Recently I have noticed my Burgundy Rubber Plant’s roots have begun to emerge from the top of the soil line. In fact, quite a few pretty large roots are visible as you can see from the picture below. Out of concern, I’ve done a lot of internet sleuthing on this topic. I wanted to write a post to help others that might experience the same thing with their Rubber Plant. Read on to find out if having roots above the soil is a problem, how the roots end up above the soil, and what if anything can you do to fix it.
Are Exposed Rubber Plant Roots a Problem
Is it a problem if your Rubber Plant roots are above the soil? Not really. Outdoors, you often see trees that have visible roots. It doesn’t make them unhealthy. The roots may dry out a little more quickly if they are exposed. It’s not a dire problem that you have to solve immediately. There are way more roots below the soil line than above. As long as you’re checking your soil moisture to keep your plant healthy, you shouldn’t have any problems.
In fact, Rubber Plants are known for putting out aerial roots towards the base of their trunk. These are spindly roots that emerge about an inch or so above the soil line. Some eventually find their way into the soil and some may stop growing or break. In the picture below, you can see my Rubber Plant aerial roots have actually grown into the soil. As aerial roots are growing you can remove them if you don’t like the look. It shouldn’t hurt the plant at all. I have let them be and they seem to have grown into the soil, and then you have bonus stability. If you want to remove them, just make sure you use a sterile knife or pruning shears. If you trim the aerial roots beware that Rubber Plants drip a white sap that is a skin irritant to some.
Why Are My Rubber Plant Roots Above Soil?
Why does this happen? It could be a number of factors. I already mentioned aerial roots. In addition, if you water heavily, that could wash the soil away from the roots closest to the top of the soil line. You also may not have planted your Rubber Plant deep enough when repotting it. Or the nursery didn’t if you haven’t had a chance to repot. It could be a combination of more than one of these reasons.
One thing to look for is if the roots that are above the soil are close to the trunk. If they are they are probably aerial roots that have grown into the soil. If on the other hand, the roots you see above the soil are all over the pot and not just by the trunk, then you might need to repot.
How to Fix Rubber Tree Roots Above Soil?
Add More Soil
Just to reiterate once more, this isn’t something you have to fix. I understand that many plant owners will want to fix it though. The easiest fix, if you have the room in your pot, is to add soil to the top. You might be able to add enough soil to the top of the pot to completely cover the exposed roots without dirt spilling out of the pot. If you can, that’s the easiest route. If you add more soil to the top of your pot, you will want to be careful when you’re watering your Rubber Plant in the future, or you may end up washing the soil away and exposing the roots once again.
Repot Your Rubber Plant
The more involved fix is to repot your whole Rubber Plant. If you choose this route, you’ll need a pot that is about 1 to 2 inches in diameter larger than your old pot. You also want to make sure that it is deeper than your old pot. Generally when you get a wide pot it is also deeper, but it’s worth mentioning specifically for this use case. When repotting you want to make sure that you plant the Rubber Plant deep enough so you can cover the roots that you were worried about. However, I caution you from burying it too deep. If you bury the Rubber Plant too deep and the soil is too far up the trunk it can cause problems as well. You see this a lot in outdoor trees where people put mulch up too high on the trunk and it rots it. This can be a problem for indoor trees as well.
I have a whole separate post discussing the ins and outs of repotting a Rubber Plant. It covers when to repot your Rubber Plant. How to repot. And what to do after you repot. Again though, your Rubber Plant can be completely healthy and vigorous like the one above even with some roots above the soil.
Does your Rubber Plant have roots above the soil? If you have further questions share them in the Comments section below.
I'm a long time plant lover on the quest to happily coexist with as many plants as I can. Let's grow!