Rubber plant
Sources last read 14 September 2026.
Middling It gives warning, with time to act.
Also called Assam rubber, caoutchouc, India rubber fig, India rubber plant, India rubber tree, Indian Rubber Plant, Indian rubberplant, Rubber Bush and snake tree.
Toxicity is partly unassessed
- Not assessed for cats. This plant is not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety: none of the sources read for this site gives an answer either way. Treat it as unknown.
- Not assessed for dogs. This plant is not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety: none of the sources read for this site gives an answer either way. Treat it as unknown.
- Not assessed for people. RHS publishes no harm statement for this plant. That is not a finding of safety: none of the sources read for this site gives an answer either way. Treat it as unknown.
What the sources say about its care
Sources file this plant under other names: Ficus elastica cv. Decora (Clemson Extension). Citations below point at the name its source uses.
- Light
- Medium light 100–150 fcClemson Extension, filed as Ficus elastica cv. Decora · read 11 September 2026Full sun, Partial shadeRHS · read 11 September 2026
- Water
- Moist but well-drainedRHS · read 11 September 2026
- Humidity
No source read publishes a humidity figure for any plant on this site. What follows is general guidance for foliage plants.
ASHRAE recommends indoor relative humidity between 30% and 60% 30–60%Penn State Extension · read 11 September 2026- Temperature
How cold this tolerates, not what it prefers. No source read for this site publishes a preferred range for a plant indoors.
H1B — 10–15°C 10–15 °CRHS · read 11 September 2026- Soil
- Loam; pH Acid or Alkaline or NeutralRHS · read 11 September 2026
- Toxic to cats
- Not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety.ASPCA · read 11 September 2026
- Toxic to dogs
- Not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety.ASPCA · read 11 September 2026
- Harmful to people
- No harm statement is published for this plant; that absence is not evidence it is safe.RHS · read 11 September 2026
How it usually goes wrong
- Crisp margins that appear in winter
The rubber plant shows browning on many leaf blades at once, all at the margin, with no spots or soft patches anywhere.
The edges fail first because they are the end of the plumbing. Penn State Extension cites 30% to 60% as the recommended indoor range, and winter heating regularly takes a room under it.
Telling it apart: Where the plant stands. Browning concentrated on the side facing a heater points at the air.
Penn State ExtensionDiagnose brown tips and edges on this Rubber plant- Growth slows and what does arrive is thin
The newest leaf blades on the rubber plant are the palest and smallest, and the stems carrying them bend toward the brightest side of the room.
A plant stretches when the light is short of what it evolved for. Its source describes medium light, and a room darker than that sets the plant reaching.
Telling it apart: Spacing. A plant short of light stretches; one short of nitrogen keeps its spacing and only loses colour.
Clemson ExtensionDiagnose leggy growth on this Rubber plant- The leaves nearest the soil turn yellow and hang
A sour smell from the compost is common on a rubber plant, and the leaves nearest the soil come away when pulled. The surface may look dry while everything beneath it is not.
Kept wetter than the moist but well-drained its source describes, the root tips die back. A plant with fewer working roots cannot drink, which looks from above exactly like one that has not been watered.
Telling it apart: The smell. Healthy compost smells of earth; compost that has been wet too long does not.
RHSRubber plant leaves turning yellow: causes
Not sure which it is? Ask the diagnosis questions for Rubber plant.
Routine care
- Watering
- Water regularly but avoid overwatering. Cut back watering overall while the plant is dormant (fall to late winter).NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026While growing, water moderately and feed monthly with a high nitrogen fertiliser; give little water in winter.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Feeding
- While growing, give moderate water and a monthly high-nitrogen feed; keep watering sparing in winter.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Repotting
- Top dress every year; repot every 2-3 years.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Propagation
- Layering, root cuttings, seedNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026In spring or late summer, take semi-ripe cuttings or layer.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pruning
- Prune the main branches for a bushier plant, or leave them uncut for a tall, narrow, tree-like shape.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- Pests and diseases
- Can be troubled by mealybugs, fern scale, Cuban laurel thrips and banded greenhouse thrips.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Under glass, scale insects, mealybugs, thrips and glasshouse red spider mite can occur. Diseases: honey fungus can occur.RHS · read 13 September 2026
Move something and watch
Loading the simulator. It needs JavaScript; the care table above does not.
Photographs
About the plant
Ficus elastica, the rubber fig, rubber bush, rubber tree, rubber plant, or Indian rubber bush, Indian rubber tree, or rambung is a species of flowering plant in the family Moraceae, native to eastern parts of South and Southeast Asia. Its common names reflect its historical use as a source of rubber within its native range, but it is not used in the modern commercial-scale production of natural rubber.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · read 13 September 2026
- Native range
- Nepal to China (W. Yunnan) and W. MalesiaWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026Southeast Asia: Nepal to China and Western MalesiaNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026E Himalaya to N MalaysiaRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Climate
- wet tropicalWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- Growth form
- Perennial, Shrub, Tree; habit erect, roundedNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Bushy (evergreen)RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Size
- Height 600–1200 in; width 600–1200 inNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Height 2.5-4 metres; spread 1-1.5 metres after 10–20 yearsRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Flowering
- Its tiny unisexual flowers sit in the leaf axils, hidden inside a fleshy fig. One particular fig wasp pollinates them by crawling in through an opening at the tip, so the plant has no need for bright or scented blooms to draw other pollinators.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- Uses
What sources record people using this plant for. A traditional or medicinal use listed here is a record of use, not advice to eat it or treat anything with it.
In the past the sap was tapped to make rubber.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Common problems with Rubber plant
Other Ficus
Chinese banyanFaded, yellow-white areas on the sunny side of the canopy
Common figA thin dry rim that crumbles between the fingers
Creeping figLeaf blade tips go crisp and brown
Fiddle-leaf figEdges of the leaf blades brown while the middle stays sound
Ara BanyanSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Banana leaf figSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
More of the Moraceae family
Congo FigSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Delta FigSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
- No photograph yetFicus binnendykiiSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Indian LaurelSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Peepul TreeSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
- No photograph yetWeeping figEdges of the leaves brown while the middle stays sound
Plants with similar care
BougainvilleaCrisp margins that appear in winter
English ivyCrisp margins that appear in winter
Heartleaf philodendronA thin dry rim that crumbles between the fingers
MonsteraBrown brittle margins with a green centre
Purple passionLeaf blade tips go crisp and brown
Swiss cheese vineEdges of the leaf blades brown while the middle stays sound
Sources
- ASPCA · read 11 September 2026
- Clemson Extension · read 11 September 2026
- Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- Penn State Extension · read 11 September 2026
- RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Wikipedia · read 13 September 2026
What this does not cover
The figures above are what published sources say, not measurements of the plant in your room. They say nothing about your pot size, your water, the season, or how far from the glass the plant stands, and those decide more than any figure here does.
Humidity has no species figure because no source read for this site publishes one, and the only temperature published for this plant is a cold floor. The simulator fills those gaps with general figures for its kind of plant, marked as general and listed on how we read sources. Where a toxicity row says the plant was not assessed, that is the absence of a finding and not a finding of safety.
If something is already wrong, the diagnosis tool asks about the soil, the window and the watering, which is where the answer usually is.