GrowingHQ
Houseplantfoliage houseplantSome care needed

Rubber plant

Ficus elastica

A tree that becomes a large architectural houseplant, with thick glossy leaves and a strong dislike of being moved. Ficus in general sulk and drop leaves after a change of position, which is normal and temporary — the mistake is reacting to it by changing something else.

Position
Bright, out of direct sun
Water
moderate demand
Drainage
Free-draining
Grows to
150–300 cm × 60–120 cm
Frost
Frost tender
Difficulty
Some care needed

August

Nothing to do

No sowing, planting, harvesting or pruning window falls in August.

Rubber plant’s year

Resolved for United Kingdom (general). Every window is stored against a climate event rather than a date, so a late frost pocket runs later than the band shows. What else August calls for.

ActivityJFMAMJJASOND
PruneApril. May. June.
Take cuttingsMay. June. July.

Timing that travels

The band above resolves this plant's windows into months for one region. These are the windows themselves, stored against a climate event rather than a date — which is the form that survives being carried to a colder garden, a frost pocket, or next year.

Conditions it needs

Light
Partial shade, Full sun
Frost
Frost tender
Grows best at
18–27 °C
Soil
Peat-free compost
Soil pH
5.5–7
Drainage
Free-draining
Water needs
moderate
Drought
moderate tolerance
Waterlogging
poor tolerance
Heat
good tolerance
Wind and exposure
poor tolerance
Where these figures come from
LightSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Rubber plant — position

Checked 2026-08-13

FrostSourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Rubber plant — hardiness

Checked 2026-08-13

Grows best atSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Rubber plant — temperature

Checked 2026-08-13

SoilSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Rubber plant — soil

Checked 2026-08-13

Soil pHSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Ficus elastica — culture

Checked 2026-08-13

DrainageSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Rubber plant — soil

Checked 2026-08-13

Water needsHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

DroughtHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

WaterloggingHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

HeatHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Wind and exposureHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

On your soil

Computed by comparing this plant's recorded requirements against each soil's recorded characteristics. A recorded horticultural fact overrides the comparison where GrowingHQ holds one.

SoilVerdictWhy
Heavy clayWorks, with one conditionRubber plant will crop on heavy clay, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. For a crop lifted before winter the risk is not rot but the season: waterlogged ground is cold and unworkable in spring, so sowing is late and germination patchy.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.
SandyGrows well hereRubber plant grows perfectly well on sandy without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose.
Chalky and alkalineWorks, with one conditionRubber plant will crop on chalky and alkaline, but one thing has to be dealt with first. The soil is substantially too alkaline for it: it wants pH 5.5 to 7, and this soil sits around 7.8 to 8.5.The pH is the obstacle. Small shifts are achievable and slow; large ones are not. On chalky and alkaline the dependable answer is a container of the right compost rather than an attempt to change the ground.
LoamPrefers this soilLoam suits Rubber plant as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 5.5 to 7, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering.
SiltyPrefers this soilSilty suits Rubber plant as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 5.5 to 7, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering.
Peaty and acidWorks, with one conditionRubber plant will crop on peaty and acid, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. For a crop lifted before winter the risk is not rot but the season: waterlogged ground is cold and unworkable in spring, so sowing is late and germination patchy.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.
Shallow over rockGrows well hereRubber plant grows perfectly well on shallow over rock without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose.
Made ground and urban soilWorks, with one conditionRubber plant will crop on made ground and urban soil, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. For a crop lifted before winter the risk is not rot but the season: waterlogged ground is cold and unworkable in spring, so sowing is late and germination patchy.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.

Not sure which you have? Four hand tests will settle it.

Space and spacing

Mature height
150–300 cm
Mature spread
60–120 cm
Rooting depth
30 cm
Where these figures come from
Mature heightHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Mature spreadHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Rooting depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

In a container

Minimum volume
10 litres or more
Minimum depth
25 cm
Where the container figures come from
Minimum volumeHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Minimum depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Where and how you can grow it

Each way of growing is assessed separately, and “not assessed” is a real answer rather than a gap we have filled in with a guess.

MethodSuitabilityWhat it needs
Indoor potWell suited
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

ContainerWell suited
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

Indoors, or outdoors in summer only
GreenhouseWell suited
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

WindowsillMarginal
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

HydroponicsNot assessed
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

Open groundNot suitable
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

Tender: will not survive a British winter outdoors.

Growing it

  • ProtectionLeave it where it is. Ficus drop leaves after being moved, repotted or exposed to a draught, and the drop happens days or weeks after the change — which is why the cause is so often missed. Give it a settled position and let it recover rather than moving it again.
  • PruningPrune in spring to control height. Cut stems bleed a white latex sap that stains and irritates skin — blot it with a damp cloth and wear gloves.
  • PropagationA tall leggy rubber plant is best renewed by air layering rather than by cutting the top off and hoping. Cut a shallow upward nick in the stem below the leafy top, pack it with damp moss, wrap it in plastic and leave it; roots appear in the moss within a couple of months, and the top can then be severed and potted as a complete plant. The stump usually reshoots.
  • WateringWater thoroughly when the top three or four centimetres are dry and let it drain completely. The autumn change is larger than people expect — a rubber plant is barely growing between November and February and its water use falls with it, so a pot that needed water weekly in July may want it once a month. The classic sign of getting this wrong is lower leaves yellowing and dropping one at a time from the bottom of the plant through the winter. Wipe the leaves occasionally: they are large and glossy and dust on them measurably reduces the light the plant gets in the season it can least afford to lose any.
  • FeedingMonthly with a balanced liquid feed from April to September, nothing after. A well-lit rubber plant will put on substantial height in a season and can be fed accordingly; one in a dim corner should be fed less, not more, because in low light the growth it makes is long-jointed and floppy and the plant becomes top-heavy. The variegated forms need brighter light and rather less feeding than the plain green.
Where this guidance comes from
ProtectionSourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Ficus — leaf drop

Checked 2026-08-13

PruningSourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Ficus elastica — pruning

Checked 2026-08-13

PropagationSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Ficus elastica — propagation

Checked 2026-08-13

WateringSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Ficus elastica — cultivation

Checked 2026-08-13

FeedingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Ficus elastica — cultivation

Checked 2026-08-13

Where to make a pruning cutFour stems compared. The first is cut cleanly on a slope about five millimetres above an outward-facing bud, sloping away from it, and is labelled correct. The second is cut too far above the bud, leaving a long stub that dies back. The third is cut too close, into the bud itself, which loses the shoot. The fourth is cut sloping towards the bud so rain runs onto it rather than away, which rots it. In every case the bud points outwards, away from the centre of the plant.Correct5 mm, sloping awayToo highstub dies backToo closebud lostSloping inrain sits on the bud
The bud you cut to becomes the new shoot, and it grows in the direction it points — which is why an outward-facing bud opens the plant up and an inward-facing one crosses the middle.
Four ways to make more plantsFour propagation operations compared, each showing where the separation is made and what must be present on both sides of it. Division: a clump cut between crowns, with roots and at least one growing point on every piece. Stem cutting: a shoot cut just below a leaf node, because the node is where roots form, with the lower leaves removed. Runner: a plantlet already rooting where it touches the ground, severed from the parent only after its own roots have taken. Offset: a young shoot at the base of the parent, separated with its own roots attached. In each case the cut is marked and the part that must be retained is labelled.Divisioncut between crownsroots on every piececut below a nodeStem cuttingroots form at the nodestrip the lower leavesRunnerlet it root firstthen sever the linkOffseta shoot at the basetake its roots with it
The rule is the same in all four: the new piece needs both a growing point and roots of its own. A cutting is the exception that has to make its roots afterwards, which is why the node matters so much.

What goes wrong

Start from what you can see

Safety and edibility

Cats and dogsUsually a short upset stomach

Listed as harmful to cats or dogs

Rubber plant is listed as harmful if eaten. The white latex sap contains proteolytic enzymes and irritant compounds. Eating the leaves causes mouth irritation, drooling and vomiting; the sap on skin or in an eye causes a separate contact reaction, which is why this record carries both.
source

Sourced guidancehigh confidence

  • ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center — toxic and non-toxic plant list — American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: Ficus elastica — toxic plants list

Checked 2026-08-13

Affected parts: leaf, sap.

Cut stems and leaves bleed a white latex that irritates skin and eyes, in animals and in people. It is a recognised sensitiser: repeated exposure produces a stronger reaction than the first one.
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center — toxic and non-toxic plant list — American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: Ficus elastica — clinical signs

Checked 2026-08-13

  • Contact hazardsensitised individualsCut stems and leaves exude a white latex sap that irritates skin and can cause a reaction in people with a latex allergy. Ingestion causes mild stomach upset in pets.
    source

    Sourced guidancehigh confidence

    • Royal Horticultural Society: Ficus elastica — sap

    Checked 2026-08-13

    Wear gloves when pruning or taking cuttings, and wash any sap off promptly. Anyone with a known latex allergy should avoid handling cut stems.

  • Pets and livestockpetsThe same latex makes the leaves an irritant to cats and dogs that chew them, causing mouth irritation, drooling and vomiting. Ficus elastica is on the ASPCA's toxic plant list on that basis; the effects are unpleasant and self-limiting rather than dangerous.
    source

    Sourced guidancehigh confidence

    • Royal Horticultural Society: Ficus elastica — sap

    Checked 2026-08-13

    Keep it away from a pet that chews foliage, and clear up fallen leaves. Rinse the mouth and offer water if it has been chewed; ring a vet if the vomiting does not settle.

Sources for this page

GrowingHQ editorial synthesis · Plant Finder · Royal Horticultural Society

Each figure on this page carries its own citation, under the “where these figures come from” note in its section. Record last reviewed 2026-08-14.

If something is wrong with it

Something else? Work through it with the diagnostic tool.