Ficus Tineke, also known as the variegated rubber tree, is a low-maintenance plant that adds a pop of color to any room. To grow this plant, it is essential to place it in bright, indirect light and keep it indoors. The ideal temperature range for Ficus Tineke is between 60°F and 75°F, with humidity levels boosted by a humidifier or pebble tray.
To ensure optimal growth, dust the leaves with a microfiber cloth and rotate the pot by a ¼ turn once a month. The ideal temperature range for Ficus Tineke is between 18 and 21 degrees Celsius. Plant the plant in a pot with fresh soil, leaving the moss on the roots, and keep the soil moist but not wet. Once new growth appears, water the plant about every 5 days, when the soil looks and feels dry to the touch.
The plant loves slightly moist soil, but avoid overwatering to prevent problems like root rot. Place the plant where there is a perfect balance of watering, allowing the soil to dry out completely between watering. Watering should be heavy and thorough to ensure water flows through the soil and maintain its health.
In summary, Ficus Tineke is a beautiful, low-maintenance plant that can be easily grown indoors. It requires proper lighting, watering, pruning, and a balanced environment to thrive and remain healthy.
📹 How To Care For Ficus elastica “Tineke” & “Ruby” (Variegated Rubber Tree) | Plant Of The Week Ep. 12
This week’s plant(s) of the week are Ficus elastica “Tineke” and “Ruby”, commonly referred to as Variegated Rubber Trees.
How do you fix a sad rubber plant?
Rubber plants require a balanced environment, with temperatures and humidity levels to ensure their growth and avoid drooping. To address this issue, adjust light exposure, temperature, and humidity. Light should be bright but indirect, and the plant should be moved to a brighter spot. Direct sunlight can scorch the leaves, so avoid direct sunlight. Keep the plant away from drafty areas and avoid placing it near air vents, large windows, or frequently opened doors. Additionally, maintain high humidity levels by regularly misting the leaves or placing the pot on a tray of moist pebbles. These adjustments will help keep the plant happy and droop-free.
How do I keep my rubber plant happy?
To ensure your rubber plant is healthy, check the soil for moisture levels and adjust the watering schedule accordingly. If the soil is mostly dry, water your plant regularly, especially during hot weather. Water your plant evenly and thoroughly to reach every root, avoiding letting water sit at the bottom to prevent root rot. If your plant’s leaves turn yellow, brown, or fall off, it may be a sign of overwatering.
For optimal light and humidity, keep your rubber plant in bright rooms, away from direct sunlight windows, where the humidity and temperature feel comfortable. Repotting your rubber plant during springtime is essential to allow their roots to spread out, absorb nutrients, and grow. This will help your plant absorb nutrients and grow more efficiently. For more information on repotting, refer to the article on the topic.
Do rubber plants need direct sunlight?
A rubber plant requires six to eight hours of bright, indirect sunlight daily, with an East-facing window indoors to protect it from harsh afternoon sunlight. Insufficient light can cause leggy, dull, and unhealthy plants. Rubber trees thrive in bright, indirect, or filtered light to retain their foliage vibrancy. Too much light, especially hot afternoon sun, can burn the plant’s delicate leaves. While some rubber tree varieties can tolerate low light, it can cause leggy growth, lower foliage loss, and eaves variegation. Medium bright-light conditions mimic their tropical habitat for optimal growth.
What kind of soil does a Tineke need?
The Ficus Tineke is a tropical houseplant that thrives in well-draining, aeration-rich soil. It requires a good quality potting soil mixed with sand and vermiculite, avoiding acidic or alkaline soil as it will not survive its roots. The plant needs bright, indirect light to produce the best color in its leaves, and should not be placed directly opposite a bright window unless covered with a diffusing screen. To ensure even growth and color, rotate the plant by 90 degrees every week.
Watering the Ficus Tineke is crucial as it will drop its leaves during the dry season in the wild. To maintain a consistent watering schedule, keep the top one to two inches of soil moist but not wet, and water whenever the soil is dry to the touch. This ensures even growth and color for the plant.
Why are my Ficus tineke leaves turning brown?
The Ficus plant is sensitive to water conditions, causing brown foliage due to under or overwatering. If the plant receives too little water, the leaves will brown slowly, while overwatering causes them to brown from the bottom up and fall off quickly. To fix these issues, water the plant immediately and leave the soil to dry before watering again. If overwatering is extreme, repot the plant.
Ficus plants are adapted to warmer, humid conditions, so they may experience dry leaves from cold draughts from windows and doors. To fix this, move the plant away from draughty areas, but avoid placing it near radiators and heat sources. If moving is not possible, consider investing in draught excluders to prevent air flow.
Root problems are another issue, as the Ficus can easily outgrow its pot. To prevent this, repot the plant every two years. When the roots become crowded, they stop absorbing nutrients and water efficiently, starving the leaves of necessary nutrients. This results in browning leaves and falling off.
Do rubber plants like misting?
Rubber trees thrive in warmer, more humid climates and require regular misting to maintain their humidity. They are best kept between 60 and 78 degrees Fahrenheit and should be pruned to maintain their health and new growth. Pruning can be done anytime of the year, but major pruning should be done in spring. Use pruning shears or sharp, clean scissors to make cuts just above the plant’s nodes, and wear gloves to avoid releasing sap when cut. Rubber trees can grow tall, so if you prefer a stouter, bushier tree, you can prune them to your liking. For a detailed pruning tutorial, visit WikiHow.
How often do you water Tineke?
Ficus Tineke plants require minimal watering, with a watering schedule of one to two weeks during the growing season. They prefer consistent light moisture, but overwatering can lead to root rot. Watering is best when slight underwatering is used, but not dripping on leaves. The plant prefers warm temperatures and moderate humidity, with ideal temperatures ranging from 60 to 75 degrees F. Avoid this plant if your home has temperatures below 55 degrees F, experiences sudden temperature drops, or cannot be placed away from drafts, dry heat, and AC units.
How often should I water a rubber fig?
Rubber Plants require weekly watering, allowing the soil to dry out between waterings, especially during winter when only fortnightly is needed. They thrive in medium to dappled sunlight, but prolonged exposure to bright direct sunlight can burn and scorch their leaves. They thrive in a humid environment, but can withstand average humidity levels. Misting or clustering plants can help raise humidity.
Do Ficus tineke like to be misted?
The Ficus Tineke is a houseplant that can be easily cared for by observing its environment and making adjustments as needed. Common problems with the plant include losing color variegation, getting too much sun, dried-up leaves, algae leaf spots, root rot, pests like plant scale, mealybugs, aphids, and spider mites, and pests like insecticidal soap or neem oil.
To address these issues, move the plant closer to a light source, reduce the frequency of fertilizer use, check the soil regularly, and water when the top few inches are dry. If the leaves appear gray, green, or orange, it may be due to excessive humidity. Cut off affected foliage and keep them dry using a humidifier. If yellowing leaves and mushy stems occur, the plant may have root rot due to overwatering.
Ficus Tineke plants require adequate light to maintain color variegation. Bright, direct light in the early morning hours is suitable, but diffuse the incoming light in the afternoons with a sheer curtain over the window. This method allows for sufficient light while avoiding leaf scorch.
The Ficus Tineke can grow up to 50 feet in height, with an average indoor height of 5-6 feet. Outdoor growth ranges from 2-10 feet, and indoors, it can reach massive heights of 50 feet.
Where is the best place to put a rubber plant?
The Rubber Plant thrives in bright, indirect light, but is tolerant of lower light spaces. To maintain its happiness, it is best placed by a southern-facing window with sheer curtains. Standard Planters come with a removable drainage plug, but beginners should avoid this option due to potential watering mistakes. A layer of drainage, such as Aeration Stones, is recommended at the base of the planter to allow roots access to oxygen and prevent anaerobic damage. If using the drainage hole, a Plant Saucer should be included to collect excess water. Watering is recommended once a week, watering the soil mass until water begins pooling in the Plant Saucer.
How do you keep a Ficus tineke alive?
The Ficus Tineke plant is a tropical plant that thrives in warmer climates, with an ideal temperature of 60-75˚F (15-24˚C). To maintain its pink and ruby hues, it is recommended to get indirect light and rotate the pot by a ¼ turn once a month. The plant grows about 24 inches in length and 5 inches in width, with new leaves appearing every 3-4 weeks. Indoor plants can grow up to 2-10 feet and 50 feet outdoors, while outdoor plants can reach 5 to 6 feet. It takes about 1-5 years for the plant to reach full maturity.
The ideal humidity level for the Ficus Tineke is around 40, as anything below 40 could lead to brown, crispy edges. If household humidity levels are insufficient, the plant can be placed near a pebble tray with water, group it with other plants, or locate it in a humid environment like a kitchen or bathroom. Proper lighting, regular watering, adequate temperature, and humidity are essential for the plant’s health and growth.
📹 How To Care For Variegated Ficus Elastica | Rubber Plant Care Tips 2021
In this video, we will address how to fix the common issues that most people face when it comes to their variegated Ficus Elastica …
I love my elasticas and can say that from my experience I have watered them daily and left them out in full sun( I also live right outside of Philly) and it shot up giving me new leaves almost daily and it excited me so much. Mine was about 18″ or just a little bit taller and is now almost to my ceiling. It is already 7’ tall. I planted it in a mix of potting mix with some earthworm compost and perlite and I fertilize maybe every other week with a weak mix of water with with rich emulsion. All my plants seem to love that and are now g-I-a-n-t. I have another beer pot of elastica with six little trunks in the pot and it is also growing the same way. My previous one was purchased in a 10″ pot almost busting with roots. I have had to repot it since twice within the year and a half I’ve had it. It is now inside the house and too large to go back out.
I learned a lesson on moving focus outdoor for the summer. I keep my Burgundy directly in a south facing window. I bought a green rubber tree “Chloe” and put it outside on my west facing deck. Two of the leaves burned! I was so sad, and felt really bad. I have it moved to my north facing portion of the deck in the shade. Doing fine there. So even if a plant can take direct INDOOR light, does not mean it can withstand direct outdoor light. At least not without acclimation.
This article could not have come at a better time, I ordered 3 new plants yesterday and one was the Tineke. I just got a Lyrata earlier this week so this is my start into Ficus and I’m really excited about my Tineke, just such a beautiful display. I did order a very small, young plant in a 2″ pot so this will be quite the long journey but I’m excited for the challenge and I have all southeast, south and southwest facing windows in my home so this plant is perfect for my home. Thank you for all of the watering tips!
Ficus in general love full sun exposition. Forget the “low light tolerant”, it’s a lie. They don’t resist and need lots of light to push new and healthy growth. I have Ficus Elástica Tineke and Robusta in my backyard. Amazing trees they become! In the house environment they have a similar cactus care. Lots of light and moderate watering. You´re right!
I got a ficus tineke a handoff months ago (new plant parent here, hello) and I made the mistake of leaving it in a dark corner of my room for a few days too long and some of the leaves started wrinkling and getting brown edges. That plant gave me so much anxiety at first I was certain it was gonna die within the week (lol gotta stop spiralling so much) anyways, I moved it to a South West facing window and it has been loving it! It has since put out three beautiful leaves out and I am so proud 😀 it’s probably my favourite plant now (shhh don’t tell the others)
Both of mine are in my South East window and I may water them once every three weeks or so (maybe even less in the winter!) and they LOVE me! My Tineke in particular quadrupled in size since she was in the SE window before the ruby, trying to get the ruby to watch up in size to her big sister! ❤️🤍❤️🤍
I have a younger Ruby in a 4″ pot, and that little dude drinks four time as much as any other ficus in my house, including my similarly sized Ficus Elastica Mini Burgundy and Ficus Altissima. I have to water every three days, even doing the “finger test” to check if the soil is dry first. It also grows more than twice as fast, which probably explains why it drinks so much. I decided to add some slow-release spikes to the pot after bringing it home, and it puts out a new top leaf about once a week, each leaf bigger than the last, so clearly they like to be fed. I just got a baby Tineke and a baby full-size Burgundy, so we will see if the new kids are as thirsty as their brother since they’re pretty much the same aside from the leaf color.
I have three, the “Ruby”, the “Tineke”, and the plain green one “Robusta” ? I agree that they do need bright light and let them dry out and don’t over water them. I thought that I had killed my Tineke, but I put it in better light and it started giving me some new leaves and it’s in a 5 inch pot and has two stems and I’m just leaving it alone and it’s doing great. Thanks for this article, I was wondering what the care of this plant was and then you posted this article and now I know. Have a great day and stay safe, sending love and hugs, bye for now.
I love love love my Tineke! It struggled in my bathroom which I thought had enough light but it started dropping leaves at an alarming rate. Once I gave it more light (works in both in East and southeast facing window) it’s been a breeze and putting out new leaves left and right! Once you find a good spot, don’t move it. Ficus hate to be disturbed and will drop leaves on a whim if you move it.
QUESTION: i have a ficus ruby, it’s about half the size of the plants in the article, however it has three trunks(I think they’re three separate in one pot). Should I attempt to separate them or keep them together ? The leaves are pushing the trunks outward and new growth is almost being hampered due to the tallest trunks leaves being above the smaller trunks growth points.
Hi. Please do a article on problems with tineke. I’ve done well with rubber plants outdoors on porch but I am struggling with tineke indoors ! Received a gift of tineke, very expensive– $50 (8 inch ?). It was in a plastic container and seemed overwatered (though healthy). I transferred it to a clay pot with no disruption to roots. I know the rubber plant likes to be on the dry side, as I water my other rubber plants on porch about once a week– more during summer heat. No problems ! I grew them from 2-4 inch pots, now 5 feet tall ! But the new indoor tineke is driving me nuts ! Burnt edges– never got that outdoor. Help ! Thanks in advance
Hi Nick! I’m a new subscriber and really enjoy your plant advice. I purchased a ruby tineke yesterday. Thank you for sharing the preventive advice for this beautiful plant. I think I will go and but a second one — the variation is just so beautiful! Also, are you saying the only difference between the Tineke and the Ficus Ruby is that one stays red longer???
Thank you so much for this article. My Dad had a beautiful Burgandy Rubber Plant & I have been looking for this plant for years & I finally found one in the clearance section. I never knew that this Ficus is a rubber plant & I already have this Ficus Plant for years and I never knew it is a rubber plant. I just loved it for its beautiful leaves. I love varigated plants & I just thought it was a varigated plant. Now I have 2 rubber plants & didn’t even know it 🙂
Help! I just got little seedling of ‘Tineke’ and it came watered. I planted it in dry soil (it came without pot) and I sprayed the leaves quite often with destilled water. I only have it for 4 days but it already lost its smallest bottom leaf (it wasn’t damaged or dried up) and the rest has a little black dot at the tips of the leaves. It has light and soil is just damp (I watered it already, soil has dried faster because it’s quite warm in my house) as it should I guess. I don’t know what can be wrong!
Good Morning Nick, your ficus shouldn’t be a problem if you’re going to up pot from a 6 inch to an 8 inch terracotta. Some plant/trees likes their roots to be slightly on the root bound, than pot bound. If up potting, do so only if its dormant from (October into about April). If we wait too long, and up pot during the growing season, our plants will undergone a “transplant shock” and depending on what species of the plant/trees it will takes longer to recover.
I have the ‘Sylvie’ variety of this beautiful plant. I have three, and the smallest has the best leaves, no brown edges, no bare stem, and it got the most light (east), and the least water. The other two have bare stems, and a lot of brown edges. I think it must be from overwatering. Care advice varies so much: let them dry out / keep moist !! In any case, all are going to be repotted in a soil that will drain better, and get more light. I’ll see what happens!
I think they also would prefer higher humidity, I have about 45-50-55% of humidity at home, so mine was doing great. And then I moved it to my office, which is very dry. And it died really fast. ( actually a green version of the same plant died in my office too) I got a new one for home 2-3 months ago and again it is doing great. I guess I will never have ficus in my office again 🙂
Hey Nick, I have a ruby I thought it was a Teneycke but anyway it’s dirty getting large black spots on the leaves it didn’t turn yellow it didn’t drop off but I thought it was a fungus or a virus so I took those leaves off my tree was about 6 1/2 7 feet tall so I cut it in half now how do I propagate it and I also sprayed it with neem oil and that seem to stop whatever it was going on so the bottom half in the pot is doing wonderful in the top half. I just stuck in water. Do I need to take the leaves off and propagate them or watt, thanks
I have the Tineke and Ruby as well. Both are challenged. I keep the Ruby two feet away from a south facing window…with a balcony…and the Tineke 6ft away from an exposed sheer covered south facing window. Had them both just over 1yr. I haven’t lost any leaves but both give me really strange, tiny leaves. I’m still trying to figure them out.
Hi Nick, need some help! I have a tiny one and don’t know, if it is a Tineke or Ruby. It has red-creamy new leafs, but only pastell-like, not really red. Is the new Tineke growth white/variegatet from the beginning? And in addition: is Ruby the same as “Strawberry and Cream” and/or “Belize”? Aaarrgghhh, this makes me weird 😬. Can anybody help? Thank you so much. I have searched pictures in the internet but this makes me even more confused.
I really wish you would have talked about repotting– what kind of soil. I have 2 very large rubber plants that I repotted a few years ago. They are thriving– over 4 feet tall. Honestly I can’t remember what I did… Potting soil and perlite- I think ? I knew they didn’t like to be overwatered… They are on my porch- indirect bright light.
My Tineke seems to be very fussy. At first it was doing well in my room, put out maybe one or two leaves and then did nothing for months. I moved it on my windowstill because I thought it needed more light but after doing well for some time it started to brown and lose several leaves. And I watered once a week. I moved it again and it started to grow a new leaf again – it has less light now but I feel like it didn’t like the windowstill because it might have been too cold there? In the summer it was doing well there. I honestly have no idea how to take care of it now 😂
Your ruby looks just like a tineke apart from the top leaves. My Ruby’s leaves are pink and green all the way and it’s really quite large. I’m curious as to why yours has lost its pigment. Both mine are on the floor directly in front of a window with morning sun and they thrive there. I water once a fortnight and, not heavily.
Amazing! So I bought my ficus in 2020, and it did well for a while but never grew. All of a sudden (6mos later) my leaves were drooping, the tiny sprout that never grew was curling up, and it had not grown a centimeter 🥲 I revisited this article took some action – 1 WEEK LATER all leaves are perky AND a new leaf is sprouting!!! Thank you!!!
I actually told my mom that I really wanted this plant and I showed her yours and she decided to get me a very ugly but very cheap one🥴I ended up cutting the top that grew in my care(three leaves), propaganated it and waited almost a whole year for a new leaf that is opening right now so imma be taking notes from this one hopefully my tiny one will grow
You’re so right in stating that you have to adjust the plants’ requirements to your own environment . My apartment’s dry dark atmosphere has a deadly effect on most of the plants I have ever tried to maintain, but I found that succulents and cactus do great with a grow light. I have a thriving ficus on my patio because it’s loves the diffused sunshine, humidity, and fresh air.
I have a ficus tineke and it’s doing great, and it’s definitely one of my most neglected plants! I’ve found that if I let the soil dry through it’s the happiest. Gets a lot of light as well and I always water all my plants super thoroughly like you do, but I find the leaves point up almost allllll the time. It is smaller than yours, I’ve only had it for about 6 months so curious to see if that changes as it grows! Thanks for confirming how I’m taking care of this plant!
I also let my Tineke completely dry out between waterings, provide plenty of bright indirect light and because I’m in Canada and we get no sun for six months I expect mine to go dormant for the winter even with grow lights. Thank you for this tip on soil mixture you use she needs to be repotted so I’ll definitely be doing that ! I’ve had mine for three and a half years now she’s pushing four feet tall 😁❤️
Beautiful plant! I got my ficus tineke about 5 months ago and I love it! Easy care in my opinion. I live in Houston so warm and humid most of the time. She sits inside by a south facing window and has been doing great with 2 new growths so far. I water maybe every 2-3 weeks and wipe down the leaves once a week or in passing.
I’ve trained all my ficus elastica to tolerate my west facing window, when it gets to a heat wave or above 35C I draw the curtains until the sun has set. I also found this helped my ficus Ruby stay pink/sun kissed and it still pushes out lovely big leaves, so that may be a factor- from nurseries or growers they may be able to sell that Ruby fabric because they are under intense grow lights (that’s my theory) As for half the leaves pointing downwards I agree that after a certain time drooped they will not correct but they are perfectly healthy and that’s more important. My burgundy was a half rescue job so I inherited the really thin stem and the half drooped leaves, so now I just water correctly and push it right up against my East facing window, fertilize and keep it away from wind because of the thin stems. Hopefully I can rehabilitate it a little more and get it growing a thick trunk and new leaves that fan out better. Thanks for this article xx
I’ve found, to bring more light in from a north facing window, place mirrors on the shelf the plants are on. A lot of mirrors, not just a few. Also, use terracotta pots. I was forever killing my philodendrons and my Tineke was losing leafs. With terracotta being porous though, it helps the roots to dry out faster if you are over-watering. Now I can successfully keep philodendrons alive, and my Ficus Elastica doesn’t look half naked. If you’re going to put terracotta pots, on mirror though, sit it in a plastic base, first.
Great article good information..After i watched your article i understood that droopy leaves are not because of underwatering as you said bro.. but now i understood 😌 coz i don’t underwater i water them perfectly 100% but still i have droopy leaves. what i can understood about droopy leaves is that 1) cold winds or breeze 2) over watering..
I stayed at a middle of nowhere hotel in Arizona once and they had the most beautiful tineke in the lobby about 20 feet away from the door. Pretty much no light, just lobby lighting and that thing was also bone dry. I couldn’t understand how it looked so pretty. Maybe they had it near a window and moved it, but wow I was blown away at how gorgeous it was.
I am on too many Facebook plant groups, because I’m a big dork, and whenever someone posts about how their ficus is sad (any ficus, tbh) I say: chunky potting mix, put that thing in as much sun as possible, water when the soil is DRY GIRL and I mean DRY. So thanks for confirming! I think people forget that these guys are trees, and will get to the size of a small tree if you put them in the ground in the right conditions!
Love this article! I have a little baby Ruby and a slightly more mature Burgundy, both doing great so far! I’m hoping my Ruby doesn’t start to revert but honestly the tineke looks gorgeous, so if it reverts I won’t be too upset! Also I think you have the right idea about why some of the leaves stay looking droopy even though it’s fully watered! I have a massive peace lily I’ve had for over 2 years now and some of her leaves are longer than my forearm! Her leaves have such thick stems that a month or so ago she was very droopy, and spent a couple days being droopy, those leaves perked up a little to be bouncy but they stayed facing down more than before! I actually kind of like the look, because now she looks very full with some leaves falling lower than others rather than all standing tall. So I think you have the right idea, the steams are so thick that when they droop the stems basically conform to the position now and want to stay there. My peace lily wasn’t affected negatively, she’s bouncy as ever and pushing out so much new growth, but now some of her thicker stems have a slight curve to them, where the leaf meets the stem. They’re not soft either, they feel very firm and healthy, just now curved more than they were before.
I know this was article was posted “way back” in 2021, but I want to give props to Crazy Plant Guy for being so informative and helpful. Most articles I’ve seen on YT about care of ficus elastica (and most houseplants, to be quite frank) are too general and don’t delve into troubleshooting or much of anything at all. So thanks for taking the time to provide quality information! And your F. Elasticae are gorgeous!
wow, I wish I found your article sooner! my ficus’ leaves were very droopy and even falling off, and since it had started after I (partially) watered, I thought I had overwatered it. I left it alone and it got worse and worse and I eventually I questioned it and just said “well I can’t make it any worse” and gave it a good full watering. it’s looking great now!
I was pretty sure about my watering, until I watched this again and decided to repot after over a year from bringing home, no growth and dropping leaves. Sure enough. I haven’t watered in at least 6 weeks, yet there was some moisture down deep and in the packed root ball. Hopefully using the chopstick to almost get it to bare root and then repotting with the mix you describe will save it. Thanks!
You literally made my day by discussing those spots. I was freaking out thinking it had a disease! I’ve had mine for a week and a half now. I noticed a strong mold smell coming from the dirt. I didn’t want to two of it so soon after it just got home, but I think I will dump all their soil and do your ratio.
I live in FL and my burgundy is outside and growing wonderfully, it’s huge!! My apt is small and the only place to I could put it was near the front door where my dog’s tail and ppl kept hitting it so I moved it outside. It’s in a very large terracotta pot. it gets direct light early part of the day and indirect during the later part of the day. Now I have to get help to repot it again and I’m going to propagate it. Also just ordered a Tineke I’m so excited can’t wait to get it. ❤️
Thank you so much!!! I had mine fo 8 month and no growth at all! Like 0 new leafs, it even lost 2 leafs😕. I cut it like you recommended it two weeks ago and small new leaf is growing😍 thank you! I’m so happy!! But the cutting hasn’t made roots, so I’ll see if it makes some roots. But I’m already so happy about the growth of the main plant!!😍
I have a Ruby. I let mine dry out completely and it’s in a SW facing window, I have no browning and large leaves just like yours. I am using a similar potting mix to yours, one I mix myself. No issues. I am contemplating notching the trunk to promote branching. I am in Eastern Canada. I have pink on the top several leaves and over time they turn white for me as well. The tree is about 4’ tall. I have had it for almost two years and it was just a wee thing at aprox a foot tall or less when I bought her.
I have had a burgundy for several years now, I wish I had seen this article then! She has been especially droopy and growing small curly or deformed leaves ever since I moved to my new house. I definitely see I’ve been severely underwatering her and not giving her enough light, thank you so much for the tips! I just put up a small grow light last week and already she seems to be improving. 🙂
I got a battered Ficus Elasticus from the store awhile ago, I removed most the badly damaged leave (which was almost all of them 🙁 ) and kept the 3-4 okay leaves, after acouple weeks my mom nipped off the top to encourage branching. For acouple months it didn’t grow for awhile and I was frightened we had killed it with shock, however acouple of weeks ago it put out a new shoot and the leaves keep getting bigger and bigger as it grows! I’m very happy that it’s doing alright in my care 🙂
First time seeing you and I’m dying because I recently got a tineke, repotted her into 1/4 my fave potting mix, 1/4 perlite, 1/4 medium orchid bark, and 1/4 charcoal. She’s a rehab from a big box store and since repotting into her new mix and shoving her in my south facing window she’s been growing so happily and I’ve had no issues. My house naturally stays about 50-60ish in humidity. I water when she’s almost bone dry and give her super diluted fertilizer every other watering and she’s been happy. Pretty sure I water her almost every 3 weeks
I have a tiny burgundy that I keep to the right of my south window. It’s gets direct morning light and then bright indirect light in the afternoon. It loves it there. It’s not a fast grower but it grew steadily throughout the winter. The comments about slight underwatering were so helpful. I let mine dry out too and it shows with a slight droop or curl on some leaves but the plant looks great! I’m excited to see how it does in the spring/summer.
I just chopped the top of mine off & popped the top in a clear jar with water. The mother plant was drooping yet happy a week ago after initial watering she’s 4 years old & I think it’s just an experiment at this stage, I’ve surrendered to the idea that it may survive it may die. I’m learning either way
New to ficus, I always avoided them, because of a bad experience with a fiddle leaf from Ikea that surely died lol. I now have 2 ficus as a starting point (variegated ficus benjamina and an elastica (I forget which one, it’s a lime green colour). This article is super helpful, as my elastica has dropped some leaves since getting it, but still is reasonably healthy. I think I’m an underwaterer. I added an airyer aroid soil mix, and a drainage pot, as I had it in a decorative pot with no holes (hence my underwatering). I think I’m going to repot the benjamina, as the mix looks too muddy to me. Both were grocery store purchases, and I think they generally come in not airy enough mixes. I need more windows in my house, because if these grow ok, or by chance even well for me, I definitely want some more ficus! I also got my first ever alocasia (which is a scary plant for me), but I couldn’t resist the stingray alocasia, calling my name at the grocery store checkout lol! I guess that’s the fun part of plant keeping, it’s always fun to try something new, and learn along the way.
You’re the best 🤣😍 I have a ruby, she’s been in my care for 7 months, she’s survived spider mites but has not grown at all! She’s against an east facing window under a grow light that’s on 4am-2pm everyday. I only water her once a month, bottom water till the top is moist. I think she’s in a too big of a pot I’m hoping she’s spent the last 7 months growing her roots and she’ll start pushing out some new growth soon. I will fertilizer her next watering, thank you 💚🍀
I have all the Ficus trees including the picky beautiful Fiddle leaf fig. All of my trees are in west windows as we just finished winter. My fiddle leaf is 4ft tall they all look gorgeous but I also went to home depot and bought the grow light bulbs then found one of the 30 dollar lamps that have the ugly color covers. I took the covers off and put a bulb to start every other one I believe 3 bulbs and then spread the arms out and they love where they are at! Spend a little more and if jeed be get one of the 5 dollar bulbs then two of the stronger ones. I also went to Petite garden they have bulbs and they are awesome! Around 12 dollars for theirs. For the money we spend on our plants and trees these days spending that extra 60 bucks for lamp and bulbs will allow you to keep it in your North window yet still be happy! I’ll add a pic of my fiddle leaf so you can see what I mean. I’ve never moved it from the west window. Hope this helps can’t believe how many people never mention grow lights makes all the difference. Mine also grow all winter Long they still slow down as I winter water not completely dormant.
My Tineke has large leaves and no brown spots or edges – looks very healthy, but some of the bottom leaves are drooping like yours. I have mine planted int a self watering container so I’m always afraid of overwatering it, so I tend to underwater it I think. I wait a good while before I water it. I had mine outside on a north west covered porch in SoCal. It put on alot of growth! Just moved it inside between east and south facing windows and it seems happy.
I just bought mine a couple o weeks ago. It suffered a bit during transportation (the plant was uprooted a little, bottom 2 leaves had brown spots, and the leaves were starting to droop a little). I repotted in a potting soil + perlite mix. i just bottom watered the guy because a lot more leaves were drooping and i thought he needed more thorough watering. I hope it can bounce back up because i love them! I have a burgundy that is growing really well. and that baby is still in his nursery pot, maybe it’s time for a repot soon, because i see roots coming out the bottom
me too! the leaves of my rubber plant started pointing downward during the winter when I didn’t water it as much. I got mine last summer and I overwatered it and the bottom leaves fell off. I had 4 leaves left and it looks like it’s been doing well after I let the soil totally dry out, but the downside was the leaves pointing down. also, I noticed the new leaves are smaller because it’s in a north facing window. I’ll have to rearrange my plants soon and put it under a grow light.
It’s really a valuable tip you gave in this article. I bought my Ficus Tineke Ruby & Burgundy in early 2021. The Tineke Ruby had 10 leaves & 8 leaves for the Burgundy when I bought them. I just repotted them as I could see their roots started to grow up around the surface of their pots and they didn’t show any progress at all. Can you give me tips how to make it grow bushy and healthy? And how to fix the brown spot after repotted it? Thank you! 🙂
I have 2 burgundy and 2 ruby’s, and 2 altissima . During spring and summer months I put them outside on my covered back patio they get south facing light. They grow like crazy. I water every 4 to 5 days because they tend to dry out quickly being outside. I just wait until leaves start to droop then water, so I am not sure how much of the soil drys out. But I don’t have the permanent drooping problem, so I believe it has to do with letting them dry out completely for to long is why the drooping is staying for some.
I have my elastica in south facing window, ruby pink in west facing window and burgundy in the kitchen away from south facing window and I must say they all looking good. I have no issues at all, I love them because I find them to be low maintenance houseplant. They are like, “set it and forget it” kind of plant. Of course, I wipe the foliage once in a while to maximize sun absorption, but other than that I don’t spend a lot of time caring for them.
Thanks for all of this loaded information! I have a pretty variegated baby that’s about 3&1/2 feet tall now. She’s honestly about 15 feet from a west window straight in front & a north to the side. She’s popping big beautiful leaves. I keep her on the dry side but I’m going to start to water more heavily on watering days, after perusal your article I think she needs the super sized water & not the medium 🙃 thanks again!
I think it does depend on the situation. I have a few rubber trees in front of a south facing window. I’m growing them in plain old bog standard ericaceous potting soil and they are monsters. Even grow all winter even though the room gets a little cold at night. I do let them dry out completely before I water. Also, I’ve heard they don’t like to be moved around.
I love your article very thorough and you even have examples of others’ plants for us to look at. I have a burgundy and tineke kind. I bring it outside during the morning hours (8-11am) in direct sun, it seems to like it and doing well. As far as watering, I do let it dry completely like you said, they do not like being wet, they prefer to be on the drier side. My bottom leaves on the burgundy plant does droop and it hasn’t perked up since I watered it which was a week ago (guess it was needing water because I also lost a few healthy leaves). This plant is notorious for dropping healthy leaves when their environment is off, I have a hard time deciphering what’s going on when it does that (not enough light, too dry, too wet..?) so have to go with instinct.
Loved the intro. I have a North facing window in my office, where a majority of my plants are. However, I moved my Ficas Elastica to a East facing window, and I sprayed it with a mixture neem oil & Peppermint soap (to ward off any potential pest). Not good, the rim of the leaves burned and now some of the leaves are turning brown. Probably from over watering. I bottom water. Again, for this plant, probably not good. I am going to re-pot, using your potting mixture. I am going to let it dry out completely and cross my fingers and hope it survives.
Great article! I just ran into a tineke in a garden center and took it home! I was hoping you’d cover why new leaves could curl backwards. I’ve had my burgundy for a few weeks and a new leaf unfurled but then started curling backwards overnight. It gets bright indirect light most of the day and some time with direct light. Hopefully, it will just sort itself out..
The red, pink and purple on the Ruby ficus will come and go with seasons and the amount of sun they receive. I have one that I bought last summer thinking it was a Tineke (it didn’t have any pink or purple at all), but since winter it started developing new growth with the striking pink, purple and red colors.
I own three of these (near a south-facing window), and what I’ve come to think (so far) is that the leaves tend to ”follow the sun” and turn towards it. I rotate my plants occasionally in order to prevent them from growing in just one direction, and all the leaves have been turning towards the light. As a person who usually overwaters (I fight my urge and try to wait for the soil to dry out but I don’t always succeed), I have seen a bottom leaf of my ficus ”looking downward” (slightly) but the plant seems healthy overall, so I am guessing the bottom leaves are facing down in order to get as much light as possible. My guess (don’t take my word for it) is that on older plants the leaves may just be trying to soak up as much as they can get (that is if they’ve been watered enough but this still keeps happening). When it comes to the Ruby losing color, I don’t know if there’s a connection between succulents and ficus genetically, but (as you probably know) succulents, as well as some other plants, tend to change color depending on exposure to the sun. This makes me think that maybe they need more hours of direct sunlight per day (I watched a article about ficus elastica and it claimed that it needs way more light than most of us know: so while it may grow and thrive in bright indirect light, I’m willing to try putting it in direct sunlight (maybe next summer) and seeing what happens. Since last April, I’ve turned my apartment into a small jungle, and am still trying fairly hard to care for my younger plants – as they require more delicate care (obviously haha).
I live in Ireland n mine is just like urs, growing like crazy during spring n summer, leaf after leaf. Its 2m from window (east), fig ficus is in front of it, but more or less is on direct sunlight. I also leave till soil is completely dry, for soil I use compost. I have ficus elastica n same apply, its growing branches ♡
When i brought my ficus tineke, it was labelled as ruby,, i had it inside for almost a year and not much growth at all, i put it outside for summer (i live in Western Australia) and it has grown so much, it also reverted back to the ruby. All i did was put it in bright, bright light (almost full sun) and it has grown over double its original size in 1 season.
I got mine June 13 and watered it for the first time on Monday. Four leaves turned brown and fell off since. It’s in a west facing window. I thoroughly watered and not around the stem. I use my wild interior pick to aerate before watering. It’s 1am, but I’ll be up at dawn to get perlite and cactus soil. It was in low-light for the first two weeks, then the west facing window. It’s in a 6″ pot. It has produced 2 new leaves. Based on this article, I believe it’s the soil. Guess I shouldn’t aerate before watering, then I would have noticed slow drainage. Interesting
Loooved the intro! I’ve always wanted a ficus tineke and your general care article was really what sold it for me. Mine ended up with black edges, dropping leaves, and no growth in months! So glad you made this article! I was suspecting it was me potentially overwatering even though I have only watered it once or twice since I gotten mine in 2 months. It’s reassuring to know that humidity was not the issue! I will absolutely take all your new tips in this article and fingers crossed mine will start growing again!
I love the way how you discuss taking care of Tineke. I experienced browning of the leaves and don’t know the reason. I was wondering if you can do a article about separating small tinekes? I usually see two to three baby plants sold in one pot. I tried separating them but they’re intertwined so much. and also how to harden/make the stem thicker 🙂
Great article! Yes keeping plants in nursery pots so It can drain through is a great idea. I like to throughly water at the sink this can help remove deposits in the soil as well. I did get spider mites on my baby Ficus tineke this winter that created leaf damage, I treated for mites and spray preventatively now with castille soapy water. There have been new leaves come out since then and now it’s doing better.
i have a ruby that seems to grow like crazy for me even in winter! i’m in the southern hemisphere and i only have a south-east facing window (equivalent to a north-west in the northern hemisphere). each new leaf is very special because the red colour looks like a bright pink with a light green until it matures!
Brilliantly informative. And I totally agree thorough water from the top and always done this until…..da da da daaaaaaa…,Fungus Gnat infestation. To combat this the recommendation is to water from saucer and keep top 2 inches of growing medium dry. Infestation is receding and plants seem happy enough…but I do prefer water from top method as that is what happens with rainfall in natural environment
I actually have my ficus elastica variegata or the tineke in my big east facing window and it’s been thriving so well and i had it for like 3 months and it also gave me new growth. Until now there are no issues in my rubber tree. Also when I watched your article about repotting and propagating the plant, when I saw your tineke it made me bought one and challenged myself to grow it as tall as yours. Also the intro had me laughing 😂
Great article 👍 I have a ruby version and had the same issue with a leaf not growing for good 8 months. So I’ve moved the plant to more sunny spot and added fertiliser and the leaf popped immediately in the next few hours! And mine is losing the pink colour too, I’ve heard this happens a lot and my theory is they are adding some hormone in the nursery that gives this pink variegation and we can’t access it in normal shops.
Hi Crazy Plant Guy! I love your website and enjoy listening to all your expertise and experiences with your plants. You had me laughing with your intro. 🤣 I have a Ficus Lyrata that I purchased over a yr ago. I put it in LECA and feed it fiddle leaf fig fertilizer and it’s doing great! I purchased a Ficus Elástica Ruby, Ficus Altissima and a Ficus Elástica Tineke. They are all in LECA. I know u talked about letting your ficus dry out completely so I’m wondering if I need to let mine totally dry out before I add more water into the leca. My understanding is that the leca will supply the water when needed. What do you advice? Mine are also under a grow light and about 3 ft from the plants.
that stick -check for dry soil is a great idea, I’ll use that right away! Most of my plants have recently been repotted, but the two biggest pots are just too big to drain or bottom-water, so I’m always doubting whether those plants are needy or not. Thanks you for your tips and advice, great article and funny too 🙂 keep it up! cheers from NL
I have a Decora and a Tineke, the leaves on my Decora do droop a bit at the bottom and after seeing this I think it might be because I also air on the side of under watering them as other than the slight droop at the bottom they are perfectly healthy and growing well. For context I have them in very well draining soil, which I water when it has dried, in a small warm room very near but not right up to a large South facing window.
I’ve noticed my burgundy is far more resilient than my tineke and ruby. I do keep them outside during the Summer however, which I think really helps. I think so many people don’t realize that these are TREES and crave light. Of course you have to acclimate, but they love direct sun for a few hours. I think that’s the biggest issue people have with ficus.
I have mine in semi hydro (pon) in self watering. I first had my fiddle fig in self watering. And it did soo well that when I got my Tineke, I moved it to pon in self watering. And it’s been good. I do wish you could do some experiments with semi hydro and share your experience ❤️. Would love your thoughts 🙂
I didn’t know ficuses could grow so beautifully! Thanks for sharing^^ I’m not saying I’m going to blame you for having a less stunning ficus in the future, but if I hesitated to buy one before, I’m buying one now and thanks to you it hopefully will be more well growing than it would have been, haha. Thanks again!
Just one question, hi by the way 😅, my variegated rubber has started getting the browning edges and I’ve lost two leaves as they went yellow. But the leaves are dropping as well. I wait for the plant to be fully dry before watering again, but I do wonder if she’s in too big of a pot. Do they want their roots tight together? I’m a bit worried I’ll be loosing her. She’s also right next to a South facing window and was so happy before. I might need to repot her? Thanks for your help and such a helpful article 🥰
Hi Crazy Plant Guy! I love your website and enjoy listening to all your expertise and experiences with your plants. You had me laughing with your intro. 🤣 I have a Ficus Lyrata that I purchased over a yr ago. I put it in LECA and feed it fiddle leaf fig fertilizer and it’s doing great! I purchased a Ficus Elástica Ruby, Ficus Altissima and a Ficus Elástica Tineke. They are all in LECA. I know u talked about letting your ficus dry out completely so I’m wondering if I need to let mine totally dry out before I add more water into the leca. My understanding is that the leca will supply the water when needed. What do you advice? Mine are also under a grow light and about 3 ft from the plants. 🪴🌱
Mine is in a north facing window, it grows well in summer, but nothing in autumn, winter, spring! I’ve had it for a year and a half but I’m really struggling with it at the moment, every time I water I get a yellow leaf! I’m going to do exactly as you do, dry out completely and then water thoroughly and failing that, I’ll add more perlite! It did take super long to dry our last time so I think that might be necessary
You wouldn’t happen to have any care tips for ficus elastica shivereana would you?? My leaves are turning brown along the edges, but only on a few. Some of them just have one big brown spot in the middle of its leaves. I only bought it last week and I’m gonna be devastated if it dies 😭 it’s such a beautiful plant!
would this plant thrive on a self watering container? I’m buying one of these plants soon and the plan is: – Lechuza self watering container, so it will be bottom watered by the wick system. The pot will be much larger than what the plant needs, I’m counting on the plant growing. – soil: 1/4 perlite, 3/4 home made compost (it doesn’t compact like store bought one but it holds a lot more water) – light : Sansi 24W LED Grow Light, 8h a day (fairly dark room). I can experiment with 12h a day also. – humidity in the room is about 50% – some slow release fertiliser in the soil (thought it won’t need any fertiliser for ~6months, the home made compost is very rich, it’s even full of earth worms)
I have a Ruby and that’s definitely one of my issues with it (the reverting)! That and the fact that it stopped growing 😭It has a very woody stem below it right now after I had to prune some bad leaves, so I think I’m going to try pruning it like you show here and hopefully will end up with 2 plants! I also moved it outside to my balcony where it will get brighter light and some direct sun, as opposed to the north-facing window I did have it in before. Hopefully all of that will help, fingers crossed!
i just got a 6″ ficus ruby from JOMO in toronto. it has very little variegation sadly, pretty much just a 0.5cm border on the leaves. it is consistently pink on all the leaves though, from top to bottom. i am hoping i can encourage way more variegation with lots of sunlight from a southfacing window, and may even bring it outside when we get nights above 15C.
I have the deeper red rubber plant and although its sat in next to a floor length window it only gets bright morning sun. It still grows but it is much slower than most of my other plants, its actually about to make a new leaf! Its a shame I can’t fit it in my southern windows because I just have too many plants haha but slow growth is better than none.
Very helpful! I move my ficus plants into my bedroom for the summer as it has the direct south sun and they seem very happy there. But for the winter I move back to my living room as I keep my bedroom quite cool and worry it would be too cold for them. Both rooms are south facing. They don’t seem as happy in the winter livingroom and my teneke has developed the brown edges. That could be my fault and maybe not watering as often as I should plus the lack of humidity (my heat is electric is very dry air). Do you think I could leave them in my cooler bedroom in the winter?
My edges browned until I started using filtered water and I let the soil almost be dry. I have not had any more brown spots after I changed the water to filtered. I do us 1/4 cactus soil, 1/4 reg. potting soil, 1/4 large perlite and 1/4 fir bark chips and my pot is ceramic with a 1 inch hole. Mine is in a south facing window with a thin white curtain and I have it in my plant room with several shop lights on the floor next to my plant shelves. I water it until the water runs out two or three times. Really buy a shop light. LED shop light is good 12 hours a day. Mine also branched out where I broke the brown leaves off.