Rubber Trees have thick glossy leaves. Different varieties have leaves with different color patterns such as Burgundy and Tineke. They are a popular house plant that you can find at many big box stores and plant nurseries. Their unique look makes them popular, and so does being relatively easy to care for. Read on for more information on Rubber Tree indoor care.
Rubber Tree Indoor Care
Rubber Trees are pretty easy to care for once you know their specific needs. They grow a bit slowly compared to some other popular houseplants like Pothos or Philodendrons. That might make some plant owners question whether they are giving their plants enough water, food, and light. The Burgundy Rubber Tree pictured above is a plant I have had for a long time. When I got it at a Home Depot, it was maybe a foot tall, and now it’s easily over three feet. If you’re looking for the quick and dirty basics of Rubber Tree indoor care, see the table directly below. In the rest of this post, I will go into more detail for each category as well. One downside to Rubber Trees is that are not safe for your pets to ingest, so be mindful of where you place them. In fact, their white sap, which appears when a leaf or stem is broken, can be a skin irritant for some people as well.
| Light Needs | Watering Needs | Soil Needs | Fertilizing Needs |
| Moderate to bright indirect light. | Allow the top inch or two of soil to dry in between watering. | Well draining potting soil. | Every 2- 4 weeks during the growing season. |
Rubber Tree Light Requirements
Rubber Trees like the sun, but do not like to encounter direct sun. Adequate sunlight helps your Rubber Tree to produce leaves that are vibrantly colored. One way to know if you are not giving your Rubber Tree enough light is if the new leaves that grow are not the color that you expected. So if your Burgundy Rubber Tree leaves are green and do not have a reddish hue, then you might have a light problem. Ample light will also help your Rubber Tree leaves grow big. Another indication of inadequate light is if a new leaf is much smaller than the surrounding leaves.
Rubber Tree light requirements are relatively easy to achieve in most homes. You should strive to put them next to a window. An ideal window for a Rubber Tree is an east or west-facing window. In these windows they will receive some morning or evening sun. A south-facing window can work as well but they light could be too intense. Rubber Tree leaves can scorch, or burn, if they receive light that is too intense. I have personally kept mine in a south-facing window for years though. However, the light is dappled because there are large trees just outside the window.
If you want to know the direction of your windows, any map app on your phone should work as a compass. For those that are super interested in light and light intensity, some plant monitors that can help you determine which window gives the best light. I’ve had fun with this plant monitor checking out all the spots in my house, but I’m a crazy plant lady. I like this one because it has an app, that tracks and records the light accumulation by the hour. So you can set it and then review the light accumulation over several days to give you the best idea of the light situation. For more information on this gadget, I have an extensive write-up.
Rubber Tree Watering
Rubber Trees are pretty standard when it comes to watering. However, Rubber Trees do not have early warning signs for lack of water like some houseplants. Some houseplants will droop dramatically when they need water, but not Rubber Trees. To get around this you need to monitor the soil moisture closely. I tend to keep my plants on the dry side because I’m a bit lazy so I like to stick to a schedule and it also helps to prevent fungus gnats. My Rubber Trees have adjusted well to being watered on a schedule after I figured out how much water to give them each week.
For Rubber Trees, you should wait for the top inch or two of soil to feel dry before you water. I don’t like to stick my fingers in 50 something plant pots everyday to test the moisture, so I prefer to use a soil moisture meter. If you have a handful of plants, I highly recommend getting one. Moisture meters are great for teaching yourself how often to water and how much water to give to each plant. It’s helpful in learning how quickly your plant is drying out. If you’re having issues with your Rubber Tree leaves turning yellow. The first thing you should check is if you have a watering issue, which could be too much or too little water. Check out my post on yellowing leaves if you suspect your Rubber Tree is having an issue.
Rubber Tree Fertilizer
Rubber Trees can be fertilized about every two to four weeks during the growing season. I lean more toward every four weeks. I lean that way because Rubber Trees grow slowly, which means they aren’t particularly heavy feeders.
Indoor Rubber Trees occasionally grow a new leaf during the winter(i.e. not the growing season). If this happens, do not encourage it by applying more fertilizer. There will not be enough light in the winter for healthy growth.
Rubber Trees can be fertilized with an all-purpose balanced fertilizer. A balanced fertilizer is one that has even, or similar, ratios of the three nutrients n-p-k. N stands for nitrogen, P for phosphorus, and K for potassium. Nitrogen encourages healthy foliage growth, phosphorous helps with blooming, and potassium is for overall plant health. The only way to check if your soil is lacking nutrients, or has too many, is to test for each nutrient using soil rapitests.
Rubber Tree Soil
Rubber Trees do not need a specially formulated soil mix. Any well-draining soil mixture will do. I typically mix regular potting soil with some additional perlite to help encourage drainage. Perlite is the little white stuff you find in most potting soil and it helps with drainage. I use a 4:1 ratio of potting soil to perlite for my Rubber Trees.
Arguably more important than the soil is the pot. Your pot needs to have drainage holes to allow water to flow freely out, or you will risk having soil that is too moist. If you’re repotting your Rubber Tree and want tips, I have a detailed post about repotting a Rubber Tree. They don’t need to be repotted often though, every couple of years really, because they grow pretty slowly
Do you have more questions about Rubber Tree indoor care? Let us know 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!