Leggy rubber plants are a common concern with these popular houseplants that are relatively easy to maintain yet still get a case of legginess.
Legginess, which can also occur when a rubber plant of the Moraceae family grows with scant foliage, describes when it grows tall without any leaves on the lower section of its stem. Today, we’re looking at the best ways to resolve this issue and make our plants thrive.
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How To Fix a Leggy-looking Rubber Plant?
To fix a leggy-looking rubber plant you must relocate the plant to a brighter location, and make sure that you aren’t overfertilizing them. You should also trim them horizontally, try to repot them, and provide the right requirements.
Moreover, it will begin to drop its bottom leaves as a sign that one of these resources is deficient if it isn’t feeling well. Rubber planters favor locations that will provide bright, indirect light that isn’t too hot.
Observe your rubber plant from a distance. Choose your desired appearance while considering the area’s growth and location. For instance, keeping your rubber plant as a short, spherical shrub is best on a table or shelf with little room to expand, so that you would stop the leggy feature and provide it with the right growing requirements.
– Relocate The Plant to A Brighter Location
Your rubber plant is probably leggy because it isn’t getting enough light. The plant should be relocated to a light area to solve this issue. Ascertain that the plant will receive at least six hours of sunlight each day.
Because the stems of a spindly rubber plant cannot sustain the weight of the leaves, it frequently drops, and it looks longer than usual, much the same with the stems too, as they should be stronger since the plant lacks light.
For healthy growth, rubbers require abundant indirect light. If you reside in a region with a lot of sun, you might need to relocate the plant to a location with some afternoon shade. A rubber plant’s leaves can become scorched by too direct sunshine.
When it doesn’t have enough light coming, you would see it resulting in improper chlorophyll production in the leaves. The leaves will turn a light green or yellow as a result. A lanky rubber shrub will also have few leaves. The plant cannot generate enough leaves but if you place it in a location where it will have proper amounts of light, then, you will see this issue decrease.
– Refrain From Overfertilizing the Plant.
Your rubber tree may have received too much fertilizer if it is leggy. You can use less fertilizer to solve this issue. During the growing season, fertilize the plant every two weeks and, in the winter, once per month. Use a balanced fertilizer designed for houseplants. To prevent overfertilizing the plant, adhere to the instructions on the fertilizer’s label.
The leaves of a leggy plant will also be spaced widely apart, which is a sign for you to check on them. The plant is striving to have steady branches, but it is weak; thus, the leaves are spreading out to obtain excessive amounts of strength and nutrients which would come from the fertilizer that you have placed in their soil. Due to the overwhelming cirumstances, the leaves will also be smaller than usual, and they will also have a weird-looking foliage.
– Prune The Weak Branches
Start by pruning back any lower branches that appear to be growing horizontally from the plant or interfering with the shape you want it to take. Some branches will appear to grow strangely, curved, or much more quickly than others.
To prevent the plant from looking overly dense, you can trim a few branches and leaves from the middle of the plant, but this is a matter of taste. Also note that when your plant tries to reach the desired height, which means now is the time to prune the top leaves before the node. Instead of cutting after the node, you leave a small stump behind when you miss before it, and this will stop the plant from discharging further vertical chutes.
– Trim the Height Down
Trim the top off when the rubber plant reaches a maximum height of four feet to create a more compact shrub-like rubber plant. Instead of growing tall and narrow, this will encourage your plant to grow horizontally and produce a more rounded form. Ensure you incision at an angle above a leaf node where leaves are attached to the stem.
Any branches growing in the wrong direction can also be cut off, and it will help you shrink the height. Choose a size that you can prune down to and then let the plant fill in itself because pruning lateral branches will encourage new growth to fill in the plant’s center portion.
You can repeat this procedure every few months if your plant is still appearing frail until it fills up. If you’re wondering how to make a rubber plant bushy again, the answer is to trim them properly.
– Repotting It
Fortunately, rubber plant cuttings can be easily multiplied. If you’ve ever wondered how to replant rubber plants, it’s pretty easy. You may give your rubber plant a more shrub-like appearance by replanting a few of its cuttings into a pot; this will help to fill in the bottom portions of the plant.
When pruned, branches can either be planted back into the same pot as the original plant right away, or they can first be rooted in a glass of water. Plants may experience extreme stress after being pruned, and they will have an easier time recovering and thriving as a result, so repotting is a fresh start.
Rubber greens require very little general maintenance, these plants need a balanced amount of water and sunlight to grow and thrive. Like any other plant, basic care methods will almost always come in handy so try to give your rubber shrub the best care for it to perform even better; after you have repotted, make sure to do so, as a way to revive them.
Your rubber plant may have received too much fertilizer if it is leggy, as a result, you can repot the plant in new soil to solve this issue. Note that this is why you should choose a potting mix that is of high quality and has good drainage, and add additional perlite or vermiculite to the potting mix to enhance drainage.
– Provide the Right Requirements
The most frequent reason is a lack of light and the lack of nutrients as well. For optimum growth, rubber greens require direct, bright sunlight. They will stretch and get leggy to reach the light source if they don’t receive enough light.
The leaves will also get thinner and fewer in number due to the lack of light, which is why it would expand its growth. There is another factor contributing to the attractiveness of spindly rubber plants.
Leggy plants are more likely to topple over. This is a result of the plant not receiving adequate light, which leaves the stems unable to sustain the weight of the leaves. The plant may topple over if not supported because the roots may weaken.
The most frequent reason for legginess in rubber greens is low light, but it’s not the only one. Legginess can also result from high soil nitrogen levels. This is because nitrogen promotes growth; therefore, if too much of it is in the soil, the plant will grow taller and thinner.
FAQ
– How To Tell Your Rubber Tree is Leggy?
To tell your rubber tree is leggy, you should check the health of the branches because It will frequently appear unhealthy if it is leggy. It will also grow branches that are taller than usual. As a result, you will see dull leaves that will drop due to their weakness.
Being taller and thinner than a healthy plant is one of the most direct and obvious symptoms of a spindly rubber plant. There will be a few leaves on the stems. This is because the plant will become taller and thinner to reach the light source.
This is due to the plant’s inability to create enough chlorophyll since it is not receiving enough light or nutrients. The plant may frequently appear limp, and the leaves will be pale green or yellow.
Conclusion
There you have it, a list of ways to help save your ficus elastica and give it new life. Your fresh plant leaves will flourish like never before once you follow this guide, whether on an indoor rubber or an outdoor one. To recap some of this article:
- Your rubber shrub will need lots and lots of light, so ensure that it receives plenty of it, especially if you’re keeping it as an indoor plant.
- A large rubber plant will need enough water to stay hydrated and produce energy. Ensure you create an upgraded, consistent water schedule to help you with this.
- Usually, overfertilizing the plant is the cause, greens frequently overfertilize their plants because they want them to develop quickly. Yet using too much fertilizer can have the opposite effect.
- Finally, pruning rubber plants helps with making them bushier and, therefore, less leggy. If your plants are old enough, give them a prune now and then to see what difference it makes.
So, are you running over to fix one of your rubbers right now? You know the way it looks, and how they recover from this feature, to have beautifully growing plants again!
