My friend has a rubber tree plant in his livingroom, it has grown to the height of the ceiling and needs to be trimmed. Does anyone have information on safely trimming it down? Thanks.
Well, you could tell an ant that he can’t…
HAHAHAHAHA -
Consecutive threads:
How could I have gotten this trojan?
and
Rubber Tree Plant
!!!
I think I can offer some help here.
First off, be prepared to get a latex-like sap flow when you cut a stem of the rubber tree; you should apply a charcoal powder or cigarette ash to staunch this.
Now when pruning, cut just above a leaf petiole (about 1cm). That can be done wherever you feel necessary for shaping/controlling. These are then usually discarded, for sadly, most of the large leaved ficus plants do not root well from stem cuttings.
However, if you want to save the pruned section you will can do it by air layering. Air layering is a bit envolving but well worth it to ‘create’ more plants. The things needed for this include: a plastic baggie, sphagnum moss, a sharp, clean blade.
To air layer you will first cut similar to the pruning method above, but only cut about halfway through the stem. Then wrap the cut with the moss and place the baggie over it. Keep the moss moist (some propagators apply a rooting hormone to the moss to discourage rot). Give it time, several weeks, and you should see root tip growth (keep in mind not all layerings are successful, even for the pros). Those cuttings with good root growth may then be fully cut and placed into a small pot of rich peat moss (or potting soil mix is good). You now have a new rubber tree to give to your friend who helped you out…