14 Reasons Why Rubber Plant is Dropping Leaves and their Remedies
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Rubber Plant (Rubber Fig) may drop leaves due to improper watering, pests, root-rot, extreme temperatures, insufficient light, poor feeding, wrong soil among others.
Rubber Plant is one of the easiest of the Ficus varieties for growing indoors. Rubber Plant prefers bright light with 4-6 hours of direct sunshine, average warmth of 15-280C, moderate humidity of 50-55% and moderately moist, fertile, well-drained, all purpose potting soil coupled with monthly feeding in the growing season. Read more on how to grow and care for Rubber Plants (Ficus elastica).
If you fail to provide the correct growing conditions for your Rubber Plant it may drop it leaves. We have herebelow discussed 14 reasons why your Rubber Plant leaves may fall and their solutions. Keep reading for more details.
Rubber Plant losing leaves (13 Causes & solutions)
1. Root-rot Disease
Rubber Plant is prone to root-rot which is prevalent in soggy soil and is characterized by wilted, discolored leaves, corky swellings under the leaves and leaf loss.
Soggy soil reduces oxygen concentration in the soil which causes the roots to die. Once the roots die, they cannot take up water and nutrients to the leaves. The leaves begin to wilt and eventually drop.
Solutions
Carefully slip your Rubber Plant out of its pot and inspect the roots. Brown-black mushy roots indicate root-rot, trim them off and treat the healthy roots with a fungicidal solution.
Disinfect the pot with the fungicidal solution or use a fresh pot to repot the plant in fresh free-draining soil. Do not water the plant and keep it dry for a few days before resuming watering. Read more on how to treat root-rot disease.
2. Poor Quality Soil
Poor quality soil does not drain easily and therefore it easily becomes compacted or soggy which can negatively impact the growth of your Rubber Plant.
Rubber Plant requires loose, free-draining, all purpose soil that does not hold excessive amounts of water as soggy soil can lead to root-rot which is characterized by yellowing and losing leaves.
Solutions
Pot the Rubber Plant in good quality soil that is loose, free-draining and rich in organic matter. All purpose potting mixes are ideal for this plant.
3. Pest Infestations
Rubber Plant is prone to aphids, mealy bugs, scale insects and spider mites which are more common in weak plants and in extremely dry conditions. These pests attack the new growth from where they suck the plant sap which causes the plant to become dehydrated resulting in wilting and loss of leaves.
Solutions
Regularly inspect your Rubber Plant for the pests and take timely control measures. If infested, treat the plant for the pests with neem oil or insecticidal soap as per the manufacturer's instructions.
Maintain the plant properly pruned to get rid of their breeding ground to discourage infestations by these pests. Ensure that the plants are healthy at all times by providing the right growing conditions. In addition, increase humidity by setting the pot on a wet pebble tray to discourage these pests. Learn more on how to elevate humidity for houseplants.
4. Too Little Light
The Rubber Plant requires bright light with 4-6 hours of direct sunshine to thrive. The light is needed for making food that is required for energy and growth.
Insufficient light implies that the plant cannot make enough food for energy and growth. In an attempt to save energy, the Rubber Fig begins to loose leaves. This way, it saves the available energy for the vital functions inorder to keep alive.
Solutions
Cutback the bare stems to rejuvenate growth and also encourage a bushy, compact growth. Position the Rubber Plant in a brighter spot where it will receive bright light with 4-6 hours of direct sunshine. A spot infront of a large, well-lit window which receives some morning or late afternoon direct sunshine.
You may also instal a grow light if you do not have adequate natural light in your home. Take a look at these full spectrum grow lights on Amazon.
Regularly rotate the pot to ensure that the plant absorbs enough light on all sides. Ocassionally clean the leaves by damp wiping with a soft cloth to increase surface area for light absorption. Check out this guide on understanding light for houseplants.
5. Overfeeding
Overfeeding your Rubber Plant will cause the roots to die due to fertilizer burn. When the roots die, they cannot take up nutrients and water required for photosynthesis. Without adequate food for growth and energy, the plant begins to drop leaves inorder to save energy for the plant's vital functions to keep alive.
Solutions
Take care not to overfeed the plant. Feed your Rubber Plant during the growing period with a balanced, water-soluble fertilizer and follow the instructions on the label of the plant food. >Do not feed the plant during the cold season as growth is minimal at this time and feeding at this time can lead to fertilizer burn.
Flush out the salts from the soil regularly by running a stream of water through the soil until it comes out through the drainage holes and repeat the process several times.
6. Underfeeding
Underfeeding Rubber Plant implies that it is not getting enough nutrients need for growth and energy. Inadequate nutrients in the actively growing tips causes nutrients to be withdrawn from the older lower leaves which begin to yellow and fall.
Solutions
Feed your Rubber Plant during the growing period with a balanced, water-soluble fertilizer and follow the manufactuer's instructions on the label. Witholding feeding in the cold season to avoid fertilizer burn. Read more on how to feed houseplants.
7. Root Bound Plant
If your Rubber Plant is root-bound, the roots have filled the pot and there is very little soil to hold water when you water the plant. Therefore, there is no water for the plant to take up to the leaves. The leaves loss their stiffness and they wilt and drop.
Solutions
Check the bottom of the pot for roots growing through the drainage hole and repot the Rubber Plant into a pot one size larger than the current one. Ascertain that the pot has a drainage hole and that the soil is loose and well-drained. Use a heavy pot as the plant can become top-heavy and topple over. Take a look at these ceramic pots with a drainage hole on Amazon.
8. Repotting Shock
Repotting your Rubber Plant may cause it some shock which may lead to some leaves wilting and dropping before it can adjust to the new growing conditions.
Solutions
To minimize repotting shock, water the Rubber Plant thoroughly one day before repotting. A well hydrated plant experiences less shock and establishes much faster. >Do not make too many changes at once. For instance, after repotting, maintain the plant in the same location until it is well established before moving it to a new location.
9. Overwatering
Overwatering your Rubber Plant may result in loss of leaves. This is because overwatering results in soggy soil (excess water in the soil) which reduces the oxygen concentration in the rootzone and this causes the roots to die.
When roots die, they cannot take up water and nutrients needed for the food making process. Therefore, the plant does not make enough food for growth and energy. In a bid to save energy, the plant begins to drop its leaves.
Solutions
To avoid getting soggy soil, ensure that the pot has a drainage hole and the soil is loose enough and well-drained. In addition, reduce watering during the cold season to maintain the soil slightly moist as growth is minimal at this time.
10. Underwatering
When you underwater Rubber Plant, there is too little moisture in the soil. As such, the plant cannot take up nutrients and water needed for photosynthesis (food making process). If the plant does not get adequate food for growth and energy, it drops the leaves inorder to save energy and keep alive.
Solutions
Immediately water the plant thoroughly until water comes out through the drainage holes and it should recover. Thereafter, water the Rubber Fig liberally during the growing season and allow the top 2-3 inches of soil to dry out between waterings.
Decrease watering during the cold season but do not allow the soil to dry out completely, maintain the soil slightly moist. Learn more on how to water indoor plants the correct way.
11. Extreme Temperatures
Rubber Plant requires average temperatures of 15-280C to thrive. Extreme temperatures; either too high or too low (outside the above range) will affect the normal functioning of the plant systems.
Too high temperatures will cause excessive loss of water leading to wilting and leaf drop while too low temperatures cause the plant to stop growing and begin to die. Leaf fall is one of the signs of a dying plant.
Solutions
Keep your Rubber Plant away from cold drafts like drafty winds, air conditioning vents, open doors and others. Make sure that the plant is not near hot surfaces, hot air vents and other hot areas to prevent extremely high temperatures.
Maintain an average temperature of 15-280C. Usually, a room temperature that is comfortable for you is ideal for the plant. Check out this guide on understanding temperature for houseplants.
12. Too Cold Water
Rubber Plant is a tropical plant where it grows in consistently warm temperatures through out the year. Therefore, watering this plant with too cold water will shock the plant and it responds by dropping its leaves.
Solutions
Water your Rubber Plant with water that is at room temperature to avoid shocking this tropical plant.
13. Sudden Changes in Growing Conditions
Rubber Plant is sensitive to sudden changes in growing conditions and it responds with leaf fall. This is likely to occur when you bring the plant home or when you move it to a new location in the home.
Solutions
When you bring your Rubber Plant home, place it in bright light with 4-6 hours of morning or late afternoon sunshine and warm conditions.
Water the Rubber Plant liberally during the growing season while allowing the top 2-3 inches of soil to dry out between waterings. It may loss a few leaves but will eventually settle.
If you need to move your plant to a new location in the home, do so gradually to acclimate it to the new conditions. For instance, if you want to take it outside, move it to a shaded place first before you can take out under bright light.
14. Aging
As Rubber Plant matures, it loses the lower leaves leaving a bare stem with a crown of leaves at the top. Loss of lower leaves is a normal occurence in this plant.
Solutions
Cutback your Rubber Plant stem at the desired height to rejuvenate growth. New growth should sprout just below the cut into a new bushy plant.
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