit more.
